A federal judge has ordered Florida to halt construction of President Trump’s “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention facility for two weeks.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams’s temporary restraining order, issued Thursday, gives some reprieve to the environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians who brought the lawsuit against the state of Florida on the grounds that the facility violates numerous environmental laws and is a threat to the region’s rich wetlands in the Everglades. The center would also be a specific threat to panthers, according to Randy Kautz, a wildlife expert who testified in the lawsuit.
“There has been a stable reproducing population of panthers in this area in this range at least over the last 30 years,” he testified in court. “Panthers have succeeded and resided here.… There is a chance that [expanding Alligator Alcatraz] results in putting this species at risk.”
Alligator Alcratraz’s leadership has also disregarded the environmental review process required by the National Environmental Policy Act.
While temporary, this halts a pet project for Trump that has already received accusations of abuse and inhumane conditions for detained immigrants and workers alike. Williams will continue to hear the case.
More on “Alligator Alcatraz”:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was finally able to admit that tariffs are indeed a tax on American importers and consumers, as Trump’s tariffs affecting virtually the entire world took effect on Thursday.
“We’ve got a tariff of 50 percent on Brazil now, I think. And so, if um, someone here, an importer, wants to buy Brazilian products today or tomorrow and import them, they’re gonna pay 50 percent through the Treasury,” MSNBC’s Eugene Robinson said to Bessent, explaining the policy to the treasury secretary as if he were a child. “So who writes that check?”
Bessent has had some issues answering this question directly in the recent past, and he began to equivocate once again.
“So the tariff is paid in this country by the importer, is that right?” — Eugene Robinson guides Scott Bessent into acknowledging that tariffs are in fact paid in the United States, not by foreign governments pic.twitter.com/uB3QqAsmpe
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 7, 2025
“Well, couple of things. First, we could have substitutions, so there’s very little that only comes from Brazil,” Bessent replied. “It could come from Argentina, it could come from—”
“But assuming it does come from Brazil, say, or it comes from any country with a tariff,” Robinson said, pulling him back to the actual question. “Who writes the check to the Treasury?”
“Well, the check is written to the person who receives it at the dock, in the U.S.”
“Mhm, the check, is, quote, ‘written by the person who receives it at the dock.’ So the tariff is paid in this country by the importer, is that right?” Robinson said, again highlighting the crux of the matter.
“But the Brazilian exporter could decide that they wanna keep market share, they could lower their price to the full 50 percent of the tariff—”
“Right, they could eat part of the cost.”
“Which is what we’ve seen,” Bessent continued unconvincingly.
“Uh-huh, OK, OK. But the check is written by the importer right, at the dock?”
“Right, and then the importer can pass it on or not.”
Not only is Bessent doing everything in his power to avoid the truth of the situation—U.S. importers foot the bill here—he’s also spinning pipe dreams regarding the likelihood of American companies or other countries willingly volunteering to “eat part of the cost.” Trump’s tariffs will raise prices on importers, and those importers will pass those prices on to consumers. Products from Brazil, India, and countless other countries will grow more expensive. Trump has already publicly feuded with Walmart after the corporation said it would refuse to eat tariff costs and would raise prices.
“Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain. Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected,” Trump wrote in May. “Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, ‘EAT THE TARIFFS,’ and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”
American consumers should expect more lies and business confrontations from this administration while prices everywhere rise.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is basically a Democrat, according to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
AIPAC, one of the largest lobbies in the United States, excoriated Greene in a fundraising email to its supporters Thursday for describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide,” likening the MAGA Republican to some of the most progressive voices on Capitol Hill.
“You expect anti-Israel smears from Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar,” the group said. “But now, Marjorie Taylor Greene has joined their ranks—spouting the same vile rhetoric and voting against the US-Israel alliance.”
Advocates, academics, United Nations experts, and human rights groups in and out of Israel have said the state, founded in the wake of the Holocaust, is committing genocide in Palestine. Last week, Greene joined them.
“It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” the far-right Georgia congresswoman wrote on X at the time.
AIPAC derided Greene’s comments as “disgusting.”
A U.N.-backed international food security body reported last week that the “worst-case famine scenario” is currently occurring in Gaza, where Israeli forces have restricted local access to food, water, electricity, and medicine. The report fell short of labeling the situation a full-blown famine, though at least 197 starvation deaths have occurred in the war-torn region, local health authorities told Vatican News.
“This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement, underscoring that the “trickle of aid” to Gaza “must become an ocean.”
Yet help may not be on the way. Speaking with reporters Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Donald Trump had effectively given Israel a pass to take over the remainder of Gaza.
Read about what Greene said:
This Republican woman running for office thinks women shouldn’t run for office.
Mylie Biggs, the daughter of Trump-loving Representative Andy Biggs, is running for a seat in the Arizona state Senate. And a year ago, she went on a podcast and said that she doesn’t believe women should hold political office, reported the Phoenix New Times.
“Honestly, I don’t know if I would vote for any female. I don’t know if females should be in office,” Biggs said on the show.
“There are a lot of really good women in office, I’m not trying to hate on anyone—like, some really good congresswomen,” Biggs added. “Yeah, I don’t think women should hold office in general. That’s my position. That’s my stance. I think women should run the home.”
Biggs launched her campaign in late June, saying on X, “My parents taught me to love my country, the Constitution, and to value my freedoms. I’ve watched so many good people in my life serve this country in the military and in public office. I too seek to serve.”
But on the podcast, Biggs didn’t seem interested in serving—or even in working at all. She lamented how “modern feminism” has changed the world, “starting with women’s right to vote.”
“I hate a 9-to-5 schedule,” Biggs added. “I get home, and I don’t want to do anything else. Like, women aren’t built for this.”
Since announcing, Biggs has not submitted a campaign finance report, and has not yet raised any money, according to the Phoenix New Times.
Many women are “built for this,” but perhaps Biggs is not one of them.
More on Republicans not doing well:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Thursday that Donald Trump is totally fine with his illegal takeover of Gaza.
During an i
