REPORTER: Mr. President, any update on Secretary Hegseth? Your confidence in him? TRUMP: About what? REPORTER: About Signal – having Signal on his – TRUMP: I don’t view Signal as important. I think that’s fake news. So, I don’t view it as important. From yesterday’s Washington Post reports: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the installation of Signal, a commercially available …

CNN reports: A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from terminating the collective bargaining rights for a sizeable share of the federal workforce. The preliminary injunction issued by US District Court Judge Paul Friedman in the District of Columbia also found that a key section of President Donald Trump’s executive order allowing more than a dozen federal agencies …

The Daily Beast reports: President Donald Trump, wearing a blue suit in a sea of black, 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 …

USA Today reports: Trump administration officials directed law enforcement nationwide to pursue suspected gang members into their homes, in some cases without any sort of warrant, according to a copy of the directive exclusively obtained by USA TODAY. The directive, issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi March 14, provides the first public view of the specific implementation of the 1798 …

“This is the hardest statement I have ever written. I write this humbled, chastened, and fully accountable for choices that shattered the faith so many placed in me. I betrayed the confidence entrusted to me by many. For that, I offer my deepest apology. “When I pled guilty, I did so without reservation. I said then, and I repeat now, …

The New York Times reports: The funeral of Pope Francis will follow a series of centuries-old rituals. On Saturday, a public funeral Mass will be held in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals. The funeral will be more modest than rites for past pontiffs: Pope Francis last …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Lulu Roman, the brash Hee Haw comedian and gospel singer who delighted fans of the long-running country music variety show while turning her life around in the process, has died. She was 78. Roman died Wednesday in Bellingham, Washington, her son, Damon Roman, told The Hollywood Reporter. She had moved there to be with him seven …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump and his allies have raked in over $1 million in trading fees over the past two days from the president’s $TRUMP cryptocurrency token, according to Chainalysis, a blockchain data company. The surge came after a Wednesday announcement in which the top 220 holders of the token were promised dinner with the president. The $TRUMP …

Via email from hate group leader Monica Cole: DampRid offends conservative parents in one of its latest commercials. One Million Moms has received many complaints regarding the “Get Rid of the DAAAMP!” ad, which included insinuated profanity. In this ad, the company attempts to promote its product that eliminates excess moisture in the air and subsequent damp, musty odors. Unfortunately, …

Politico reports: The Trump administration has drawn a bright line around Medicare and Social Security, promising Americans that the two programs will remain untouched. But a budget proposal obtained by POLITICO shows a different kind of rollback underway — one that could impact the lives of millions of older Americans and people with disabilities. The Trump administration is poised to …

The Associated Press reports: Organizers and the Kennedy Center have canceled a week’s worth of events celebrating LGBTQ+ rights for this summer’s World Pride festival in Washington, D.C. The events at the center had been planned for June 5 to 8. Multiple artists and producers involved in the center’s Tapestry of Pride schedule told The Associated Press that their events …

STAT News reports: Last week, at least one scientific journal received a letter from a top U.S. attorney asking it to respond to alleged bias. Now, one of the world’s leading medical journals, has received a similar inquiry as well. The New England Journal of Medicine’s editor in chief, Eric Rubin, received a letter from the interim U.S. attorney for …

The New York Post reports: Escándalo! Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was accused Wednesday of using AI to fake his Spanish-language prowess for a campaign ad — but the Democratic socialist laughed off the claims as totally loco. A Spanish-language ad posted to social media earlier this week showed Mamdani making his campaign pitch to Latino New Yorkers inside and outside …

Axios reports: Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday she is resuming the practice of attempting to seize reporters’ phone records in order to smoke out leakers. It is a complete reversal of the policy that former President Biden and former Attorney General Merrick Garland put in place restricting subpoenas of reporters’ news-gathering materials. “I have concluded that it is necessary …

The Free Press reports: Ed Martin, the firebrand Republican activist whom President Donald Trump picked to be the top prosecutor in D.C., has a new target: Wikipedia. Martin, the interim U.S. attorney in Washington and Trump’s permanent selection to serve in that role, sent a letter on Thursday afternoon to the Wikimedia Foundation that alleged it “is engaging in a …