Trump’s INSANELY UNPOPULAR Bill Sparks Revenge Threats, Idaho Firefighters Shot in Deadly Ambush, & Today’s News
PDS Published 06/30/2025
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Trump is once again going after his political opponents.
Right, yesterday, seemingly threatening to cut off federal funds to the city if progressive Democrat Zohran Mamdani is elected as mayor of New York City and doesn’t do what Dear Leader wants:
Bartiromo: “What did you make of the New York Democrat primary? Mamdani?”
Trump: “He’s a communist. I think it's very bad for New York. I don't know that he's going to get in. It's inconceivable that he's — but he's a communist, and he's a pure communist. He — I think he admits it. But I can't imagine it. But let's say this: if he does get in, I'm going to be president, and he's going to have to do the right thing or they're not getting any money. He's got to do the right thing.” 00:01 - 00:25
Right, and that is actually a very serious threat — the city’s comptroller reported last year that it receives more than $100 BILLION in federal dollars.
But, also notably here, this isn’t the first time Trump has attacked Mamdani and attempted to paint him as a communist.
This because he has proposed a number of populist economic policies like free childcare, free public buses, city-run grocery stores, new affordable housing, more mental health workers, and a $30 minimum wage, among other things.
With Trump making the same allegation on Truth Social following the election last week, and then saying this during a recent press conference:
“He's a communist! We're going to go to a communistic — that's so bad for New York, but the rest of the country is revolting against it.” 00:25 - 00:31
But Mamdani, for his part, has rejected that label.
With him hitting back against Trump during an interview with NBC News yesterday when asked to respond to the president calling him a communist:
Welker: “How do you respond? Are you a communist?”
Mamdani: “No I am not. And I have already had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I'm from, who I am, ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I'm fighting for. I'm fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower, that he has since then betrayed. And when we talk about my politics, I call myself a democrat socialist in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. King from decades ago who said, 'Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism, there has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country.' And as income inequality has declined nationwide, it has increased in New York City. And, ultimately, what we need is a city where every single person can thrive.” 10:02 - 10:42
But Mamdani wasn’t the only political figure Trump threatened over the weekend — he also went after a member of his own party, but for very different reasons.
Right, he also targeted Republican Sen. Thom Tillis after the lawmaker announced his opposition to Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill.
Which will extend tax breaks that disproportionately benefit the rich and fund other key items of Trump’s agenda, while dramatically cutting funds for Medicaid, food aid, and other services millions of Americans rely on.
And specifically, Tillis was one of just two Republicans who voted against a motion to start debate on the BBB on Saturday.
With the other being Sen. Rand Paul , who has repeatedly voiced his opposition to the legislation because of the massive amount of money it will add to the deficit.
And after the vote, Tillis posted a statement on social media explaining his reasoning, saying:
“I did my homework on behalf of North Carolinians, and I cannot support this bill in its current form. It would result in tens of billions of dollars in lost funding for North Carolina, including our hospitals and rural communities. This will force the state to make painful decisions like eliminating Medicaid coverage for hundreds of thousands in the expansion population, and even reducing critical services for those in the traditional Medicaid population.”
With Tillis going on to call for the Senate to return to the House version of the bill, which already passed the lower chamber.
Arguing that there are a lot of good things in the bill, but that it needs to be passed “without jeopardizing access to care for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians who need it the most.”[]
But after that, we saw Trump absolutely tearing into Tillis in a series of posts on Truth Social where he threatened the Senator with a primary challenge when he is up for reelection next year, writing:
“Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against Senator Thom” Tillis.”[]
And adding that he will be meeting with the challengers in the coming weeks and “looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America.”
With Trump then continuing his attacks on Tillis the next morning, claiming in another post that the Senator “has hurt the great people of North Carolina.”[]
Seemingly accusing the lawmaker of failing to help his constituents in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, and adding:
“Tillis is a talker and complainer, NOT A DOER! He’s even worse than Rand “Fauci” Paul!”
But then, shortly after that, we saw Tillis making the surprise announcement that he will not be running for reelection next year.
Issuing a lengthy statement where he seemed to take aim at members of his party who blindly follow Trump and the party line, writing:
“In Washington over the last few years, it's become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species.”
With him going to claim that many politicians are “motivated by pure raw politics” but don’t care about fulfilling campaign promises or taking the time to understand how the policies they enact actually impact Americans.
Adding that he would rather spend time with his family than spend another 6 years “navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington.”
And then concluding:
“I look forward to having the pure freedom to call the balls and strikes as I see fit and representing the great people of North Carolina to the best of my ability.”
And he followed through on that promise almost immediately, with him delivering a now-viral speech on the Senate floor where he absolutely ripped into Trump — who cheered his resignation as “Great News!”[]
<<<<<CAN RECORD TO HERE>>>
With Tillis claiming that he had asked for different economic impact reports on how the bill would impact his state when it comes to health care, and then saying:
“What I found is, is that best case scenario, is about a $26 billion cut.” (3:49-3:55)
And he claimed that people from the Trump administration then tried to challenge him on that figure, so he gave them his analytics and had different calls on this, and added:
“I said, guys, I would love nothing more than for you to prove me wrong, I would love nothing more than for you to tell me it's not $26B or $30B, it’s $2.6B, or $2B, or 200,000. But after three different attempts for them to discredit our estimates, the day before yesterday, they admitted that we were right.” (4:48-5:14)
“They can’t find a hole in my estimate. So what they told me is, yeah, it’s rough, North Carolina’s used the system, they’re going to have to make it work. Alright, so what do I tell 663,000 people in two years, three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding is not there anymore, guys?" (5:26-5:55)
“Republicans are about to make a mistake on healthcare and betraying a promise. It is inescapable that this bill in its current form will betray the very promise that Donald J. Trump made in the Oval Office.”(6:59-7:17)
But, of course, Tillis isn’t the only one who has been tearing into the BBB.
Right, the backlash to the bill has just been massive, getting hate from major voices all across the political spectrum.
For example, you had John Oliver acevoting his show last night to slamming key provisions in the BBB, like the cuts to Medicaid and food assistance, and then saying:
“Right now Republicans are trying to rush this bill through because they know how toxic it is.” (24:01-24:07)
“While I know there is a lot going on right now, it is worth paying attention to this bill, because if it becomes law, we are going to be looking back on it decades from now the same way we look at all the destructive shit Reagan did. And when that happens, Republicans cannot say, ‘we didn’t know what was in it or what it would do.’ Everyone who votes for this should be held accountable. (24:11-24:33)
But it’s not just people on the left — we also saw Elon Musk chiming in.
Right, and in case you forgot, Musk’s past opposition to the bill was the whole catalyst for his embarrassing public breakup with Trump in the first place.
But over the weekend, we saw him doubling down on his criticism, writing things like:
“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country! Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”[]
He also showed polling data that shows people agreeing with him, writing that “that this bill is political suicide for the Republican Party.”[]
And it is worth noting that there really is a ton of polling out there showing that the public is not happy with this legislation to say the least.
With a report from CNN even calling it “the most unpopular major legislation in decades.”[]
Pointing to polls from The Washington Post, Fox News, KFF and Quinnipiac that found that on average, 55% of Americans oppose it, while just 31% support it.
And this includes people on both sides of the political aisle.
Right, it’s no shock that Democrats overwhelmingly have an unfavorable view of it.[]
But 66% of non-MAGA Republicans also oppose it, and Independents are against it by a 3-to1 margin.[]
And sure, it is worth noting that the MAGA side of the party is falling in line and is heavily in favor of it. []
But they are kind of the outliers here, right, because only 17% of all respondents said they believe the bill will help their family, while 44% said they thought it would hurt their family.
And people were also far more likely to believe this bill will help wealthy people while hurting lower-income and middle-class families.
Now, as far as what’s actually happening with the BBB, while Trump is still insisting that Republicans pass the bill by the 4th of July, it’s unclear right now if that can actually happen.
Right, after adjourning at 1 a.m. this morning, the Senate returned hours later to work on the legislation and hold a “vote-a-rama” —
Which is marathon voting session where senators are allowed to put forward an unlimited number of amendments to the legislation.
But the vote-a-rama is just the pre-game — the real test is what happens next.
Right, while Paul and Tillis are the only Republicans who have said for certain they will vote against the BBB, with The New York Times reporting that, as of this morning:
“at least a half-dozen Republican senators were still undecided” and “several issues that could make or break their decisions had not been resolved.”
Right, like Tillis, several other GOP senators have voiced concerns over the cuts to Medicaid.
But, on the complete other end of the spectrum, you have more hawkish Republicans arguing that there needs to be even deeper cuts to offset the massive new spending increases.
Now, notably here, because Republicans are using the budget reconciliation process, they are able to bypass the 60-vote filibuster normally required for passing legislation.
But with Paul and Tillis, the GOP can only spare two more defections.
And even if the BBB passes the Senate, the House will have to vote on it again because there were so many changes to the initial bill they passed.
But the BBB barely made it through the lower chamber the first time around, passing by just a single vote.
And already, numerous lawmakers there have voiced major objections to the Senate version of the bill.
With the conservative House Freedom Caucus issuing a new statement just today saying that the Senate bill is “not what we agreed to.”
So for now, we’ll just have to keep a close eye on what happens here and how all this plays out.
But it’ll be especially interesting to see how Trump continues to react to lawmakers that oppose the BBB and if his threats ultimately influence enough members to get this bill passed.
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In international news, we gotta talk about Hungary, Turkey, Serbia, and Hong Kong.
Right, because we got some big news out of each of them this weekend, and while they’re not directly connected, there are some common threads between them.
And so let’s start with Hungary.
Right, on Saturday, the country’s biggest ever Pride parade took place in the capital city of Budapest– despite a recently passed law banning the event (BROLL)
And in fact, the ban? It seemingly backfired – turning what is normally a pretty low-key event into something more like a mass rally against the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
With anywhere from 100 to 200,000 in attendance – far more than the 35,000 that took part last year. []
And one first-time attendee who brought her son told The New York Times she “was fed up with this government trying to make us all afraid.”
Adding that she had never attended in the past because she was not particularly interested in LGTBQ issues but adding:
“....this year it was very important to come and show that we are not afraid and don’t agree with what they are doing.” []
And notably, with that, that’s even as the new law meant she and other participants risked being identified via facial recognition software and slapped with a nearly $600 fine, while the event’s organizers would potentially face a year in prison.
Though, notably there, one of the organizers? It was the mayor of Budapest.
Right, he allowed the event to go ahead by renaming it Budapest Pride Freedom and rebranding it as a municipal event celebrating when Soviet troops pulled out of the country in June of 1991.[]
And so you’ve actually had the national government and threatending the mayor with jail, even as it gave permission to an anti-gay march planned by a far-right party. []
And with that, of course, it remains an uphill battle.
Right, the Pride ban? It was just the latest move in a wide crackdown on the LGTBQ+ community.
With the government claiming it’s all necessary to protect children from foreign, globalist forces seeking to corrupt the country’s youth and undermine traditional “family values.”
While critics, of course, argue that the LGTBQ+ community is just a convenient scapegoat for him as he continues to chip away at what’s left of Hungarian democracy.
With the timing of the latest law maybe having something to do with the fact that Orban may actually have a real challenge hanging on to power in the next elections.
Right, most opinion polls are now giving the party of his rival, Péter Magyar (Pete-air Mag-yar - LISTEN), a solid lead over the ruling party. []
Though, I will say there, Magyar? He’s conservative too, he actually used to be part of the ruling party, and it’s not like he openly supported Pride or LGTBQ+ rights.
But he’s also not Orban.
So we’ll have to wait and see what happens there.
But in the meantime, moving to Turkey, where you also had Pride this weekend, except it went a little differently.
Right, in Istanbul, you had police blocking any attempt to hold the event, which was also banned, with authorities also reportedly detaining dozens of people who tried to march (BROLL: 0:20-0:38).
And with that, Istanbul Pride has been banned every year since 2015 – and over that time we’ve seen President Erdogan (Air-do-wan) increasingly stepping up the rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community.
In January, for example, you had him declaring 2025 the "Year of the Family."
With him describing the country’s declining birth rate as an existential threat and accusing the LGBTQ+ movement of threatening the traditional family.
And kind of similar to Hungary, you had him casting the movement as part of a foreign conspiracy aimed at undermining Turkey.
Right, which is actually also similar to some of what’s been said by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic about anti-government demonstrations there.
Right, with that, this weekend, we saw police clashing with massive crowds of protesters demanding early election and an end to Voo-chitch’s 12 years in power (BROLL: 0:49-0:54)
And these student-led protests have actually been going on since the end of last year – kicking off after more than a dozen people died when the roof of a railway station collapsed.
WIth that accident was widely seen as a result of government corruption and negligence.
But in any case, this weekend? We saw the biggest turnout we’ve seen in months – with around 140,000 protesters attending in the capital (BROLL: 1:00-1:05)
And then clashes happening after the official part of the rally ended (BROLL: 0:27-0:35)
WIth policing using pepper spray, batons and shields to charge at protesters, some of whom threw rocks, bottles and other objects.[]
Also, dozens were reportedly detained (BROLL: 0:51-0:54).
With that leading to last night protesters started setting up blockades on major roads in Belgrade (Bell-grade) and other cities and demanding the release of those in custody (BROLL: 0:17-0:20, 0:24-0:26)
Although, notably, you’ve just had police responding by clearing the barricades and arresting even more people.
So we’ll have to see if these protests keep keeping up the momentum, or if the government can finally break them.
Right, and that? It brings us to the situation in Hong Kong, where the last pro-democracy party to hold protests has now disbanded – making it just the latest casualty in a years-long crackdown that has all but silenced dissent in the territory.
Right, after massive anti-government protests in 2019, a so-called “national security” pushed by China and passed in 2020 was used to go after the opposition –
Ultimately leading to dozens of arrests, the dissolution of civil society groups and the shuttering of independent media outlets.
But through all that, this party, the League of Social Democrats, or the LSK? It kept fighting.
Right, in fact, it has reportedly been the only pro-democracy party that has kept staging small street protests from time to time to carry on its advocacy despite the risks. []
But now, while the party said it could not elaborate on the exact reasons for its end, it said it had finally given into, quote, "intense pressure” – adding in its statement:
"Over these 19 years, we have endured hardships of internal disputes and the near-total imprisonment of our leadership, while witnessing the erosion of civil society, the fading of grassroots voices, the omnipresence of red lines, and the draconian suppression of dissent.” []
But with that, I gotta pass the question off to you.
What are your thoughts on this situation, any of the others we talked about, or just all of them together?
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These firefighters just got ambushed by a sniper, and the motive may be even more insidious than anyone imagined.
Right, you may have heard what happened in northern Idaho Sunday when first responders got a call about a wildfire on Canfield Mountain in Coeur d’Alene [Pronounce]. [B roll, 01:24]
Then, at around two in the afternoon as they prepared to extinguish the flames, they came under attack from a different kind of fire. [Same B roll]
[Clip, 00:00 - 00:10]
Right, reportedly a sniper was somewhere in the area, taking shots at them.
But there’s still an active and growing fire, so first responders can’t just leave; they’ve gotta contain it while police keep them safe from the active shooter.
So reportedly about 300 law enforcement officers eventually arrived on scene, as well as two helicopters with police snipers inside. [Image]
With officers reportedly exchanging gunfire with the shooter.
Meanwhile, multiple first responders are critically wounded and need help immediately.
[Clip, 02:35 - 02:39] Caption: “We’ve got two unresponsive battalion chiefs. Gunshot wounds. Multiple gunshot wounds.”
But then, about 90 minutes after the shooting started, police say the shooter apparently died, whether by his own hands or those of law enforcement.
And they say they know that because his cell phone, which they were tracking, suddenly stopped moving around that time.
So reportedly they spotted his corpse with a weapon lying nearby, and scooped him up before the fire could reach him.
Meanwhile, two firefighters reportedly died on the way to the hospital, and Sheriff Bob Norris updated us on a third yesterday evening. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 16:54 - 17:00] Caption: “He just came out of surgery. He is fighting for his life but is in stable condition.”
Now as of right now, police have declined to guess at a motive, but it does appear that this attack was planned.
Because (1) a firefighter on scene yelled this into his radio. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 00:27 - 00:31] Caption: “It’s clear to me that this fire was set intentionally to draw us in.”
And (2) the sheriff confirmed that at the press briefing. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 20:46 - 20:54, 21:01 - 21:04] Caption: “We do believe that the suspect started the fire, and we do believe that it was an ambush … and it was totally intentional, what he did.”
But to many onlookers, why anyone would set up a trap for firefighters is hard to imagine.
I mean, it’s probably the most revered, least controversial profession there is; right, virtually nobody has beef with firefighters.
So you had the chairman of the board of county commissioners chalking it up to pure evil. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 34:48 - 35:07] Caption: “June 29, 2025 is a day that we will not forget in this community. It is the day evil showed its face and we lost two outstanding professionals of the highest quality. And I cannot fathom why anyone would commit such a heinous act.”
But others disagreed, speculating that the shooter may have had personal animosity toward local authorities, or subscribed to some kind of anti-government ideology.
With law enforcement expert Bernard Zapor telling Fox News: [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 01:32 - 01:44] Caption: “I mean, obviously Coeur d'Alene, Idaho is the center of white nationalism in the United States. It doesn’t mean this has anything to do with any of that, but our nation has had some experiences there that are unique.”
Right, what he’s referring to is that the Aryan Nations, a neo-Nazi group, was headquartered there between 1974 and 2000. [B roll, 01:20 - 01:30]
With them building a compound included a church, a home, a watchtower and barracks for young white men. [Same B roll]
And they held a conference every year that drew racists from around the country, from Klansmen to skinheads. [B roll, 00:50]
With them committing numerous acts of terror over the years, including bombings, bank robberies, and the attempted assassination of a local priest and human rights activist. [Headline]
But in 1998, the Aryan Nations finally bit off more than it could chew when its members shot at and viciously beat an indigenous mother and her son as they drove past the compound. [Quote, find “indigenous”]
Because with the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the family sued the group and its founder, Richard Butler.
And the resulting 6.3 million dollar judgment bankrupted the Aryan Nations, leading local authorities to auction off the compound in 2001. [Quote same link, find “6.3”]
With local firefighters then burning down parts of it with the family’s consent as a training exercise, and here’s where the big tie-in is: [Headline and B roll, 00:41]
That controlled burn happened on June 29, 2001, exactly 24 years before Sunday’s shooting, to the day.
So many are wondering, is that connected? Is it just a coincidence?
But when a reporter asked the sheriff whether there’s any special significance to the date, he replied: [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 31:27 - 31:30] Caption: “No. Nope.”
But very notably, since the fall of the Aryan Nations, the Pacific Northwest and northern Idaho in particular have occupied a special place in the far-right imagination as a haven for white people.
With some white nationalist groups moving there over the years, occasionally making the news for some protest or hate crime.
It’s also worth noting that this weekend was the last of Pride month, and queer people haven’t always been welcomed with open arms in Coeur d’Alene, to say the least.
In fact, back in 2022, police arrested 31 white nationalists allegedly en route to riot at a Pride event there. [Headline]
But on Sunday, the county commissioners board chairman insisted that “this is not who we are.” [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 35:16 - 35:28] Caption: “When you hear how others portray the people who live here in the news, it’s not true. What happened here decades ago is not reflective of the fine people who live here today.”
So I’m sure we’ll hear more about this shooting soon, but in the meantime, that fire is still burning.
With it having grown overnight, torching at least 26 acres as of Monday.
So these remaining firefighters are having to battle the flames at the same time that they deal with the shock of three of their colleagues getting shot in that same location.
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No AC. 100 plus degree heat. Dozens of animals in danger - until the community showed up.
Right, this is the Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center in Derwood, Maryland.
And they recently had an issue with their air conditioning - that issue being it stopped working and would take at the bare minimum 24 hours to fix.
Which put all the animals in their shelter at risk of heat exhaustion as a heat dome brought 100 plus temperatures and humidity to the area. []
Staff set up fans and cooling mats, they froze chew toys, and they limited the amount of time their animals spent outside. []
But they knew that wasn’t going to be enough.
So they called on the community to help - posting a message on their social media, asking people to take in animals for a short-term foster to keep them out of the heat.
And soon, that post was liked and shared hundreds of times - with the shelter’s phone ringing off the hook and a line quickly forming, running out the door and onto the sidewalk. []
With Maria Anselmo, the shelter’s community relations manager, saying the staff didn’t expect such a large outpouring of help.
Adding,
“We had so many people just show up who were ready to jump in and help that we weren’t going to turn those people away.” []
With one of those people being Katie, who came out fostering three cats named Sponge Bob, Sandy Cheeks, and Gary.
And those were just 3 of the roughly 20 cats fostered - and that’s on top of 40 dogs and some 10 small animals like rabbits and ferrets. []
Now, the air conditioning was fixed in about a day and the fostered animals started making their way back.
With Katie returning the 3 cats she took in a couple of days later.
But not all of those animals wound up back in the shelter.
There were some foster fail moments - like Ilya and his wife falling in love with Teton the cat.
With Ilya saying,
“He felt like he was already a family member.” []
After everything was fixed and the shelter was back to business as usual, the executive director of the Montgomery County Office of Animal Services put out a statement saying,
“We want to give a huge shout out to the community for quickly coming to support the animals we care for. I also want to thank our staff for continuing their compassionate care to all the animals while we resolved the air conditioning issue.” []
And the county executive echoes that in his own statement - adding,
“The outpouring of care from our residents, and from folks across the region, was incredible.” []
And the shelter itself expressed their gratitude on social media, saying,
“This response has left us speechless. How do we even begin to express our gratitude for each and every one of you?”
“All animals are safe, cared for, and cool… thanks to YOU.”
So round of applause to this community for rallying to help this shelter and these animals in their time of need.
You’re absolutely our BAMFs of the Day.
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