Jilted MAGA see Trump's new merch as tokens of his disdain for them: Analyst

A number of Trump supporters are finally starting to grow tired of his act and see him as only out for himself, Bulwark policy editor Ashley Parker told MS NOW's Katy Tur on Wednesday — and this is exemplified by his release of commemorative $12,000 gold coins for the UFC fight planned for the White House lawn.

"Is this a contradiction Trump is not getting in enriching himself while Americans are struggling?" asked Tur. "I mean, does he not see the sort of side-by-side?"

"The grifting, corruption is nothing particularly new for this president or for American voters to experience for this president," said Parker, adding that he has been merchandising and cutting deals off the presidency to make himself money ever since his first term. The difference now, she said, is that "voters ... including some who were part of that broad and impressive coalition that got him back into the White House in 2024, they are less willing to give him grace on things like this."

These voters, she said, "know how much gas costs, they know how much money they have in their checking accounts at the end of the month, or how much they don't have. They know what prices are, they know where their wages are, and they're struggling."

So when these voters see something like a five-figure gold coin for sale to commemorate a Trump event, Parker continued, "it now becomes almost a physical golden token of the way that they feel. He does not care about them and only cares about himself."

This sort of thing, she said, is also why Trump's White House ballroom project has been so resonant and controversial. "These things like the White House ballroom, like the UFC fight, like these rather expensive coins, frankly, are such a political problem for him right now."

All of this comes as local activists in D.C. file legal action to try to stop Trump's UFC event from taking place altogether.

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A right-wing pastor flipped out on Wednesday while discussing former President Barack Obama's new presidential library in Chicago.

Todd Friel, a radio pastor and host of "Wretched TV," said Obama was "sending a message" about his "fundamental redesign for America" by building his library, according to a new report from Right Wing Watch. The building, which is in Chicago's Park District and is scheduled to open on Juneteenth, sits on a 19.3-acre campus and includes the city's first "fully inclusive" playground, meaning it caters to children of all physical abilities.

Friel described the library as a "tangible symbol of Barack Obama's horrific ... destructive world views." He added that it is also an "intentional slight to God."

"That is why I believe President Obama continues to speak," Friel said. "He's not in office. He doesn't speak with his lips; he speaks with architecture. And what he is saying is as odious as ever. His presidential center, it shouts, 'I hate this America. I hate tradition. And I reject God's ordering of reality.'"

Friel also claimed that the building's contemporary architectural features show that Obama wants to "tear down and discard" American traditions.

"And that's why Obama's library, aside from being an eyesore, is downright diabolical. Just like the fellow who designed it," Friel said.

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi sparked a crisis during a White House briefing with MAGA influencers on February 27 by distributing unapproved binders allegedly containing Epstein files, according to the forthcoming book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan.

The New York Times reports Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were briefing popular MAGA influencers Mike Cernovich, Liz Wheeler, Collin Rugg, and DC Draino before Bondi arrived with boxes of materials not vetted by White House officials.

When staff opened the binders searching for President Donald Trump's name, they found it.

According to the report, one official said he found Trump's name a few pages in, right in the middle.

The crisis intensified because the White House was hosting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the same day, and a premature Epstein file release would overshadow Trump's scheduled press conference, said the report.

White House aides hastily removed influencers, claiming content was embargoed. However, influencers posted selfies holding the binders on social media, creating the exact media firestorm the White House attempted to prevent.

Watch the video below.

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Energy Secretary Chris Wright dropped an expletive at a House hearing Wednesday — and got scolded for it by the Republican running the room.

The meltdown came after Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) confronted Wright over President Donald Trump's broken pledge to slash energy prices by 50% and the Department of Energy's cancellation of hundreds of clean energy grants in blue states.

"Has Donald Trump fulfilled his promise?" Amo asked.

"He sets ambitious targets, and he is all in on driving in that direction," Wright hedged.

"So my answer is no!" Amo noted.

"Not yet!" Wright fired back.

Amo then charged that Wright had canceled more than 300 projects in Democratic-leaning states — including $14 million for three Rhode Island grants — and that a court found the DOE violated the Constitution. He then quoted from litigation in which the DOE's own attorneys wrote that "a primary reason for the selection of which DOE grant termination decisions were included in the October 2025 notice tranche was whether the grantee was located in a blue state."

"We did not involve politics in the decisions!" Wright said, denying the charge.

"What about the outcomes, Mr. Secretary?" Amo pressed.

Wright snapped: "So it's bulls—! We're gonna say it a million times! Not true!"

That prompted Amo to call a point of parliamentary procedure. "Are we promoting language like that from witnesses?"

House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chair Brian Babin (R-TX) stepped in. "Watch your language there, Mr. Secretary," he said, before trying to move on.

"We'll do [that], sir!" Wright promised.

Amo accused Wright of performing for "your audience of one" — President Trump — and pressed him again on whether he would restore the canceled grants.

"We've gone overboard for New England, for California, for blue states!" Wright dodged.

"That's not an answer!" Amo shot back, reclaiming his time. He closed with a final question: "Do you believe federal grant decisions should be based in any way on how a state's voters cast their ballots in a presidential election?"

"They shouldn't, and they weren't!" Wright said.

Amo had the last word: "Mr. Secretary, this hearing started with Trump's promise to lower energy costs. Instead, you've bloviated."