This week on Ring of Fire!

The defense team rested their case in Donald Trump's hush money trial a little before noon on Tuesday, and the former President never took the stand. Trump had promised multiple times that he would be testifying in his own defense, and the consensus was that this would be a horrible idea for his trial team. Apparently he took the advice of his lawyers - and the prevailing legal scholars - but that doesn't change the fact that he still chickened out of doing what he said he would do.

Republican Representative Andy Ogles is so angry about the gag order against Donald Trump that he is pushing legislation that would make ALL gag orders ILLEGAL in this country. Ogles is part of a Congress that has achieved the least amount of accomplishments in the history of this country, and THIS is the kind of legislation that he is focusing on, rather than actually trying to do something to help the country.

Mitch McConnell is sick and tired of all the reports about the corruption of the conservative justices on the Supreme Court, and this week he came out and said that everyone just needs to leave the court alone. This comes after last week's report of the upside down American flag hanging outside Justice Alito's house following the 2020 election. But there's a reason McConnell wants everyone to shut up about the court - HE picked these people that are now under so much scrutiny.

Following the release of court filings this week, Donald Trump falsely claimed that the FBI, under President Biden's direction, was given orders that they could assassinate Trump when they executed the search warrant for government documents at Mar-a-Lago. This is not true at all and is a complete misinterpretation of the order, but Trump used it as a distraction so that people would ignore the fact that the unsealed documents also said that MORE classified documents were found at his golf resort months after the FBI conducted their search.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire!

It was announced last week that Barron Trump would be an RNC delegate at the RNC convention this coming summer, but Melania Trump has now put that idea to rest. Her office announced that he is declining to be a delegate for the state of Florida, but this came AFTER her husband, Donald, made a video boasting about Barron being a delegate where the former president appeared to not even know how old his son is.

Another one of Donald Trump's friends is moving closer to becoming a jailbird after an Appeals Court upheld the criminal conviction of Steve Bannon for defying a Congressional subpoena. Bannon had been allowed by a Trump-appointed judge to remain out of prison as he appeals the conviction, but he may now be out of options. Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro is currently serving his sentence for the same crime, but he had a judge that was NOT appointed by Donald Trump.

Republican Senator Katie Britt, who was last seen making a fool of herself from her own kitchen during her State of the Union Response, has put forth legislation that could end up creating a national database with the personal information of every pregnant woman in America. Britt claims that the legislation would only create resources for pregnant women to understand their options (options that don't include any information about terminating a pregnancy,) but the legislation actually says that women can enter their information for the government to track and store. This is exceptionally dangerous, given the laws that are popping up all over the country.

During a recent podcast, two professional psychologists warned that Donald Trump's mental deterioration appears to be accelerating. They pointed to the fact that his mental gaffes are becoming both worse and more frequent, which could be a sign that his brain is rotting out faster than we realize. The stress of his criminal trial could be the catalyst that is causing this rapid decline.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire!

Donald Trump was once again found to be in violation of the gag order against him, forcing Judge Juan Merchan to hold him in contempt...again. The judge told Trump that he really doesn't want to have to put him in jail, but he said that he will be left with no choice if the violations continue. However, the judge said the same thing last week, so it is starting to look more and more like Trump is above the law.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is still dealing with blowback from her new book, and it isn't just because of her dog murdering story. Since that scandal broke, numerous other lies have been identified in her book, calling into question her entire life story. She lied about meeting Kim Jong Un, she lied about denying a visit to the President of France, and she even lied about an alleged "threat" that she received from Nikki Haley.

According to reports, Donald Trump went on a profane 90-minute temper tantrum during a donor retreat on Saturday, attacking President Biden and comparing his administration to that of Nazi Germany. The former president is at his wit's end, and he's no longer able to hide his anger and contempt towards those who don't bow down before him. This could become a real problem for him on the campaign trail.

Republicans recently had the choice between siding with the President and the American public or siding with cancer. Can you guess which side they chose? Like so many other issues involving healthcare, Republicans in Congress recently sided with the disease instead of providing funding for a cure. The funding was part of the years long "Moonshot" program to provide massive amounts of federal funding to help produce a cure for cancer - an initiative started by President Biden when he was still Vice President. But Republicans couldn't give him a win in an election year, even if that means condemning millions of people to a horrible death.

All that, and more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire!

Donald Trump, and most of his allies, have insisted that his legal problems are going to make him MORE popular with voters this year. But according to a new analysis, that's not even close to happening. In addition to all the polls showing that a conviction will hurt him, even without a conviction he's seeing voters turn against him as the current trial continues. This is a bad trend for Trump who has seen his poll numbers continually shrink since the start of the year.

Kari Lake spent much of the year 2023 hanging around Mar-a-Lago with Donald Trump to the point where reports last summer claimed that she had basically "moved in" to the resort. But a new report says that the relationship between Lake and Trump began to sour late last year after Trump started getting sick of her and her election lies. Trump believes that Lake is blowing her chance to win the Arizona senate seat, and essentially booted her out of Mar-a-Lago.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was widely seen to be at the top of Donald Trump's short list of potential VP picks up until Friday. On Friday, The Guardian published an excerpt of Noem's new book where she actually boasted about killing her family's dog that she says she "hated." The story immediately went viral, and people on the Left and Right both condemned Noem for her account of what happened - which Noem said in the book proves that she can make the tough decisions.

And the only threat to Matt Gaetz's seat in Congress comes from within his own Party, as his district is firmly Republican. And that's why Gaetz went absolutely ballistic when a primary challenger emerged against him at the last minute. Right before the filing deadline, a Republican filed to challenge him in his primary, and Gaetz thinks this is a conspiracy set up against him by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire!

Donald Trump's lawyers have so far done a horrible job of convincing the jury that he didn't do anything wrong. In their opening statements this week, the lawyers claimed that Trump is "innocent," and then proceeded to claim that even if he did it, it still isn't a crime. His lawyers appear to be less focused on proving his innocence than they are on convincing the jury that the crimes aren't actually illegal. That's never a winning strategy in court.

Presidential polling is still all over the place, with some polls showing President Biden easily beating Trump, while others are still showing a tight race with Trump one or two points ahead. But these numbers change dramatically when all other candidates are included, and more and more these polls are showing that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is peeling more support away from Trump than he is from Biden. In fact, when Kennedy is included, Trump now loses, even in polls where he was ahead in a two-way matchup.

One of the major concerns and most common questions about putting Donald Trump in jail if he is convicted is how to handle his Secret Service protection. Trump is guaranteed that protection for the rest of his life, and it would be difficult to force protection agents to sit in jail all day with him. Luckily, Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson has a way to fix that problem, and he's now put forth legislation that would strip Secret Service protection from anyone with a felony conviction.

Steve Bannon is pushing Donald Trump to skip out on his daily court appearances just to "see where the chips fall." The judge has already made it clear to Trump that he WILL put him in jail if he doesn't show up for court, and Bannon is well aware of this. Bannon seems to believe that Trump being thrown in jail for a period of time will somehow help the former President in his campaign, but really it would have the opposite effect.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire!

Now that Donald Trump's first criminal trial has officially begun, questions are swirling all over the media about what could happen if he gets a felony conviction. The odds of Trump losing this trial are great, but there is still a possibility the charges could be reduced in a way that avoids felony convictions. But if that doesn't happen, it opens up a whole new world of legal problems for the United States.

Even before jury selection began on Monday, Donald Trump had already racked up a string of losses at the hands of Judge Juan Merchan. First, the judge denied Trump's motion requesting that the judge recuse himself from the case. That was soon followed by the judge refusing to grant Trump's latest attempt to delay the trial. Trump told the judge that it was unfair for him to be in trial while he's trying to campaign, and the judge reminded him that he still has plenty of time to campaign on their off days.

A state auditor has finally released the long-awaited report on Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' purchase of a $19,000 lectern, and things are looking bad for the first term governor. The auditor has referred the matter over to prosecutors to conduct a criminal investigation, as the auditor believes that there are too many discrepancies with the purchase. Specifically, it is believed that the money wasn't actually for the podium, but was instead used as a cover to spend the money elsewhere, which is a form of embezzlement.

And Republican Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida is at his wit's end, and he knows that the fate of the Republican Party hinges on the outcome of Donald Trump's hush money trial. So during an appearance on Newsmax this week, the Florida congressman begged the people of New York - which means the potential jurors in the trial - to find Trump not guilty so the Party can move on. This could actually be seen as a form of jury tampering.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire!

At his fundraiser this past weekend, Donald Trump promised the crowd of wealthy supporters that he would fight to keep their taxes low if he gets back into office. This was part of his sales pitch to ensure that they give him money for his campaign. The wealthy class doesn't care about his coup attempt or his criminal charges or the threat he poses to the country - all they care about is saving a few million dollars a year on their taxes.

The company that is backing Donald Trump's fraud trial bond has come under fire from prosecutors, and Judge Arthur Engoron has even scheduled a hearing with the company to determine if they can even afford to post it. And now new reports have found some serious discrepancies with the actual contract that the company produced for the bond that could result in it being completely thrown out.

Lindsey Graham wasn't happy with Donald Trump's recent comments about letting states decide what rights women are allowed to have (Lindsey wants the federal government to take those rights away,) and this prompted Trump to go nuclear against his former friend. But it didn't end there. Later in the day, Trump decided to finish off Graham for good, and Trump said that he takes the blame for Graham existing in the Senate because his endorsement is what saved his career. It is safe to say that, for now, this relationship appears to be over.

A federal judge has taken the unusual step of sending a letter to the "friends and allies" of a convicted Capitol Rioter, warning them to stop saying that the man did "nothing wrong" and to stop condoning and downplaying political violence. While the letter was supposedly meant for the convict's inner circle, it read more like a warning to the Republican Party itself that continues to downplay what happened on January 6th.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire!

According to recent financial filings, Donald Trump's Truth Social - which was just merged with Digital World Acquisition when they acquired the Trump Media and Technology Group - lost WAY more money last year than previously thought. Previous estimates assumed the company lost about $30 million, but the real amount was actually a loss of more than $50 million last year. So how can a completely worthless company that is hemorrhaging money be worth $8 billion in the stock market?

The group of creditors that are trying to get their money from the now-bankrupt Rudy Giuliani have been asking a judge to look into Giuliani's multi-million dollar condo in Florida and possibly sell it to settle his debts. But Giuliani is now trying to convince the judge overseeing the bankruptcy to leave the condo alone because, as Giuliani told him, he needs it to continue his podcasting. That's not a valid reason to avoid paying your debts.

Eleven Republican-controlled states have filed a federal lawsuit against the Biden administration over the latest attempts to cancel student loan debt for certain borrowers. The states claim that President Biden doesn't have the authority to do this, but what they are really trying to prevent is a political win for the Biden administration. Cancelling the debt hurts no one, so the states have had to come up with an absurd legal argument to claim that they have been damaged.

Donald Trump's first criminal trial is starting in just under two weeks, and he is running out of options to delay it. But, there could be a chance for him to buy some more time, but only if he goes scorched earth on his own legal team. A former prosecutor has pointed out that his only chance of getting a significant delay would be to fire his entire team of lawyers, which would give him the ability to argue that his new team needs time to prepare and learn the case.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire!

As expected, Donald Trump manages to escape justice, yet again. The appeals court decided at the last minute on Monday to not only reduce his bond from $464 million to $175 million, but they also gave him an extra 10 days to pay it. There was no reason at all for the extension or the reduction, but this is the kind of thing that always happens with Donald Trump.

While speaking to reporters on Monday, Donald Trump suggested that being a convicted felon might actually help him in this year's election. He was referring to the New York hush money case that is heading to trial on April 15th, where he will face an already-angry judge and a jury that likely won't be fond of him. But he's delusional if he thinks a conviction will help him, as every single poll that's asked the question shows that a conviction would cause him to lose.

President Biden has spent the past few weeks (and days) going hard against Donald Trump, and it is being reflected in the latest rounds of polling. Biden has now surged in 5 swing states while Trump has fallen in nearly all of them over the past month. If the election were held today and followed the polls, Biden would easily cruise to an electoral victory. But he has to maintain this aggressive campaign to be successful.

Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna went on Fox News this week to talk about the mass exodus of Republican lawmakers from the House, and she accused her Party of a plot to "cripple" themselves. She was referring to the fact that Republicans will now only have a one vote majority, and her anger was directed at those who have resigned this year. But she needs to actually be angry at the extremists in her Party that are pushing everyone out.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

This week on Ring of Fire!

Donald Trump's lawyers were finally forced to admit in a court filing on Monday that he does not have the cash available to pay the $464 million bond for the fraud judgement against him in order to appeal the verdict. The lawyers are asking for the judge to simply postpone the posting of the bond until after the appeal, but that's not how things work. Due to the fact that he was rejected by at least 30 underwriters, it is apparent that Trump is a risk for paying at all.

During a recent speech, Donald Trump referred to the imprisoned Capitol Rioters "hostages," echoing a claim that he's made before and one that has been made by lawmakers like Marjorie Taylor Greene for years. Trump also admitted that he'll pardon these people, and these two statements were the breaking point for Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence. In an interview on Fox News, Pence not only trashed Trump for calling these people "hostages," but said that he will not be endorsing Trump.

During a podcast interview this week, Trump lawyer Alina Habba said that she is confident that she will get the $464 million fraud verdict against Donald Trump dismissed upon appeal. Ironically, this interview was conducted BEFORE Trump's lawyers had to tell the court that he's not able to pay the bond, which means that the appeal might not even be able to happen. There's a good chance that Trump could see his properties be taken away from him, all while the arrogant Habba swears everything will be ok.

And Judge Aileen Cannon delivered an absolutely insane ruling on Monday evening as part of her jury instructions to both federal prosecutors and Trump's legal team. The ruling says that members of the jury have to be given access to the highly sensitive classified documents that were uncovered at Mar-a-Lago - and if Jack Smith doesn't allow that, then they jury will be instructed to assume that they were all personal documents that rightfully belonged to Donald Trump.

All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!