• While defending Trump accepting a luxury jet from Qatar, Newsmax host Rob Finnerty said, “I would definitely criticize Joe Biden if he cut the exact same deal.”

• War Room host Steve Bannon: “Certain members of Congress should be arrested this afternoon for their activities on this situation up in Newark.” 
• Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk: “These are members of Congress that stormed into a federal ICE facility despite warnings. They should absolutely be charged for this.”

• Fox’s Laura Ingraham responded to Trump’s announced China tariffs, saying, “A lot of our friends are skeptical.”
• Newsmax host Rob Schmitt: “I think that the end of apartheid in South Africa is going to end up being a liability.”

President Donald Trump is prepared to accept a $400 million super luxury Boeing 747 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar. Even though legal experts warn that the gift could violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause, right-wing media personalities have turned themselves into pretzels desperately trying to defend this egregious display of presidential corruption. 

• Fox & Friends ran a pathetic spin about President Franklin Roosevelt having gifted airlines to the Saudis to kickstart Saudi airlines. 
• Newsmax host Rob Schmitt said, “I have no fear that Qatar is going to own Donald Trump because they gave him a plane he’s going to use for a couple of years.” 
• Podcaster Benny Johnson: “What this is is a gift from a foreign nation. It happens to be a very expensive gift, but it is a gift nonetheless. It’s permissible and legal.” 

Right-wing media, however, have not been universally defensive of Trump, with some personalities criticizing the acceptance of the so-called gift. 

• The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro called out Trump’s “skeezy stuff,” saying, “It needs to stop.” 
• A Newsmax guest said accepting the jet is “offensive to people who want to join the movement.” 
• Fox News legal analyst Andy McCarthy said Trump’s acceptance of the plane violates the Constitution. 

Media Matters President Angelo Carusone also discussed objections to Trump accepting the luxury plane. It’s worth a watch.

Throughout the first months of Trump’s second administration, The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro has been increasingly clashing with the Trump administration on a variety of issues. Despite these disagreements, Shapiro remains supportive of far-right causes and Trump’s agenda. 

While Shapiro said that he did not vote for Trump in 2016, by 2020 he had endorsed Trump for a second term. And by the 2024 election cycle, Shapiro was raising money for Trump. 

Shapiro has been vocal in criticizing the Trump administration on a broad array of issues, from foreign policy to tariffs, and has sometimes attacked administration staffers and condemned Trump’s rhetoric. While Shapiro claims to still support Trump’s agenda, it will be interesting to watch as his disagreements continue to accumulate.

The Justice Department’s “Weaponization Working Group” is the fruit of a yearslong right-wing effort to portray federal law enforcement against Trump and his allies as criminal in nature. But if that task force fails to bring charges against Trump's purported enemies, its head, the right-wing activist Ed Martin, is promising to publicly “name” and “shame” those individuals — a clear violation of longstanding DOJ policy which would provide chum for MAGA media while turning its targets into hate objects. 

As Media Matters’ Matt Gertz writes: “Martin’s proposal to ‘name’ and ‘shame’ rather than prosecute Trump’s foes seems on the one hand like a significant retreat — a sign that he doesn’t think that the purported crimes he and his colleagues happily detailed in their books, podcasts, and Fox shows can pass muster with a federal judge.” 

And yet, Martin’s “name” and “shame” strategy amounts to a public declaration from the federal government that the targets of otherwise unsuccessful investigations are nonetheless Bad People. It’s a very disturbing innovation for the Trump administration, and I invite you to learn more about it here.

• Fox’s Sean Hannity bragged about being aboard Air Force One and attending exclusive meetings while traveling alongside Trump in Saudi Arabia. During an interview, Trump told Hannity, “You were so wonderful to me.” 
• Trump has failed to fulfill his campaign promise to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours; Hannity is attempting to shield Trump from criticism and deflect blame as the war continues. 
• Trump adviser Kari Lake has announced that international broadcasting network Voice of America will include content from One America News Network, a pro-Trump propaganda network. Since Trump’s inauguration, OAN personalities have pushed bizarre and inflammatory foreign policy commentary, including referring to Canada as “our vassal state,” calling Greenland “the new Africa,” and pushing for a revival of “manifest destiny.” 
• MAGA media celebrated Trump caving on “reciprocal” U.S.-China tariffs.
• Fox News anchor Bret Baier recently said the media should “100%” look into Trump family corruption, but since Trump’s inauguration, Special Report has aired just 1 segment about the family’s financial conflicts. 
• As a divided Congress fights over the Inflation Reduction Act, local media coverage highlights the benefits of the policy and the economic threats of repeal. 
• Right-wing media have attempted to politicize a major power outage in the Iberian Peninsula by making it a symbol of the dangers of decarbonization and renewable energy. In reality, the power outage is still being investigated, and emerging findings suggest it is a multifaceted problem that implicated the entire energy grid.
• Corporate broadcast and cable news ignored fatal anti-trans violence in 2024.