Denying any foreknowledge of Friday morning’s FBI raid on the home of former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton, President Donald Trump said he has every right to not only be informed, but to make actionable decisions regarding investigative actions.

FBI agents raided Bolton’s Maryland residence on Friday, reportedly as part of a “national security investigation in search of classified records,” NBC News reported, citing an unnamed source.

Numerous experts, however, see the raid as retribution for Bolton’s outspoken opposition to Trump.

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“Trump is weaponizing DOJ & using it as an instrument for his vengeance & retribution,” wrote U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) Friday morning. 

On Friday morning, Trump told reporters, “I don’t want — I tell Pam, and I tell the group, I don’t want to know,” he said, referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi. “You have to do what you have to do.”

“I don’t want to know about it. It’s not necessary,” Trump continued.

“I could know about it,” he claimed. “I could be the one starting it. I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer — but I feel that it’s better this way.”

Trump’s claim — that he is the chief law enforcement officer — is one that he has made before. The Attorney General is considered to be the chief law enforcement officer.

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Previous administrations since Nixon have installed a high wall separating the Department of Justice from the White House.

Brett Bruen, a former Obama White House official, responded to Trump’s claim, writing, “Actually, no… We still live in a democracy where presidents don’t direct investigations or politically-motivated prosecutions.”

Professor Juliette Kayyem, a CNN national security analyst, opined, “Translation: he directed it.”

The New Republic’s Greg Sargent responded to Trump’s remarks, writing: “Pure mobspeak. They know exactly what he wants them to do.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

Trump on FBI raiding Bolton’s house: “I could know about it. I could be the one starting it. I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer.” pic.twitter.com/1HjkPU9AJc

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 22, 2025

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Image via Reuters

Despite polls showing his takeover of the D.C. Metropolitan Police and deployment of federal forces are deeply unpopular, President Donald Trump is now threatening to escalate, vowing a “complete and total” occupation of the District of Columbia.

In addition to taking over the Metropolitan Police, Trump has deployed thousands of National Guard troops, ICE, DEA, FBI, and DHS agents to patrol the city’s streets, often in areas with little to no crime.

Restaurant bookings dropped by double digits, and experts warn the current takeover is already hurting local businesses, CNN reported.

“Despite Trump’s claim earlier this week that DC restaurants have been ‘busier than they’ve been in a long time,’ reservations tracked by OpenTable have been down recently. On August 11, when Trump announced the takeover, seated diners dropped 16% compared to a year ago. Two days later, when troops mobilized around the city, seated diners fell 31% compared to a year ago.”

READ MORE: ‘They Even Changed the Font’: Fox Host Blames ‘Libs’ for Controversial Cracker Barrel Logo

“If there’s a perception that DC is turning into a police state, then there’s going to be some hesitancy to go out and explore the city,” Adam Kamins, director of regional economics at Moody’s, told CNN. “That would be true of visitors from overseas but also of local residents who just want to steer clear of all of this.”

As Restaurant Week kicked off this week, restaurant visits were down 22 percent.

While restaurants are a good barometer, the downturn is more widespread.

“In the week starting August 11, foot traffic was down about 81% of retail-store categories in Washington compared to data from a year ago, according to pass_by, with car dealerships, department stores, convenience stores and beauty-supply shops seeing some of the steepest drops.”

President Donald Trump promoted a very different perception in the early hours of Friday morning.

“Washington, D.C. is SAFE AGAIN!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website. “The crowds are coming back, the spirit is high, and our D.C. National Guard and Police are doing a fantastic job. They are out in force, and are NOT PLAYING GAMES!!!”

READ MORE: ‘Gonna Do a Job’: Trump Announces ‘Secret’ Plan to Join D.C. Police on Patrol

A Washington Post poll released Wednesday found nearly eight out of ten (79%) D.C. residents oppose Trump’s takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department, and the presence of the National Guard and federal agents patrolling their city’s streets. About the same number, 78%, said they felt very safe in their neighborhoods.

The President made other demonstrably false claims as well: “As bad as it sounds to say, there were no murders this week for the first time in memory.”

According to Fox News, the last time there were no murders in D.C. was in March.

Trump then made his threat: “Mayor Muriel Bowser must immediately stop giving false and highly inaccurate crime figures, or bad things will happen, including a complete and total Federal takeover of the City! Washington D.C. will soon be great again!!!”

The President isn’t the only Trump focused on the takeover.

Donald Trump Jr. on Friday morning told Newsmax, “Maybe we should roll out the tour to Portland, Seattle, you know, the other what we call, you know, c— hole cities of the country.”

He also claimed that Democratic residents of D.C. are very happy about the Trump takeover, a claim not supported by polling.

Watch the video below or at this link.

Donald Trump Jr on Trump’s DC takeover: “Maybe we should roll out the tour to Portland, Seattle, the other what we’d call craphole cities of the country.” pic.twitter.com/4VLPBA14TP

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 22, 2025

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Image via Reuters

Conservative America is outraged over Cracker Barrel restaurants changing their iconic logo to meet the times. The 55-year old Tennessee-based chain featuring Southern comfort food this week removed the barrel and a man sitting next to it from its logo, causing anger and upset among some on the right.

“In college, I worked at @CrackerBarrel in Tallahassee,” wrote U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL). “I even gave my life to Christ in their parking lot. Their logo was iconic and their unique restaurants were a fixture of American culture. No one asked for this woke rebrand. It’s time to Make Cracker Barrel Great Again.”

An apparently angered Donald Trump Jr. asked, “WTF is wrong with @CrackerBarrel??!”

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But one upset Fox News host decided to blame liberals for the transformation.

“I hate this so much,” declared co-host Emily Compagno. “Every time I go to Cracker Barrel, I build in time to shop.”

“You know that they’re even coming to New York City and they’re gonna do this whole, like, pop up with line dancing, whatever,” she continued.

“Okay, here’s what I was thinking about: I was like, ‘Am I being too harsh?’ But then, no,” she decided.

“For example, all of our sports logos, that get refreshed, right? Like all of our college teams and stuff. But that happened regularly through life. After 50 years, this changes — they even changed the font,” she lamented.

“This is, this is not nostalgic. This is not what we need. This is the libs, ruining it, and corporate pandering.”

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California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, continuing to draw attention to and mocking President Donald Trump’s unique communication style, offered this tongue-in-cheek response to the logo change:

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH CRACKER BARREL?? KEEP YOUR BEAUTIFUL LOGO!!! THE NEW ONE LOOKS LIKE CHEAP VELVEETA ‘CHEESE’ FROM WALMART, THE PLACE FOR ‘GROCERIES’ (AN OLD FASHIONED TERM)!!! ‘FIX IT’ ASAP! WOKE IS DEAD!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN”

Watch the video below or at this link.

Compagno: This is not nostalgic. This is not what we need. This is the libs ruining it pic.twitter.com/tkXWDiIZ36

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 21, 2025

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