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Trump’s ‘Venezuela’ Invitation to Musk Raises ‘Flight Risk’ Fears Among Legal Experts

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During Donald Trump’s “marathon” Monday night conversation with Elon Musk on the social media platform X, the convicted ex-president who faces criminal sentencing next month acknowledged the fact he could lose the presidential election, and invited his billionaire benefactor if he were again defeated, to “meet” with him in Venezuela, considered a “safe haven” as it has no extradition treaty with the United States.

It’s not the first time the ex-president, who is again running for re-election, has talked about traveling to Venezuela.

And while Trump is no fan of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, he has repeatedly – and falsely – claimed that nation’s authoritarian dictator reduced crime by 72%, although he alleges – also falsely – the drop was achieved by sending their criminals to the U.S.

“Venezuela was crime ridden,” Trump said May 31, “after his conviction in the hush money case,” FactCheck.org reported in June. “Caracas, their cities, crime ridden two years ago, three years ago. They just reported a 72% drop in crime in the last year because all of their criminals, most of them, and the rest are coming in now, the ones that didn’t come in. In Venezuela, their prisons have been emptied into the United States. Their criminals and drug dealers have been taken out of the cities and brought into the United States, and that’s true with many other countries.”

READ MORE: Trump Returns to X as Harris Pulls Ahead in Polls, Donations, and Crowd Size

Monday night, after technical glitches stalled his conversation with the owner of the social media platform who is supporting his re-election bid, including reportedly by holding “hour-long meetings” with his pro-Trump Super PAC, Trump falsely alleged the crime rate in Venezuela makes it “safer” than the United States.

“Our crime rate’s going through the roof,” Trump told Musk. But violent and property crime in the U.S. have dropped “significantly” since Trump left office, according to a CNN fact check of Trump’s conversation with Musk. Vox on Monday also reported, “Violent crime is plummeting.”

“If something happens with this election, which would be a horror show, we’ll meet the next time in Venezuela,” Trump told Musk (video below). “Because it’ll be a far safer place to meet than our country. You and I will go and we’ll have a meeting and dinner in Venezuela.”

Legal experts jumped on Trump suggesting a trip to Venezuela, especially given his status as a convicted criminal awaiting sentencing.

“Trump is a convicted felon to be sentenced in a month and he’s talking about fleeing to a country that refuses US extradition requests,” observed MSNBC legal analyst Kristy Greenberg, a former SDNY Criminal Division Deputy Chief. “Anyone else would be in jail. Trump is showing yet again that he isn’t amenable to Probation’s supervision and must be sentenced to jail time.”

READ MORE: Trump’s Harris Rally Size Attack ‘Precisely’ Mirrors Fraud Case Conviction: Legal Expert

Dean Gloster, an author and “former law clerk to two U.S. Supreme Court Justices,” according to his bio, wrote: “Former attorney here. When you’re five weeks away from being sentenced for 34 felony convictions, and you don’t want your bond revoked, don’t tell everyone you’re planning to flee to Venezuela.”

National security attorney Brad Moss remarked: “No he … wait, yeah, he did. He hinted that he’ll flee the jurisdiction if he loses in November. Excuse me, probation officer?”

In a “serious note” on the Trump-Musk conversation, attorney and Colorado Sun columnist Mario Nicolais observed: “Trump said that if he loses, they will have to do the next one in Venezuela. That is a non-extradition country. When he loses, he needs to be taken into custody IMMEDIATELY. He is an obvious flight risk.”

“It doesn’t sound at all like he’s kidding,” noted U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), and it does sound like he’s thought about this.”

Indeed, as far back as June, Trump has been talking about going to Venezuela.

Last week, Trump sat down for a live-streamed conversation with far-right internet personality Adin Ross, who has also hosted white supremacists, according to Rolling Stone. During that chat Trump also hinted at traveling to Venezuela.

“If you look at Caracas,” Trump told Ross, Miami New Times reported, “it was known for being a very dangerous city and now it’s very safe. In fact, the next interview we do, we’ll do it in Caracas, Venezuela, because it’s safer than many of our cities.”

Trump’s comment to Musk:

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: Is Donald Trump ‘Quiet Quitting’? Here’s What His ‘Meltdown at Mar-a-Lago’ Reveals

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Survey Shreds Trump’s Claim Millions of Protesters Don’t Represent America

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After nearly seven million people attended the nationwide “No Kings” rallies on Saturday — making them one of the largest single day protests in American history — President Donald Trump denounced participants as “not representative” of America.

“I looked at the people,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday.

“They’re not representative of this country, and I looked at all the brand new signs paid for. I guess it was paid for by Soros and other radical left lunatics,” he said. “It looks like it was worth checking out. The demonstrations were very small, very ineffective and the people were whacked out. When you look at those people, those are not representative of the people of our country.”

A survey of the Washington, D.C. protesters published by Axios suggests the President’s perception was inaccurate.

READ MORE: ‘Not Right in the Head’: Notorious Far Right Leader Fuentes Goes Off on ‘Weird’ Trump

“The typical attendee at the D.C. protest was an educated white woman in her 40s who heard about the event either through friends or via Instagram, according to preliminary data collected by American University researchers who track protest movements,” the news outlet reported. “The median age of participants of Saturday’s protest in D.C. was 44 years old.”

Nearly half (47%) identified themselves as “left.” Thirteen percent as slightly left, and 29% as “very” left.

Some of Trump’s allies spent last week alleging the protests were actually “hate America” rallies.

Ahead of the rallies, U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), the House Majority Whip, had said last week that the protesters were “the most radical, small, and violent base in the country.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson last week said participants at the rallies would be “the pro-Hamas wing and Antifa people, they’re all coming out.”

READ MORE: ‘Sick’: Jeffries Torches Trump’s ‘Out of Control’ Press Secretary

Despite the millions in attendance at rallies across the country, there were few if any reports of violence by the No Kings protesters (although there were reports of “MAGA agitators” being violent.)

Overall, 86% were white and nearly six in ten (57%) were women.

“They’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump had said, but the president was the number one motivating factor that drove people to come out and protest in D.C. Eight out of ten named Trump as their top reason.

Immigration was the second driver, motivating 74% of attendees.

Politics and voting came in a close third (70%).

The federal workforce reduction and the funding freeze came in fourth at 69%, followed by racial justice/systemic racism (66%), social welfare including health care (62%) and LGBTQ+ rights (59%). Income and wealth inequality tied with women’s rights at 58%. Reproductive rights came in at 56%.

Dana Fisher, a professor at American University’s School of International Service, told Axios, “she’s surprised … that women’s rights and reproductive rights are no longer leading factors the way they were during Trump’s first term.”

READ MORE: Trump’s ICE Expands Spy Arsenal and Eyes ‘Antifa’: Report

 

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CNN’s Pam Brown Spars With GOP Rep. Blaming High Prices on Biden

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CNN Anchor Pamela Brown sparred with U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan, the Chair of the House Republican Conference, who was blaming former President Joe Biden for soaring prices nine full months into the Trump administration. Trump during the presidential campaign promised to lower prices on day one.

“This isn’t a quick fix, right?” Congresswoman McClain told Brown on Monday. “The past four years dug a very deep hole for the American people.”

“It’s gonna take us a hot second to get out of it,” she insisted, “but I have all the confidence in President Trump that he absolutely is working for the American people to get us out of that devastating inflationary period under the last administration.”

Brown was not receptive.

READ MORE: ‘Not Right in the Head’: Notorious Far Right Leader Fuentes Goes Off on ‘Weird’ Trump

“But this administration is nine months in,” she reminded the Michigan lawmaker, “and President Trump had vowed to lower prices from day one, from very early on in the administration. So at what point is it?”

“Gas is down,” McClain declared. “Eggs is down.”

“I mean, we don’t talk about the price of eggs anymore,” she added. “Um, come on.”

“But those other areas,” Brown responded. “Other areas.”

“It’s gonna take a half second,” McClain insisted.

“Okay,” Brown said, moving on. “All right, Congressman.”

“I mean,” McClain continued, “if there was a silver bullet to get us out of this mess that was created under the Biden administration, I have the ultimate faith that President Trump could do it.”

“Unfortunately, there is a lot to unravel, and I don’t think you’re being quite as fair as he has — gas prices are down.”

READ MORE: ‘Sick’: Jeffries Torches Trump’s ‘Out of Control’ Press Secretary

“I did say that,” Brown replied, “No, no, I am being fair.”

Earlier, Brown had pointed to remarks U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) had made about the high cost of living, lamenting, “inflation crushed people in the past four and a half years, and the costs have not come down.”

“I myself can tell you, my apartment here in Washington, D.C., the electricity bill is $100 more than it was last year, ’cause you can look at your own bill and look at costs,” Greene said. “Prices have not come down.”

READ MORE: Trump’s ICE Expands Spy Arsenal and Eyes ‘Antifa’: Report

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Guns and Guided Missile Warheads: Trump Admin Surged Domestic Weapons Spending Report Says

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The Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has reportedly surged spending this year on domestic weapons — including guns, chemical weapons, explosives, and guided missile warheads — by 700 percent.

“Records from the Federal Procurement Data System reveal that ICE has increased spending on ‘small arms, ordnance, and ordnance accessories manufacturing’ by 700% compared to 2024 levels,” according to a report by Popular Information. “Most of the spending was on guns and armor, but there have also been significant purchases of chemical weapons and ‘guided missile warheads and explosive components.'”

“More weapons, more violence,” wrote Popular Information founder Judd Legum, noting that the “surge in spending on ICE weaponry has coincided with a wave of violent incidents by ICE officers.”

Legum pointed to several well-publicized incidents, including one recently where a Christian pastor, David Black, reportedly was shot in the head with a pepper ball.

READ MORE: ‘Not Right in the Head’: Notorious Far Right Leader Fuentes Goes Off on ‘Weird’ Trump

“In another September incident, an ICE officer dropped his gun while violently making an arrest and then pointed it at bystanders,” Legum wrote.

“All over the country, federal agents have shot, gassed, and detained individuals engaged in cherished and protected activities,” a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Illinois reads.

“What we’re seeing is a general escalation of violence and the use of excessive force by ICE officers,” Ed Yohnka of the ACLU Illinois told NPR.

“Late last month,” NPR also reported, “a local CBS reporter said a masked ICE agent fired a pepper ball at her car … causing her to vomit for hours. The reporter, Asal Rezaei, said there was no protest happening at the time. Broadview Police are now investigating.”

READ MORE: ‘Sick’: Jeffries Torches Trump’s ‘Out of Control’ Press Secretary

 

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