Canadian SMR project shortlisted for federal fast-track

Thursday, 18 September 2025

World Nuclear News

Ontario Power Generation's Darlington New Nuclear project has been named as one of the first projects to be reviewed by a new office set up by the federal government to help fast-track major projects.
 

(Image: Lars Hagberg/PM of Canada)

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the launch of the Major Projects Office (MPO) in August, to fast-track "nation-building" projects by streamlining regulatory assessment and approvals and helping to structure financing, in close partnership with provinces, territories, Indigenous Peoples, and private investors. Headquartered in Calgary, with offices in other major Canadian cities, the MPO's mandate is to serve as a single point of contact to get nation-building projects built faster. By creating a single set of conditions it will be possible to reduce the approval timeline for projects of national interest to a maximum of two years, the government claims, and the MPO will work with provinces and territories to achieve a "one project, one review" approach.

The Darlington New Nuclear project is one of five that have now been referred to the MPO for its consideration.

"This project will make Canada the first G7 country to have an operational small modular reactor (SMR), accelerating the commercialisation of a key technology that could support Canadian and global clean energy needs while driving CAD500 million annually into Ontario's nuclear supply chain. Once complete, Darlington's first of four planned SMR units will provide reliable, affordable, clean power to 300,000 homes, while sustaining 3,700 jobs annually, including 18,000 during construction, over the next 65 years. The project has the potential to position Canada as a global leader in the deployment of SMR technology for use across the country and worldwide," the government said. CAD500 million is about USD363 million.

Also referred to the Major Projects Office are a project to double LNG Canada's production of liquefied natural gas; a capacity expansion of the Port of Montréal; a copper and zinc mining project in Saskatchewan, that the government says will strengthen Canada's position as a global supplier of critical minerals for clean energy; and a major expansion of a copper mine in British Columbia.

"Together, these projects represent investments of more than CAD60 billion in our economy and will create thousands of well-paying jobs for Canadians," the government said.

These first projects have already achieved many regulatory milestones and have undertaken extensive engagement with Indigenous Peoples, provincial governments, local authorities, proponents, and other stakeholders, the government noted, so for these projects, "the work of the Major Projects Office will be to close final regulatory and permitting gaps, co-ordinate with provinces and territories, and ensure financing plans can be achieved. The MPO will recommend to the federal government the best course to complete each project approval quickly so proponents can make smart investment decisions".

“At this moment of transformative change, Canada's new government is focused on delivering major projects to connect our communities, empower Canadian workers, and build Canada's strength. With the first in a series of new projects, we will build big, build now, and build Canada strong," Carney said.

The Province of Ontario on 8 May announced its final investment decision to give the green light to Ontario Power Generation for construction of the first of four GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy BWRX-300 SMRs at the Darlington site. The total cost of the four-SMR project has been estimated at CAD20.9 billion.

 

Teck deal with Anglo faces Indigenous challenge on smelter plan

Bloomberg News | September 18, 2025]

Trail Operations is one of the world’s largest fully integrated zinc and lead smelting and refining complexes. (Image courtesy of Teck Resources.)

An Indigenous group in Canada vows to bring political and legal challenges against Teck Resources Ltd.’s merger with Anglo American Plc, unless the companies consult with them over expansion plans for a smelter in southern British Columbia.

Teck’s zinc-and-lead smelter in Trail, BC, is on lands that are the responsibility of the Osoyoos Indian Band, according to Chief Clarence Louie. He said Teck hasn’t meaningfully talked to the group about its proposed merger and investments for the Trail operations, which faced historic complaints about pollution.

“To date we have experienced significant impacts without any benefit,” Louie said in an emailed statement, calling the companies’ proposal to expand the operations without consulting First Nations “unconscionable.”

Anglo and Teck agreed this month to combine in a deal that would create a mining giant worth more than $50 billion. As part of the transaction, the companies said they would invest as much as C$750 million ($544 million) in the Trail operations to explore ways to add copper processing and expand output for germanium and other so-called strategic metals.

Canada’s government has the ability to block the proposed transaction under the rules of the Investment Canada Act. The “net benefit test” allows the minister to judge any deal based on a number of factors, including the impact on jobs, exports, technological development and “Canada’s ability to compete in world markets.”

Teck and Anglo have made commitments to invest in Canada, relocate the joint headquarters to Teck’s base of Vancouver and invest C$4.5 billion in Canada if the deal is approved. Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly said Tuesday the companies haven’t yet done enough to demonstrate the deal’s advantages to the nation’s economy.

In an interview with Bloomberg News, Osoyoos Chief Louie said he’ll ask politicians to obstruct the deal unless there’s better consultation, citing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. The declaration was legally adopted by BC and Canada, and outlines the need for free, prior and informed consent from Indigenous groups for measures affecting their lands.

The chief said he wants to discuss involvement by the area’s Indigenous people on environmental and cultural issues and the potential for jobs and revenue sharing related to the Trail operations. The smelter in Trail now operated by Teck was established more than a century ago.

“They’re doing these deals on other mines,” Louie said of Teck, referring to deals the company has struck elsewhere, “but they have nothing with the smelter, nothing in Trail itself.”

Teck has invested in remediation efforts for Trail and worked with local Indigenous communities, according to company filings, though the Osoyoos Indian Band isn’t among groups it names.

Louie said efforts are underway to meet Teck chief executive officer Jonathan Price within weeks, after a previous meeting was canceled. Teck said it has been in touch with the Osoyoos Indian Band about the proposed merger and looks forward to discussing further.

“Teck is committed to building and maintaining relationships with Indigenous governments affected by our operations and engaging meaningfully for significant projects,” a company spokesperson said Thursday in an emailed statement. “That includes Trail operations as the merger transaction progresses and the potential investments proposed as part of the merger become better defined.”

An Anglo spokesperson said the company echoed Teck’s comments.

If the deal goes ahead anyway — the companies expect to complete the transaction within 12 to 18 months — the Osoyoos band is prepared to challenge the companies in court.

“We’ll use whatever legal options we have,” Louie said. “Whatever we have to do.”

(By Thomas Seal)

Canadian banks' fossil fuel funding nearly double compared with renewables: report

Story by Ian Bickis

Sept. 18, 2025.

Suncor's base plant with upgraders in the oilsands in Fort McMurray Alta, on Monday June 13, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson© The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Canada's big banks financed about US$145 billion in fossil fuel investments last year, compared with about US$75 billion to low-carbon energy, said a report released Thursday.

The report by energy transition research firm BloombergNEF focuses on the ratio of global bank funding going to oil, gas and coal projects compared with low-carbon investments like wind, solar and electrical grids, as a way to see how much financial institutions are helping or hindering the transition.

BloombergNEF found that globally, the ratio for banks was 89 cents going toward low-carbon options for every dollar to fossil fuels in 2024, roughly the same rate as a year earlier.

"The ratio is not rising at the pace needed to meet global climate goals," said lead author Trina White in the report.

The ratio for Canada's Big Six banks was 0.61 to 1 last year, worsening from 0.67 to 1 in 2023. However, the picture was mixed, with some seeing a higher ratio of funding to renewables and others slipping.

Banks finance a range of projects across sectors, said Canadian Bankers Association spokeswoman Nathalie Bergeron in a statement.

"Banks in Canada remain committed to strategically supporting clients in their transition efforts as part of Canada’s strategy to address climate change.”

Excluding National Bank — an outlier among the six major lenders as the only one to fund more renewables than fossil fuels — the ratio worked out to 0.49 to 1 in 2024, compared with 0.47 to 1 a year earlier.

Last year, RBC committed to release its own calculated energy supply ratio but said in April it would not be disclosing it publicly, citing new greenwashing laws, while Scotiabank has committed to releasing its findings next year.

RBC, which has also committed to provide $35 billion in low-carbon financing by 2030, fared the best among the Big Five banks with a ratio of 0.61 to 1.

Spokeswoman Sarah Kennedy said RBC's goal is to be the bank of choice for the transition to a low-carbon and resilient economy.

"Our strategy is to support our clients across sectors in the transition, while focusing first on the areas that we believe present the greatest opportunities and risks."

Kennedy did not clarify if or when the bank plans to publicly release its own clean energy finance ratio. Other major banks including Citi and JPMorgan Chase have already publicly released their first ratio reports.

TD Bank Group had the worst ratio of its Canadian banking peers with 31 cents going to low-carbon energy for every dollar directed at fossil fuels. The bank did not respond to a request for comment.

Richard Brooks, climate finance program director at Stand.earth, said the lack of overall progress from a year earlier shows voluntary action from banks, including their commitments to net-zero financed emissions by 2050, isn't working.

"With the hottest year on record and fires still raging across many countries, we need governments to step in and regulate and legislate action by the banks," said Brooks in a statement.

"We need investors and customers who have been misled into believing the bank's net-zero commitments are real to litigate a change in behaviour."

He said some banks are showing progress, pointing to BNP Paribas, which has achieved a ratio of 2:1 in favour of low-carbon energy, as an example to follow.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Sept. 18, 2025.

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press

South Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy in talks to buy US shipyard

South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries eyes buying a shipyard in the US as it targets building American warships · Reuters

Heejin Kim
Thu, September 18, 2025


ULSAN, South Korea (Reuters) -South Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is in talks with multiple companies about buying a U.S. shipyard, a senior company executive said, seeking to tap into President Donald Trump's push to revive America's ailing shipbuilding industry.

The world's largest shipbuilder based on orders is targeting 3 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in annual revenue by 2035 from building warships for the U.S. Navy, said Woo-maan Jeong, head of planning and management for HD Hyundai's naval and special ship unit, in an interview at its Ulsan headquarters.

"It seems to be clear that we need to build a manufacturing base in the U.S. sometime in the future," Jeong said on Wednesday, declining to name any companies involved in the talks or to give the scale of any potential investment.

"The U.S. is apparently facing a situation that pushes it to inevitably open the shipbuilding market," said Jeong, given the widening gap in naval capabilities between the United States and China and the lack of sufficient U.S. capacity for building warships.

The U.S. "will have to utilise the infrastructure and capacities built already by its allies to overcome a short-term ship shortage."

U.S. shipyards, which had the world's highest production capacity during World War Two, had a global market share of just 0.04% in 2024, according to U.N. Trade and Development data.

China and South Korea are now responsible for 83% of global commercial shipbuilding, the data also shows.

Shipbuilders still operating in the U.S. include Philly Shipyard, bought in 2024 by Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean, and a full-service shipyard run by General Dynamics on the West Coast. Huntington Ingalls Industries is also building ships as a large supplier for U.S. Navy.

South Korea pledged in July to invest $150 billion in U.S. shipbuilding, as part of $350 billion in investment funds that Seoul agreed to put into U.S. projects as part of negotiations over lower tariffs.

In late August, HD Hyundai also announced a merger with affiliate HD Hyundai Mipo to utilise Mipo's yards to expand its warship business and help lead U.S.-Korea shipbuilding projects.

Jeong said challenges to building ships in the United States include a shortage of skilled workers.

"Another issue is retention. Many U.S. shipyard workers quit within a year," he said.

It could take between three and five years for Hyundai to train U.S. workers to boost productivity, Jeong said, citing the company's experience in setting up a shipyard in Peru.

Another obstacle could be U.S. immigration policy, he said, as he called for better visa policies for Korean trainers, after the recent arrest of hundreds of Korean workers at Hyundai Motor's battery plant in the state of Georgia.

US LAWS RESTRICT FOREIGN SHIPBUILDERS

HD Hyundai Heavy christened on Wednesday in its Ulsan yard an 8,200-metric ton, Aegis-equipped destroyer to be delivered to the South Korean Navy by end-2026.

The company touted the ship, built in just 18 months, as a "symbol of U.S.-Korea cooperation" since its combat system uses technology supplied by U.S. companies such as Lockheed Martin.

The company can build such warships in less than two-thirds of the time required by U.S. peers, Jeong said.

U.S. laws restricting foreign firms from building ships are among the other challenges. The U.S. Merchant Marine Act of 1920, better known as the Jones Act, restricts domestic shipping to vessels that are U.S.-built and U.S.-flagged, while the Byrnes-Tollefson Amendment prohibits foreign shipyards from constructing naval vessels.

Jeong said the U.S. Congress is considering amendments to those acts to help foreign companies build ships for the U.S., although it's unlikely the century-old laws would be scrapped entirely.

Still, despite the challenges, there is no other market for warships as attractive as the U.S., he said.

But, "the undeniable reality is that if you want to do business with the U.S., you need to do it in the U.S.," Jeong said.

(Reporting by Heejin Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Tom Hogue)

Bernie Sanders Says Pope Leo Is Exactly Right About Elon Musk's Pay Package: 'No Society Can Survive When One Man Becomes A Trillionaire'

Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee
Wed, September 17, 2025 


Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday aligned himself with Pope Leo's criticism of outsized executive pay, saying the pontiff is "exactly right" to call out soaring compensation packages and pointing specifically to Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk's proposed $1 trillion award.

Bernie Sanders Echoes Pope On Soaring Executive Pay

Sanders said such windfalls call attention to widening inequality and argued the package should be rejected, renewing a fight he waged last week when he labeled Musk's prospective payout "grossly immoral."

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Sanders posted on X on Monday, stating, "The Pope is exactly right. No society can survive when one man becomes a trillionaire while the vast majority struggle to just survive — trying to put food on the table, pay rent and afford health care. We can and must do better."



Pope Warns Of Trillionaire Era Dangers Ahead

Pope Leo, in a recent interview published in bits over the last weekend, warned about the concentration of wealth and the dramatic expansion of CEO pay ratios, saying chief executives now make "600 times more than what average workers are receiving."

See Also: These five entrepreneurs are worth $223 billion – they all believe in one platform that offers a 7-9% target yield with monthly dividends

Citing reports that Musk could become a trillionaire under Tesla's plan, he asked, "What does that mean and what's that about? If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we're in big trouble."
Tesla Board And Analysts Defend Compensation Plan

Tesla's board has framed the proposed, performance-based award as a way to keep Musk focused on meeting audacious targets over a decade, including massive growth in robotaxis, robotics and market value. Board chair Robyn Denholm defended the package, saying it motivates "doing things that no one else has done before," and argued comparisons to conventional executive pay miss its purpose.


Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas has called the proposal "a good deal" for Tesla shareholders, adding that while $1 trillion is a large figure, it is "modest compared to the size of the market opportunity" Tesla is pursuing in AI, autonomy and robotics.

© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Elizabeth Warren says there's a hidden reason why Trump wants to end companies' quarterly earnings requirement

Bryan Metzger
Wed, September 17, 2025 
Business Insider

"It undermines transparency," Sen. Elizabeth Warren said of Trump's proposal. "That is the whole point here."

Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images

Trump said that companies should no longer have to report earnings to the SEC every quarter.


Sen. Elizabeth Warren criticized the suggestion, saying it undermines transparency.


She says that's the point — and that Trump doesn't want "real numbers reported."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren isn't a fan of President Donald Trump's idea to end quarterly earnings reporting requirements.


"It undermines transparency," the Massachusetts Democrat said in an interview with Yahoo Finance on Tuesday night. "That is the whole point here."

As of now, the Securities and Exchange Commission requires publicly traded companies to report their earnings on a quarterly basis, meaning every three months.

Trump said on Monday that the requirement should be relaxed to every six months, and that doing so would save companies money and allow for more long-term thinking.

Warren argued that Trump is floating the change because he doesn't "want real numbers reported in any of the economic areas, because he knows he's in trouble on the economy." She also mentioned Trump's firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner after a disappointing July jobs report.

"This is the standard Donald Trump trick, and that is, if you don't like the numbers, then try to get them out of sight," Warren said. "And that's what he's trying to do."

In a statement to BI, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers did not address Warren's comments directly, instead taking a swipe at Warren's previous identification as a Native American.

"The last person who should be giving advice on SEC requirements is Pocahontas," Rogers said. "She couldn't even tell the truth about her own background!"

Companies have reported earnings on a quarterly basis in the United States since 1970. The European Union moved from a quarterly earnings reporting schedule to a bi-annual reporting schedule in 2015.

Experts are conflicted on the change, which could also disrupt the existing ecosystem of corporate lawyers and data providers who help companies comply with the requirements.

The change won't take place immediately. It would need to be approved by the SEC, though the agency has said that it will prioritize his proposal.

Quarterly earnings reports are one of several factors that investors might weigh when making decisions. A move to six-month reporting would mean that information would be available less often.

"Investors do not need to see less information about the companies that they are investing in," Warren said. "After all, those companies are using investors' money."

Four arrested after photos of Trump and Epstein projected onto Windsor Castle during president's U.K. visit

Raquel Coronell Uribe
Tue, September 16, 2025
NBC

Four arrested after photos of Trump and Epstein projected onto Windsor Castle during president's U.K. visit

Police in the U.K. arrested four people after photos of President Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were projected onto Windsor Castle on Tuesday night.

The projections included photos of Trump and Epstein; of the two joined by first lady Melania Trump with Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell; and of a lewd birthday message Trump allegedly sent Epstein in 2003 for a 50th birthday book.

Trump arrived in London on Tuesday for a state visit. He's expected to spend most of Wednesday at the castle with King Charles III and Queen Camilla and other members of the royal family.

Thames Valley Police said in a statement Tuesday night that they arrested four adults “on suspicion of malicious communications following a public stunt in Windsor.” The police added they will conduct an investigation into the incident, and that all four people arrested remain in custody.

“Our officers responded swiftly to stop the projection and four people have been arrested,” the statement read.

The inclusion of the alleged birthday message from Trump comes after its release by the House Oversight Committee last week after it subpoenaed Epstein’s estate for documents. Trump and the White House have vehemently denied the authenticity of the message.

The committee launched an investigation into the Epstein case following uproar after the FBI and Justice Department said over the summer that they would not release more files linked to the case. The decision sparked outrage by many MAGA supporters — on the campaign trail last year, Trump vowed more transparency in the Epstein case after claiming the government was withholding information.

In addition to subpoenaing the Epstein estate, the committee ordered several high-profile former officials to testify, including former Attorney General Merrick Garland, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.

The Oversight Committee on Tuesday released a transcript of its interview with one such official, Bill Barr, who was attorney general in Trump's first term when Epstein died in jail by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. In his deposition, Barr said he was not aware of any evidence suggesting that Epstein procured women for Trump.

Trump said in 2019 that he had a falling out with Epstein “a long time ago,” and that he hadn’t spoken with the disgraced financier “for 15 years.” In July, Trump said that their falling out came after Epstein “stole” staff from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.

The release of the so-called Epstein birthday book led to the dismissal of U.K. ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson, who was fired last week over his relationship with Epstein. The book purportedly showed a message signed by Mandelson in which called Epstein “my best pal.”

In 2019, the king’s brother, Prince Andrew, stepped back from his royal duties over his friendship with Epstein. Three years later, he was stripped of his military affiliations and royal patronages by Queen Elizabeth II after his lawyers failed to persuade a U.S. judge to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of sexual abuse.

Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre had alleged that Andrew sexually abused her when she was 17. He repeatedly denied the allegation but made an an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre. She died by suicide earlier this year.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

This Scottish Newspaper's Cover About Trump's UK Visit Is Going Viral

Matt Stopera
Thu, September 18, 2025 

As you know, Donald Trump is in the UK for a state visit.

He was "welcomed" with this banner:

- / Everone Hates Elon/AFP via Getty Images

There was also a light show directly on Windsor Castle:

Mark Kerrison / In Pictures via Getty Images
Activists projected that alleged card:

Mark Kerrison / In Pictures via Getty Images

Personal messages:

Mark Kerrison / In Pictures via Getty Images

Related: This FSU Student Had A Scathing Message For Donald Trump, And It's Going Mega Viral
Mugshots:

Mark Kerrison / In Pictures via Getty Images
And a photo of Trump with Jeffrey Epstein:

Mark Kerrison / In Pictures via Getty Images

Related: Donald Trump Just Shared A Very Ominous Post, And People Are Calling It "One Of The Worst Statements Ever Made By A Sitting US President"
Well, Reuters reported that four people were arrested for the prank, and now a Scottish newspaper is calling that out.

Mark Kerrison / Getty Images

Here's their cover:

Getty Images/ScotNational/x.com
A bunch of people are simply saying "No."

X

Related: "What The F**k?": Jon Stewart Was Stunned By These 2 Words Trump Let Slip When Denying Visiting Jeffrey Epstein's Island
Other people were like, ah ha, "I see what you're doing."

celtic1967/x.com
And finally, this Brit said, "This headline makes me wish I was Scottish."

BigHairyJack/x.com

Related: People Are Using THAT Seven-Letter "F-Word" To Describe Trump's Latest Announcement About "Homeless People"

Unstoppable Martial Arts Robot Can Take a Direct Dropkick Without Falling Down

Victor Tangermann
Tue, September 16, 2025 



A new viral video shows a kickboxing humanoid robot shrugging off a flying dropkick from a human being.

"OK, should we start worrying?" one user asked on the r/singularity subreddit in response to the video.

"It looks like it doesn't like falling," another user added.

The research behind the stunt was conducted by scientists at the Active Intelligent Systems (ACT) Lab at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China, using Unitree's popular G1 robot.

The robot's incredible agility highlights how far the tech has come in a matter of years. Chinese robot manufacturer Unitree's G1, in particular, has quickly turned into a popular test bed for reinforcement learning techniques, allowing it to pick up new skills very quickly.

In fact, the only thing that even came close to defeating the robot in the video was a loose tile that tripped it up — and even in that case, it made an impressive recovery, jumping right back up to fight some more in less than a second.

https://twitter.com/XRoboHub/status/1967496323701276997

We've already seen the G1 show off its martial arts prowess several times, from punching the air and delivering a swooping roundhouse kick to two of the bots facing off in a kickboxing showdown event at the World AI Conference in Shanghai last month.

However, things can still go off the rails — with alarming results. A video of a failed test run by robot combat company REK in July showed a G1 flailing its arms and legs, seemingly trying to break free of a harness.

Others are using the robot for dramatically different purposes as well. Case in point, a cowboy hat-toting bipedal robot, dubbed "Jake the Rizzbot," has been wandering the streets of several US cities this summer, turning heads and flinging compliments — instead of punches and kicks — at passersby.

Past presidents have hit a financial windfall after leaving office. Biden is struggling to find work

Ariana Baio
Tue, September 16, 2025

Former President Joe Biden has not cashed in on his presidency in the same way his predecessors have, according to a new report (Getty Images)

Former President Joe Biden is reportedly struggling to cash in on his years of public service, unlike other former commanders-in-chief, with fewer lucrative speaking gigs and a smaller advance on his memoir.

In the modern post-presidency, many profit off their time in office by charging hundreds of thousands of dollars for speaking engagements, earning millions from must-read memoirs, establishing nonprofits, or going back into business.

But at 82 years old, coming off an unpopular presidency, combined with concerns about President Donald Trump seeking retribution against companies that show allyship toward Biden, the former president is struggling with money-making ventures, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Biden has had speaking engagements since leaving office, for which he charges anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000. But he’s only had a handful.

He’s also received a $10 million advance for his upcoming memoir about his time in office. It’s a significant amount, but far less than the reported $60 million former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama received for their memoirs.

Former President Joe Biden has not cashed-in on his presidency the same way his predecessors have, according to a new report (Getty Images)

Biden’s days of flying private appear to have been left with Air Force One. The former president has been spotted in the first-class cabin of commercial flights or taking Amtrak.

The Independent has asked a Biden spokesperson for comment.

Presidents receive a pension after leaving office that is adjusted annually. In 2024, that was approximately $246,400, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation. But Biden is also eligible for an additional pension, worth around $166,374, given to members of Congress, since he served in the Senate for 36 years and then Vice President for eight years.

Though that’s more than $400,000, it may not be enough to sustain the Bidens' lifestyle, pay off debts, and leave money for their two living children and seven grandchildren – which Biden wants to do, according to the Journal.

Shortly after leaving office in January, Biden reportedly confided in those close to him that he intended to pay off around $800,000 in personal debts.

Biden has delivered speeches for at least four different events this year – fewer than expected but the former president is also battling prostate cancer (Getty Images)

The Bidens have liabilities in the form of a home equity loan secured in 2022 for the couple’s Rehoboth Beach house and a mortgage obtained in 2013, according to financial disclosures.

Two of Biden’s children have also recently confronted expensive legal woes. Hunter Biden has publicly expressed financial troubles after his high-profile federal gun trial last year. Hunter recently asked a judge to dismiss a civil lawsuit regarding the contents of his laptop because he could not afford to proceed.

Ashley Biden, meanwhile, recently filed for divorce from her husband of 13 years.

In addition to those financial costs, Biden is battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

While Joe and Jill Biden are far from financial concerns, their lifestyles differ from other former presidents who have had decades post-presidency to build wealth through book deals and speeches.

The Obamas are estimated to have a net worth of $70 million, according to Forbes.

The Clintons, who left the White House in 2001 in debt, are believed to be worth more than $45 million.

Former President George W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush have an estimated net worth of $40 million.

Al Gore on China’s climate rise: ‘I would not have seen this coming’

Connie Loizos
Tue, September 16, 2025





Twenty-five years ago, Al Gore was in the final stretch of his U.S. presidential campaign, just weeks away from an election that would ultimately slip through his fingers despite winning the popular vote. His platform included ambitious climate action, with America positioned as the natural leader of a global environmental transition.

The irony of what has transpired since is not lost on him. “Looking from the standpoint of 25 years ago, I have to say no, I would not have seen this as the most likely outcome,” Gore admits when asked about China’s emergence as the world’s leading force in the energy transition, a reality that would have seemed almost fantastical to the candidate who once hoped to steer American climate policy from the Oval Office.

But Gore isn’t lamenting China’s climate leadership so much as celebrating that someone is stepping up while expressing frustration that America has ceded the field. As far as he’s concerned, the planet doesn’t care which country leads the charge toward sustainability as long as someone does. What troubles him more is the opportunity cost, the sense that American innovation and influence could be accelerating global progress if the country weren’t busy dismantling its own climate policies.

Gore and Lila Preston of sustainability-focused investment firm Generation Investment Management talked with this editor early Monday morning about their ninth annual climate report, which comprehensively documents both concerning setbacks in U.S. climate policy and China’s remarkable rise as what they call the world’s “first electro state.”

We spent much of our conversation examining what’s making headlines right now: the tech industry’s growing appetite for rare earth minerals and what responsible mining might look like, how the AI boom’s demand for massive data centers could impact global energy consumption, and whether the space industry’s rocket launches really represent the net positive for climate goals that industry observers believe them to be. Following are excerpts from that chat, edited for length and clarity. You can also listen to the full conversation via TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC Download podcast (below).

You’ve been tracking these sustainability trends for years now. Given the policy whiplash between U.S. administrations, should other countries stop counting on America to lead on long-term global challenges?

Al Gore: There is a big wheel turning in the right direction, and there are some smaller wheels within the big wheel turning in the opposite direction. The world is moving very powerfully — if you look back 10 years to the time of the Paris Agreement, 55% of all energy investment was still going to fossil fuels, and only 45% to the energy transition. Now those numbers have more than reversed: 65% of financing is going to renewables and only 35% to fossils, and that trend is accelerating.

The United States has played a key role, but it’s been back and forth with changes in party control, which is unfortunate because the world would greatly benefit from sustained, consistent leadership from the U.S. We will survive this setback in the form of all these negative steps Trump has been taking. The rest of the world is moving forward, and even the U.S. will continue to move forward, albeit at a slower pace.

The report suggests China is becoming the world’s first “electro state” while the U.S. abandons the race for clean tech leadership. Could you have imagined this scenario 25 years ago?

Gore: Looking from the standpoint of 25 years ago, I have to say no, I would not have seen this as the most likely outcome. But I was always impressed with the degree to which Chinese leadership was listening carefully to their scientific community.

The story is becoming clearer now. When repeated record droughts cut their hydro capacity, some regional leaders began to feel concern that layoffs might follow, so they’ve been building coal plants and using them at 50% utilization or less. Meanwhile, the breakout construction of solar has been astonishing; they reached their solar goal six years early. This year, they’ve been opening essentially the equivalent of three new one-gigawatt nuclear plants every day in solar capacity for some months. It’s just incredible.

At the beginning of this year, they notified the world that they no longer want to be judged on carbon intensity measurements but on actual reductions. That’s a clear signal, because they never hold themselves to a standard they don’t think they can meet and exceed.

Speaking of coal, the EPA recently proposed ending a requirement for thousands of coal plants and refineries to report greenhouse gas emissions. What does it mean when we stop measuring the problem we’re trying to solve?

Gore: That’s part of their apparent intent to try to make the crisis go away by making all the information describing the crisis go away. But there is some ameliorating news. The partners at Generation Investment Management have been among the principal seed funders of Climate TRACE, which tracks real-time atmospheric carbon emissions.

We now measure 99% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide — the largest 660 million point-source emission sites. We have all of them in the U.S. The old cliche says you can only manage what you measure, and we will continue to have measurements of all significant GHG pollution in the U.S.

Lila Preston: We’re seeing Climate TRACE partnering with the private sector on supply chain visibility. Companies like Altana, one of our portfolio companies, has partnered with them to provide real-time assessment of supply chain risk and opportunity.

Back in January, President Trump announced the $500 billion Stargate Project to build massive AI data centers, starting in Texas. Your report talks about surging electricity demand threatening clean energy progress. Is there a way to pursue ambitious AI development without torpedoing our climate goals?

Preston: This is the best systems-level problem we’ve ever had to work through. The massive demand surge — about 65% coming from the U.S. — represents a shock to the system. Energy use from data centers is 2% today and expected to at least double by 2030. But we believe renewables, storage, and longer-term geothermal could meet this demand.

The flip side is how AI applications across energy, transport, and agriculture can reduce global emissions — some say 6% to 10% annually by 2035. There’s also a significant water footprint — a trillion gallons annually by 2027. We need to think holistically about this massive platform shift.

Gore: Important efforts are beginning to supply clean baseload power to support the decoupling of emissions intensity and compute intensity. Many of the largest builders of new AI capacity are recognizing that the cost advantages of solar plus batteries is now so great that it makes sense to use this as an extra spur to build out solar plus batteries. Many are also consumer-facing companies that are still committed to telling their user base they remain dedicated to sustainability goals, even though this temporary surge will balloon electricity use for data centers.

On that same topic, Elon Musk’s xAI was reportedly operating unpermitted gas turbines for over a year at its Memphis data center in a historically Black neighborhood that already has air quality problems.

Gore: That’s definitely a big concern. My friends and former constituents in southwest Memphis have been through a lot of environmental injustice already, and to have a 97% Black community, which already has a 5x cancer risk compared to the national average, be assaulted by these extra emissions from large methane turbine generators is really unjust.

They’re coming out of a successful fight to stop a high-pressure oil pipeline from going right through their communities and water source. But as soon as it was blocked, the Tennessee State Legislature passed a law saying no community, no city or county, can interfere with any kind of fossil fuel infrastructure going forward. It’s an example of how the fossil fuel industry, as I’ve often said, is way better at capturing politicians than capturing emissions.

They’ve used their political and economic power to capture control of the policy-making process in too many jurisdictions — local, regional, state, and in the case of the Trump administration, national politics. They also blew up the plastics negotiation because that’s their third largest market, petrochemicals, and used their power to prevent the world from putting any limits on the amount of plastic particles we’re absorbing into our bodies.

Elon Musk is back to asking xAI employees to prove ‘what you’ve accomplished’

But the world is catching up to them, and people in communities like Memphis and elsewhere are saying, “Wait a minute, we’re not going to take all of this unfair burden here.”

That plastics grow unabated is a big story. Precious metals are another big story of this year, in part because tariff threats have underscored the tech industry’s need for these to make their products. What’s your stance on what the hunt for those materials means for our environment?

Gore: These materials have to be mined responsibly and sustainably, and they can be. There have to be aggressive efforts to eliminate abusive and harmful practices we’ve seen in some places. But if you look at the volumes, it’s such a tiny percentage compared to the damage from mining and extracting fossil fuels every single day.

Preston: We’re seeing innovation using advanced modeling and AI to prospect and target where those materials would sit while reducing the load on the landscape and local communities. It’s not perfect, but there’s been a lot of progress in the past three to four years once alarm bells were raised globally that this had to be done more sustainably.

While we’re talking about tech, the space industry is booming. Sending up more rockets is also generating significant carbon emissions. Do you think we should regulate the emissions tied to space launches, or do the climate benefits of space technology justify the carbon footprint?

Gore: I’ve always been of the view that the usefulness of Earth observation from space exceeds the harm from space launches by a fair measure.

Looking at this year’s report, what are your biggest reasons for optimism and concern?

Gore: What continues to fuel my optimism is the steady and even accelerating advance of all the solutions we need. They continue getting cheaper, and the ability of the fossil fuel industry to resist this transition is diminishing regularly. This transition is unstoppable.

But the remaining question is whether we’ll make this transition in time to avoid negative tipping points. Just in the last few days, we got a stunning report that the cold upwelling along the western coast of South America — the Humboldt Current so crucial to the marine food chain — did not happen this year for the first time ever.

Marjorie Taylor Greene mixes conspiracies and religion in bid to discredit climate science

Ja'han Jones
Wed, September 17, 2025
MSNBC

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene fused Christian nationalism with climate denial during a House subcommittee hearing Tuesday. The hearing of the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency — chaired by the representative from Georgia and titled “Playing God With The Weather — A Disastrous Forecast” — had a distinctly religious tone from the jump. From the representative who brought you the “Jewish space lasers” conspiracy theory, Greene’s hearing provided a platform for her to peddle unfounded claims about nefarious government-backed efforts “to help these people play God with the weather” and discredit their oh-so-scary climate change agenda.

Here’s how she kicked it off, to give you a taste:


Humans have been trying to control the weather for centuries. Native American tribes performed ceremonial dances to summon rain during droughts. The Mayans sacrificed humans to their rain god. Today, people are still trying to control the weather. But some things have changed. Modern attempts at weather control don’t appeal to divinity. Instead, they use technology to put chemicals in the sky.

As Politico notes, the hearing was dominated by conspiracy theories from Greene and some of her GOP colleagues. An ABC News analysis laid out how Greene embellished or completely misstated facts about real climate-focused technologies and research, such as cloud seeding and greenhouse gas removal. The representative railed against advocates of “geoengineering” and alleged “they want to control the Earth’s climate to address the fake climate change hoax and head off global warming.” She denounced efforts to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and said science “will never be able to capture all of God’s wonderful creations and nature’s mysteries.”

Climate change is, of course, not a hoax, and it’s certainly a choice to frame efforts to avoid its catastrophic impacts as an affront to God. But Greene brought more than a little Bible-thumping to this transparent attempt to spook Americans about and sow distrust in those efforts.

“Do we believe in God, and that he has dominion over his perfect creation of planet Earth? Do we believe that he has given us everything that we need to survive as a civilization since the beginning of time?” Greene asked. “Or do you believe in man’s claim of authority over the weather based on scientists that have only been alive for decades?”

It was wild to hear Dark Age conspiracy theories bubbling from the chambers of Congress.

President Donald Trump, his vice president and the MAGA movement broadly have advocated for Christian nationalists like Greene to wield more control over the U.S. government. At Tuesday’s hearing, unabashed anti-intellectualism in the guise of sanctimonious spirituality showed how that puts all of America at risk.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Roasts Trump DOJ Honcho to His Face Over Dinner Protesters

Mediaite
Wed, September 17, 2025



CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins took on Trump Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche over his claim that protesters who chanted at President Donald Trump in a restaurant could be prosecuted under racketeering laws.

Trump staged a photo op at Joe’s Seafood in Washington, D.C., to promote his police crackdown earlier this month, but was booed on his way in and out of the restaurant, and accosted by protesters calling him “Hitler” while inside.

During an Oval Office photo op on Monday, Trump suggested the protesters could be prosecuted under RICO statutes.

On Tuesday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Collins interviewed Blanche and delivered several pointed retorts when the deputy AG defended Trump’s assertion:

COLLINS: You were in the Oval Office, when the President was talking about that yesterday. He also talked about racketeering charges. At one point, he referenced the women that were protesting him, at the seafood restaurant, when he was at dinner, the other night, outside the White House.

This is what he said in the Oval, for those who missed it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The people — there were a lot of people in the restaurant. I went there to show how safe, and it was safe. I mean, the woman is just a mouthpiece, or she was — she was a paid — she was a paid agitator, and you have a lot of them. And I’ve asked Pam to look into that in terms of RICO, bringing RICO cases against them — criminal RICO, because they should be put in jail. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: As you know, RICO has been used to go after like al Qaeda, MS-13, the Gambino family. How would something like that protest fall under a RICO charge?

BLANCHE: That’s not what we use RICO for only. RICO is available to all kinds of organizations committing crimes and committing wrongful acts, not just organized crime or ISIS or terrorist organizations. And so, it depends.

So is it, again, sheer happenstance that individuals show up at a restaurant, where the President is trying to enjoy dinner, in Washington, D.C., and accost him with vile words and vile anger? And meanwhile, he’s simply trying to have dinner. Does it mean it’s just completely random that they showed up? Maybe. Maybe.

But to the extent that it’s part of an organized effort, to inflict harm and terror and damage to the United States, there’s potential — potential investigations there. And that’s — that’s what the President was saying, yesterday, in the Oval Office, and what he’s also has said in the days before that as well.

COLLINS: But were those women in the restaurant inflicting harm, or terror, or damage, by protesting the President of the United States? I mean, they were just shouting basically in his vicinity.

BLANCHE: I mean, repeat what you just said. I mean, honestly. So, you’re asking whether there’s damage done by four individuals, screaming and yelling at the President of our United States while he’s trying to have dinner. That can’t be a serious question. That cannot be a serious question. I mean, it’s true that there’s a difference between shouting and committing an assassination–

COLLINS: People can protest the President.

BLANCHE: –committing an assassination, which is what happened to Charlie.

COLLINS: There were supporters outside as well.

BLANCHE: Well it depend — there’s nothing wrong with peaceful protests, and nobody has ever said so. Of all the people in this country, President Trump knows exactly what it’s like, to have people protest against him.

But what he’s talking about, and what the administration is talking about, is organized efforts by individuals, who are not present at the protests, but they’re funding these protests, and they’re not protests. They’re inflicting damage and harm, and actually assaulting officers. They’re damaging vehicles. And that’s the conduct that we’re trying to stop.

COLLINS: Well, I mean, people would argue about the ability to have free speech and to protest the government and criticize the government.

Watch via CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.

The post CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Roasts Trump DOJ Honcho to His Face Over Dinner Protesters first appeared on Mediaite.


Deputy AG defends Trump’s idea of prosecuting DC protesters

CNN
Wed, September 17, 2025 at 8:31 AM MDT
13



In an interview with CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended President Trump’s suggestion that protesters who confronted him at a DC restaurant could face criminal charges.

DOJ says Trump protesters could face RICO charges for yelling at him while he was ‘trying to enjoy dinner’

Alex Woodward
Wed, September 17, 2025 

The No. 2 official at the Department of Justice was so aghast at the idea of anti-Trump demonstrators protesting the president while he was “trying to enjoy dinner” that they could face federal anti-racketeering charges that were designed to bust up organized crime.

In recent days, the Trump administration has threatened to prosecute demonstrators and groups that support them as part of a wider campaign against left-wing opposition, raising alarms that it will crack down on dissent by infringing First Amendment rights.

Asked Tuesday how, exactly, a protester could be charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told CNN that the law is “available to all kinds of organizations committing crimes.”

“Is it sheer happenstance that individuals show up at a restaurant where the president is trying to enjoy dinner in Washington, D.C., and accost him with vile words and vile anger?” Blanche asked CNN host Kaitlan Collins.

“And meanwhile, he’s simply trying to have dinner,” Blanche continued. “Does it mean it’s just completely random that they showed up? Maybe, maybe, but to the extent that it’s part of an organized effort to inflict harm and terror and damage to the United States, there’s potential, potential investigations there.”

Donald Trump, and top Justice Department officials, have threatened to prosecute anti-Trump demonstrators using RICO statutes designed to break up organized crime (REUTERS)

Collins asked whether those protesters can really be considered “inflicting harm or terror damage by protesting the president of the United States.”

“I mean, they were just shouting, basically, in his vicinity,” she said.

“Repeat what you just said. I mean, honestly. So you’re asking whether there was damage done by four individuals screaming and yelling at the president of our United States while he’s trying to have dinner. That can’t be a serious question,” Blanche fired back.

As Trump entered a restaurant, during a rare visit to a Washington establishment last week after touting his federal takeover of the district, a group of protesters inside the venue shouted “Free DC! Free Palestine! Trump is the Hitler of our time!”

In videos of the protest, the demonstrators got up from their table at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab and got within feet of the president, who smirked at the group and waved for Secret Service personnel to remove them.

The protesters appeared to be connected with feminist antiwar group, Code Pink.

Trump suggested Monday that Attorney General Pam Bondi would be investigating and labeled the group “paid agitators.”

“I’ve asked Pam to look into that in terms of bringing RICO cases against them — criminal RICO,” he said.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s criminal defense attorney, suggested protesters who interrupted the president ‘trying to enjoy dinner’ could be federally prosecuted (AP)

Blanche’s remarks echo escalating demands from administration officials, right-wing groups and allies to target Charlie Kirk’s critics after his assassination last week, raising baseless claims that the conservative activist’s death is the result of a coordinated effort among left-wing groups to incite violence.

Following Kirk’s death, Trump and right-wing figures have quickly sought to punish left-wing voices for rhetoric they blamed for his killing, with a renewed commitment from the administration to crack down on the “radical left.”

“For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals,” Trump said in a speech from the Oval Office.

“This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now,” he added. “My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it.”

The president said Monday that he may consider naming antifascist groups as domestic terrorists. It remains unclear how the administration could designate “antifa” — a loosely organized movement without a distinct leader — as a terror group.

Trump has also suggested his administration could revoke tax-exempt status for left-leaning nonprofit organizations.

Demonstrations across the country have erupted in response to the second Trump administration’s agenda, including National Guard deployments to cities and immigration enforcement raids (AFP via Getty Images)

Earlier this week, Bondi pledged to go after people who spread “hate speech,” but later appeared to walk back her comments by clarifying that “hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment.”

Between the January 6 insurrection and the 2024 election, there were at least 300 cases of political violence, marking the largest surge in such attacks since the 1970s, according to a Reuters analysis.

Yet a large body of research has found that right-wing extremists have killed more people than those associated with any other political cause in the United States within the last two decades, though many of those attacks don’t map neatly onto one political ideology.

“There’s nothing wrong with peaceful protest,” Blanche told CNN.

“But what [Trump’s] talking about, and what the administration is talking about, is organized efforts by individuals who are not present at the protest but they’re funding these protests, and they’re not protests,” he said. “They’re inflicting damage and harm and actually assaulting officers, they’re damaging vehicles, and that’s the conduct we’re trying to stop.”

Deputy AG Blanche says 'organized' Trump protesters could face criminal investigations

Joey Garrison, 

USA TODAY
Wed, September 17, 2025 

WASHINGTON ‒ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said people who noisily protest President Donald Trump could face criminal investigations if their actions are tied to organizations that seek to inflict "harm, terror or damage" on the president.

Blanche's Sept. 16 comments came after Trump this week threatened criminal charges against a small group of protesters who angrily shouted at the president ‒ calling him "the Hitler of our time" and chanting "free Palestine" ‒ while he was recently eating dinner at a Washington steakhouse and seafood restaurant.

"Is it sheer happenstance that individuals show up at a restaurant where the president is trying to enjoy dinner in Washington, DC, and accost him with vile words and vile anger? And meanwhile, he’s simply trying to have dinner," Blanche said in an interview on CNN.

"Does it mean it’s just completely random that they showed up? Maybe, maybe. But to the extent that it’s part of an organized effort to inflict harm and terror and damage to the United States, there’s potential investigations there.”

More: Trump officials vow crackdown on left-leaning groups after Charlie Kirk killing


Supporters visit a memorial for Charlie Kirk at the Turning Point Headquarters in Phoenix on Sept. 11, 2025.

The memorial for Charlie Kirk at the Turning Point Headquarters in Phoenix on Sept. 11, 2025.

Even before Blanche's remarks, Democrats and First Amendment advocates had sounded the alarm on free speech in the wake of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as White House officials vow to target left-leaning organizations that the Trump administration says has promoted violence.

Trump, in Sept. 15 remarks from the Oval Office, accused the protesters of being paid "professional agitators." He said he's asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to explore charging the protesters with crimes under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, which prosecutors often use to target individuals who are part of vast criminal networks.

"I've asked Pam to look into that in terms of RICO, bringing RICO cases against them, criminal RICO, because they should be put in jail," Trump said. "What they're e doing to this country is really subversive."

President Donald Trump, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel listen as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks.

Blanche, in the interview, defended Trump's remarks and pushed back when CNN anchor Kaitlin Collins asked him whether women screaming at the president in a restaurant are truly inflicting "harm, terror or damage."

"You're asking whether there's damage done by four individuals screaming and yelling at our president of the United States while he's trying to have dinner?" Blanche said. "That can't be a serious question."

More: Trump ordered a peace vigil tent near the White House removed: What to know
'Nothing wrong with peaceful protest,' Blanche says

Blanche, who served as Trump's personal attorney prior to joining the administration, said, "There's nothing wrong with peaceful protest." But he sought to draw a distinction with protests that turn into violent confrontations, singling out clashes between protesters and agents with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"What he's talking about and what the administration is talking about is organized efforts by individuals who are not present at the protests, but they're funding these protests," Blanche said. "And they're not protests. They inflicting damage and harm and actually assaulting officers, they're damaging vehicles. That's the conduct that we're trying to stop."

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators react as U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at Joe's Seafood restaurant near the White House for dinner, in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 9, 2025.

Igniting pushback from both the left and the right, Bondi on Sept. 15 vowed the Justice Department intends to target “those who engage in hate speech," even though the First Amendment has widely been interpreted as protecting hate speech.

"There's free speech and then there's hate speech,” Bondi said in an appearance on former White House aide Katie Miller’s podcast, “and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society.”
Trump to reporter: 'We should probably go after you'

The next day, Bondi walked back those remarks. "Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime," Bondi said in a statement. "For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over."

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of three justices who make up the court's liberal bloc, weighed into the debate over free speech on Sept. 16. “Every time I listen to a lawyer-trained representative saying we should criminalize free speech in some way, I think to myself, `That law school failed,’” she said at event on civic education.

More: God save the queen: Pranksters project giant pic of Trump and Epstein on Windsor Castle

Law enforcement officers shoot non-lethal munitions, as people march as part of the ongoing protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in Los Angeles, California, U.S. June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Leah MillisMore

Trump, when asked Sept. 16 about Bondi's remarks about "hate speech," lashed out the reporter who asked the question, Jonathan Karl of ABC News.

"We should probably go after people like you because you treat me so unfairly. It's hate. You have a lot of hate in your heart," Trump said to Karl. "Maybe they'll come after ABC."

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Todd Blanche says 'organized' Trump protesters could be investigated

Opinion

Trump DOJ Lackey Wants to Hit Protesters With RICO Charges

Malcolm Ferguson
Wed, September 17, 2025

THE NEW REPUBLIC



Former Trump impeachment lead counsel and current Representative Daniel Goldman aimed some sharp remarks at Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as his Justice Department seeks to hit CodePink with a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) charge for yelling at President Trump while he was at dinner last week.

Trump called for the protestors to be jailed on Monday via RICO. On Tuesday Blanche told CNN he was happy to oblige.

“RICO is available to all kinds of organizations committing crimes and committing wrongful acts, not just organized crime, or ISIS, or terrorist organizations, and so it depends,” Blanche said Tuesday on CNN when asked to justify treating CodePink like the mob or a terrorist group. “It is again, sheer happenstance, that individuals show up at a restaurant where the president is trying to enjoy dinner in Washington, D.C. and accost him with vile words and vile anger … does it mean that it’s completely random that they showed up? Maybe. But to the extent that it’s part of an organized effort to inflict harm and terror and damage to the United States, there’s potential investigations there.”

Goldman rebuked Blanche’s comments online.

“I charged RICO cases. Yelling at the President is not a racketeering act and cannot be the basis for a criminal charge. @DAGToddBlanche knows better,” Goldman wrote Wednesday morning on X. “He is corrupting the DOJ with ridiculous comments like this.”

This all comes as the Trump administration moves to crack down on free speech as part of a mass disinformation campaign in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing. But to use RICO charges to achieve that is an extreme overreach at best.

Maddow Blog | Trump’s deputy AG eyes federal investigations into ‘organized’ Trump protesters

Steve Benen
Wed, September 17, 2025 
MSNBC

When it comes to Americans engaging in lawful protests, Donald Trump and his team haven’t exactly positioned themselves as champions of the First Amendment. Indeed, the president has spent years trying to delegitimize dissenters, urging the public to see his detractors as “paid protesters,” as if his opponents are inherently inauthentic.

Alas, this isn’t the only example of the Republican’s unhealthy attitude on the subject. In June, Trump announced that anyone who dared to protest a military parade he was excited about would be met with “very heavy force.” Earlier this week, responding to a conservative reporter who said that anti-war protesters near the White House “still have their First Amendment right,” Trump replied, “Yeah, well, I’m not so sure.”

It’s against this backdrop that Politico reported:


The Justice Department’s No. 2 official said Tuesday that people noisily protesting President Donald Trump could face investigation if they’re part of broader networks organizing such activities.

“Is it ... sheer happenstance that individuals show up at a restaurant where the president is trying to enjoy dinner in Washington, D.C., and accost him with vile words and vile anger?” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said during a CNN interview. “Does it mean it’s just completely random that they showed up? Maybe, maybe, but to the extent that it’s part of an organized effort to inflict harm and terror and damage to the United States, there’s potential, potential investigations there.”

Blanche was referring to an incident last week when the president went to dinner at a restaurant near the White House, and during the outing, Trump was confronted with protesters who were quickly removed from the premises.

On Monday, the president told reporters, in reference to what transpired, “I’ve asked [Attorney General Pam Bondi] to look into that in terms of bringing RICO cases against them, criminal RICO.”

So because Trump was met by protesters who shouted at him, the Republican directed the nation’s chief law enforcement officer to explore federal racketeering charges against those who dared to bother him.

One day later, Bondi’s chief deputy at the Justice Department told a national television audience that the hecklers might’ve been part of “an organized effort to inflict harm and terror and damage to the United States.”

At this point, we could talk about the fact that Blanche probably shouldn’t be the deputy AG, given that his only relevant experience is having served as one of the president’s criminal defense attorneys. We could also talk about how Blanche hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory since arriving at Main Justice, as his handling of the Eric Adams and Ghislaine Maxwell cases help demonstrate.

But let’s not miss the forest for the trees. As The New York Times summarized, “President Trump has begun a major escalation in his long-running efforts to stifle political opposition in the United States. ... In the six days since [conservative activist Charlie Kirk] was gunned down in Utah, Mr. Trump and his top officials have promised a broadside against the political left.”

Blanche’s on-air comments weren’t the only element of this broadside, but they were among the most outlandish.