How Trump, Rubio and others are using social media to sell Venezuela actions

In the early months of President Donald Trump’s second term, administration officials turned to social media to describe an “invasion” of the United States by Venezuelan gangs. They used it to justify their efforts to deport thousands who had fled Nicolás Maduro’s regime.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, for instance, posted about ending Venezuelans’ temporary protected status, saying the Biden-era policy allowed Venezuelans to illegally enter the country and violate U.S. laws.

A few months later, the story shifted.

Posts by Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials started to depict Maduro himself as the head of a drug cartel and link him to fentanyl deaths in the U.S., though there is scant evidence that the country is involved in large-scale production or distribution of the synthetic opioid. Their posts portray the Maduro regime as an international security threat.

—Miami Herald

Jack Schlossberg unveils plan to roll back Trump tariffs on food, clothing

Manhattan Democratic congressional candidate Jack Schlossberg has unveiled a proposal to roll back President Donald Trump’s punishing tariffs on food and clothing, he told the Daily News Monday.

The grandson of President John F. Kennedy said he would push for a bill outlawing Trump’s tariffs on imported food and apparel because the taxes on those essentials are hitting low- and middle-income consumers the hardest.

“The Trump tariffs on food and clothing are killing people the most, especially for New Yorkers who are struggling to make ends meet,” Schlossberg told the News. “These are the two most egregious costs people are facing every day when going to the grocery store has become a hellish experience.”

The 32-year-old scion of the famed Camelot political dynasty recounted meeting a young mom shopping at Macy’s on Black Friday for new sneakers for her son after he grew out of a pair she had bought for him at the start of the school year, just a couple of months ago.

—New York Daily News

Fetterman's fundraising, small-dollar donations drop in 2025 amid clashes with Democrats

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman had the lowest fundraising period of his Washington political career over the summer while Pittsburgh-area U.S. Reps. Summer Lee and Chris Deluzio saw donations surge as their national profiles grew, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette review of campaign finance records.

Fetterman's fundraising slump coincided with a series of headline-grabbing controversies and polls showing a drop in support among Democratic voters, raising questions about his desire to pursue reelection in 2028.

His largest decline in donations came among small-dollar donors — a key source of funds that have propped up the Braddock Democrat's campaigns and that are often a sign of grassroots support, according to the Post-Gazette's analysis of his reports from January 2023 through September 2025.

While continuing to rely almost exclusively on individual donors — as opposed to politicians who rake in funds from corporations, unions or other political leaders — Fetterman raised just under $330,000 in the three-month period from July through September.

—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Hong Kong’s deadly fire fueled by substandard netting, officials say

Authorities found Hong Kong’s deadly blaze was accelerated by workers using cheaper substandard netting and evading government testing, as police said the death toll has risen to 151.

Samples taken from hard-to-reach areas at Wang Fuk Court failed safety tests, while lower-floor samples met legal standards, officials said at a press briefing Monday.

After a typhoon damaged the original netting, individuals being investigated bought 2,300 rolls of substandard netting at HK$54 ($7) a roll, enough to cover all eight buildings, the head of Hong Kong’s anti-graft agency Woo Ying Ming said.

Another 115 rolls that met fire standards were bought at HK$100 apiece and installed at the base of the scaffolding in order to pass safety inspections, he said.

—Bloomberg News