Connect with us

News

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he understands family’s disappointment after he endorsed Donald Trump

Published

on

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he understands family’s disappointment after he endorsed Donald Trump
play

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his family members are free to disagree with his endorsement of former President Donald Trump after five issued a statement calling the move “a betrayal.”

The independent presidential hopeful suspended his campaign and backed the Republican nominee Friday. The nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, he is part of one of the nation’s most prominent political dynasties.

But RFK Jr.’s family has long disavowed his candidacy and his history of spreading conspiracy theories. His sister, Kerry Kennedy, released a statement with four other members of the family to X, formerly Twitter, Friday.

Advertisement

“Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear,” she wrote. “It’s a sad ending to a sad story.”

In an an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” RFK Jr. said several of his family members work for President Joe Biden and consider him a friend. He acknowledged his family has long been at the center of the Democratic Party, exemplified by a bust of his father in the president’s Oval Office.

“I understand that they’re troubled by my decisions,” he told Fox News’ Shannon Bream. “But, you know, I think we all need to be able to disagree with each other and still love each other.”

Advertisement

RFK Jr. also thanked his wife Cheryl Hines, who supported his campaign, for her understanding when he endorsed Trump despite her discomfort with the decision.

“I am so grateful to my amazing wife Cheryl for her unconditional love, as I made a political decision with which she is very uncomfortable,” he wrote in a post on X. “I wish this also for the country — love and unity even in the face of disagreement. We will need that in coming times.”

In the interview Sunday, Kennedy confirmed reports that he also reached out to Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Libertarian presidential nominee Chase Oliver “on the same basis” as he did with Trump before offering his endorsement to the former president.

He said Trump has not promised him a cabinet position if he is elected in exchange for his endorsement, but that they have agreed to work together and he plans to actively campaign for the Republican nominee.

Advertisement

Rachel Barber is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY, focusing on politics and education. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @rachelbarber_

News

After Security Scare, Trump Demands Approval for His White House Ballroom

Published

on

After Security Scare, Trump Demands Approval for His White House Ballroom

President Trump on Sunday said that the attempted security breach by an armed man at the White House correspondents’ dinner underscored why he should be allowed to build a $400 million ballroom equipped with the latest security features on the White House grounds.

“This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House,” Mr. Trump wrote in a post on social media on Sunday morning. “It cannot be built fast enough!” He raised the issue again in an interview with Fox News late Sunday morning, talking about the security challenges of the hotel where the shooting occurred.

The proposed ballroom is subject to litigation that has repeatedly slowed the project’s progress — and frustrated the president.

Just over a week ago, a federal judge escalated the legal standoff by ordering a halt to aboveground construction, saying the president appeared intent on skirting a previous order by redefining the ballroom project as a critical national security upgrade.

Judge Richard J. Leon said that adding features like bulletproof windows and other standard security features that exist throughout the White House did not exempt the ballroom project from his directives. “National security is not a blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity,” Judge Leon wrote.

Advertisement

The president’s ballroom plans call for a 90,000 square-foot structure on the former site of the East Wing. He has said it will be paid for by $400 million in private donations, and has declined to list the donors. The Times has identified some of them.

A former real estate developer, Mr. Trump has rushed the construction with little time for public review, and in his post on Sunday he again decried a lawsuit seeking to block it a “ridiculous campaign by “a woman walking her dog, who has absolutely No Standing to bring such a suit.”

The lawsuit, he wrote, “must be dropped, immediately,” and “nothing should be allowed to interfere” with further construction.

He made similar comments about the need for a White House ballroom at a news conference on Saturday night, only hours after he was rushed from the stage at the Washington Hilton by his Secret Service protection team.

There were no metal detectors set up at the entrances to the Hilton on Saturday night, and a secure perimeter was only established closer to the ballroom deeper inside the hotel. A security video posted by Mr. Trump showed the gunman sprinting past the security checkpoint before being captured before he could enter the ballroom.

Advertisement

“It’s not a particularly secure building,” he said of the Hilton, before launching into a familiar pitch for the necessity of his ballroom. “It’s bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom.”

Continue Reading

News

Suspected gunman likely targeting Trump administration officials at White House press dinner, acting attorney general says – live

Published

on

Suspected gunman likely targeting Trump administration officials at White House press dinner, acting attorney general says – live

‘Preliminary findings’ suggest suspect was ‘likely’ targeting Trump administration officials, says acting US attorney general

The acting US attorney general, Todd Blanche, has said that “preliminary findings” suggest that the alleged White House correspondents’ dinner shooter was targeting Donald Trump and officials in his administration.

Blanche told NBC News’ Meet the Press:

double quotation markWe’re still investigating a motive, and that’s something that will necessarily take a couple of days at least. We believe he was targeting administration officials in this attack, attempted attack, but that’s again, quite preliminary.

Those officials “likely” include the US president, Blanche added, “but I want to wait and not get ahead of us on that.”

Advertisement

Blanche went on to say that he does not believe that the suspect is cooperating with the investigation.

He will be charged in federal court tomorrow with assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer, Blanche said, adding he did not know if there was an Iran connection to the attack.

Investigators believe the suspect travelled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then Chicago to Washington DC by train, before checking into the hotel where the dinner was held, Blanche added.

He said investigators were looking into reports that the suspect had assembled the weapon somewhere in the hotel, but that he “didn’t get very far”.

double quotation markHe barely broke the perimeter. And by barely, I mean by a few feet.

Todd Blanche last night speaking next to FBI director Kash Patel and Donald Trump – still in their tuxedos – at a press briefing at the White House, following the shooting incident during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Share
Advertisement

Updated at 

Key events

Further to my previous post, acting US attorney general Todd Blanche has also told CNN’s Dana Bash this morning that the suspect appeared to be targeting members of the Trump administration.

double quotation markIt does appear the suspect was targeting members of the administration … We don’t have specifics yet about particular members of the administration, except that we do understand that that was his goal and his target.

Share
Continue Reading

News

Video: Watch Live: Trump Speaks To Press After Reports of Shots Fired at Correspondents’ Dinner

Published

on

Video: Watch Live: Trump Speaks To Press After Reports of Shots Fired at Correspondents’ Dinner

new video loaded: Watch Live: Trump Speaks To Press After Reports of Shots Fired at Correspondents’ Dinner

President Trump gives a news conference after he was rushed from the stage after gunfire broke out in the hotel where the White House correspondents’ dinner was being held on Saturday night

April 25, 2026

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending