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Watch now   Thursday News Updates as Trump Kicks Press Out of Cabinet Meeting — 1/29/26 Ben Meiselas and MeidasTouch Network Jan 29 Hi all, it’s Thursday. That means we are almost at the end of another week. It also means I’ll be going live on the MeidasTouch Podcast with my brothers later today at 8pm ET/5pm PT on YouTube. I hope you have the opportunity to watch. I also want to thank our subscribers for helping us continue to grow this platform. If you are able to support independent media, consider subscribing now. Earlier, Donald Trump convened what was supposed to be an open cabinet meeting with members of the press present. Reporters were told he would take questions. Instead, after a few awkward moments, the entire thing was abruptly shut down. The press was ordered out without explanation. Video from the room shows reporters attempting to ask a question before being told to leave. This all shows how rattled Trump appears to be. Another notable observation to flag: Trump called on various cabinet secretaries throughout the meeting, but at no point did he allow DHS secretary Krsti Noem to speak. This all came amid a meltdown from Trump on social media that began late last night and continued into the morning. He spent hours posting erratic messages attacking people he sees as enemies, including Alex Pretti, who was murdered by his federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. There’s no bottom to his depravity. Trump also lashed out at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, blaming him for refusing to cut interest rates and accusing him of harming national security. At the same time, new reporting continues to show the Trump regime escalating its attacks on democratic institutions at home and sovereign nations abroad. One of the most alarming developments involves Canada. Other publications are now confirming our reporting that Trump officials have held secret meetings with separatist fringe groups in Alberta, attempting to encourage secession from Canada and floating the idea of Alberta aligning with the United States. Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st state” and has begun calling Prime Minister Mark Carney “Governor Carney.” Trump’s fixation on Canada appears fueled by jealousy. Prime Minister Carney has succeeded in uniting international partners and striking deals with China, Europe, and other global players. Trump, by contrast, has isolated the United States, burned alliances, and replaced cooperation with threats and insults. Back at home, the situation is deteriorating just as rapidly. A senior Department of Justice official, Ed Martin, was recently photographed socializing with Sidney Powell, one of the most prominent conspiracy theorists behind the lies denying the 2020 election results. That revelation comes on the heels of another shocking abuse of power: Trump’s FBI raiding election offices and ballot storage facilities in Fulton County, Georgia. Federal agents seized ballots from the 2020 election. Local officials now say the chain of custody has been compromised and that they can no longer guarantee the integrity of those materials. Given Trump’s well documented history of lying, tampering, and abusing power, those concerns are not hypothetical. They are entirely justified. And I want to be clear. This is not actually about 2020, even though that’s Trump’s framing. This is about 2026, 2028, and beyond. Meanwhile, Trump has reshuffled leadership within immigration enforcement following public outrage over violence in Minnesota. Greg Bovino, the former head of Border Patrol operations in the region, was removed and replaced by Tom Homan, Trump’s so called border czar. Homan arrived in Minneapolis today and immediately made matters worse under the guise of “cooling the temperature.” In his first public remarks, Homan blamed critics of ICE for the deaths caused by ICE and Border Patrol operations. He claimed he had warned there would be “bloodshed” if opposition to immigration raids did not stop and then pointed to that bloodshed as vindication. “I begged for the last two months on TV for the rioters to stop,” Homan said. “I said in March, if it didn’t stop, there’s going to be bloodshed. And there has been.” This is a regime that refuses to take responsibility for its actions. While all of this is happening, the economic picture continues to darken for working Americans. More major U.S. companies announced layoffs today. We previously reported on Amazon slashing 16,000 jobs while simultaneously pouring tens of millions of dollars into licensing and distributing a Melania Trump film that nobody is watching. That pattern is repeating across corporate America. Executives are cutting payrolls while paying themselves thousands of times more than their employees and bribing the Trump regime. We are in a jobs recession. People are struggling to find work. Those who are employed are seeing wages that do not keep up with basic dignity. This is being described as “corporate cost cutting,” but the reality is a massive upward transfer of wealth under Trump’s watch. And how is regime friendly media responding? CBS News gave airtime to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and asked him not about layoffs, inflation, or corruption, but about his breakfast habits. His answer, that he drinks Dr Pepper in the morning. “Don’t tell Bobby Kennedy!” Bessent joked, as the CBS host laughed along as if it were the funniest thing she’s ever heard. It was frankly grotesque. How sad to see CBS News morph into state-run media. It’s yet another reason we are so focused on growing this independent platform. Fox News went even further into propaganda mode. Melania Trump appeared repeatedly to promote her movie, a project being propped up by Trump aligned money despite virtually no public interest. During one appearance, she described her 19 year old son Barron as a “little child” who needs her nonstop presence. In another segment, she revealed that her representatives are currently in contact with Vladimir Putin and that he personally wrote her a letter. She said discussions were ongoing. In the U.S. Senate, Democrats unanimously voted against the latest funding bill that would avert a government shutdown due to the fact that it does nothing to address the lawlessness of ICE. Seven Republicans joined with them as the bill failed to advance by a vote of 45-55. We’ll keep monitoring the situation with our reporters on Capitol Hill. At the same time, Trump has prominently displayed a photo of himself with Putin in the Oval Office. This is happening as Trump’s Energy Department launches a new propaganda campaign claiming that coal saved hundreds of lives during recent winter storms. Energy Secretary Chris Wright went on television to assert that Trump’s efforts to keep coal plants open prevented mass deaths and that renewable energy would have failed. Those claims are not supported by any evidence. They are designed to justify rolling back clean energy investments while propping up fossil fuel interests tied to Trump donors. And that brings us to perhaps the clearest example of what this administration is really about. New reporting from The Washington Post reveals that Trump officials approved Venezuelan oil deals worth $500 million involving trading houses with histories of bribery and corruption. Court records show those firms were previously prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice. One senior trader connected to the deals donated $6 million to Trump’s campaign. The oil sales routed money through foreign bank accounts. The conflicts of interest are glaring. This is a grift in plain sight. Finally, the international situation continues to grow more dangerous. Iran has announced live fire military exercises near the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route. The U.S. has dispatched the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group to the region. Tensions are rising, and the risk of another war and attack is increasing. This is were we are at this Thusday. Trump kicking out the press. Federal agents seizing ballots. Cabinet officials mingling with election deniers. Immigration leaders blaming victims for their own deaths. Corporate layoffs accelerating. Propaganda replacing journalism. Corruption masquerading as governance. And the world edging closer to another conflict. We will keep documenting it. We will keep demanding accountability. And we will keep you updated every step of the way. Consider joining now as a paid subscriber to support independent journalism that puts truth and accountability first. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.