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The president, Donald Trump, and the vice president, JD Vance, were left off the guest list for the invitation-only funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral on Thursday morning, even as more than 1,000 people were expected to attend, including four living former vice presidents and two former presidents.

Past presidents and politicians of both parties will gather Thursday in Washington, DC, for former Vice President Dick Cheney's funeral — sending off a key figure of pre-MAGA Republican politics. https://cnn.it/3XC114v

— CNN (@cnn.com) 2025-11-20T10:31:03.956141101Z

Across the political spectrum

At the funeral of former Vice President Dick Cheney at Washington’s National Cathedral, the presence of Joe Biden and George W. Bush, former vice presidents Kamala Harris, Mike Pence and Al Gore, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh, senior Cabinet members from both Republican and Democratic administrations, as well as congressional leaders such as Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell offered a stark visual contrast.

Washington’s traditional political and institutional class united to honor Cheney while the sitting president and vice president were conspicuously absent.

During the service, tributes to Cheney mixed the political and the deeply personal. George W. Bush remembered his vice president as a trusted partner, saying «They do not come any better than Dick Cheney» and «He was everything a President should expect in a second-in-command», before closing with the promise «Somewhere up the trail, we will meet again».

His daughter, Liz Cheney, offered a more intimate portrait, recalling that «The night before my dad died, the sky about my parents’ house filled with clouds in the shape of winged angels», and that «As my dad left this earth, his last words were to tell my mother he loved her», calling «One of the greatest blessings of my life» the time she had with him.

Never be trusted again

Dick Cheney, long seen as one of the most polarizing Republican vice presidents, started by backing Trump in 2016 but ultimately broke with him over January 6 and Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election results.

In 2024, he went even further and publicly announced he would vote for Kamala Harris, crossing party lines and warning that Trump was a «greater threat to our republic» who «can never be trusted with power again».

«Somewhere up the trail, we will meet again».

-George W. Bush

That endorsement, widely described as an extraordinary and even shocking move for a lifelong Republican, crystallized the rupture between Cheney and the MAGA wing he believed was endangering democratic norms.

Liz Cheney also campaigned alongside Kamala Harris during the 2024 race.

In that context, Trump and Vance’s absence from Cheney’s funeral — and the lack of an invitation in the first place — is not just a matter of protocol, but a visible symbol of how completely Cheney had turned away from Trump’s Republican Party by the end of his life .

President Trump was not invited the memorial service for Dick Cheney on Thursday, and Vice President JD Vance was also not in attendance. Cheney, a once-powerful Republican, turned on Trump last year by announcing he would vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.

— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2025-11-20T17:05:02.340809Z

Donald Trump spent hours on Truth Social railing against multiple Democratic lawmakers, repeatedly boosting posts suggesting they should be hanged and amplifying calls for extreme punishment. In one of his own messages, Trump wrote that those lawmakers’ actions should be «punishable by DEATH!».

Trump rages at Democratic vets urging troops to defy unlawful orders."SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH."

— Axios (@axios.com) 2025-11-20T17:43:12.162Z

A video urging to refuse illegal orders

Trump erupted after six Democratic lawmakers with military or intelligence backgrounds released a video urging service members and intelligence officials to refuse illegal orders, reminding them that their oath is to the Constitution, not to any one president.

We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.

The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.

Don’t give up the ship. pic.twitter.com/N8lW0EpQ7r

— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) November 18, 2025

«This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP??? President DJT».

They say they recorded the video at a moment when Trump’s escalating attacks on democratic institutions, his threats to prosecute political opponents, and his repeated demands for absolute loyalty from the military and intelligence community have intensified concerns about protecting the rule of law and ensuring that no president can bypass constitutional limits.

The president appeared to endorse the execution of his political enemies in a chilling online post.

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast.bsky.social) 2025-11-20T15:28:39.576842Z

The video featured Senator Elissa Slotkin (former CIA analyst and Iraq war veteran), Senator Mark Kelly (former Navy pilot and astronaut), Representative Jason Crow (former Army Ranger), Representative Maggie Goodlander (former Navy reservist), Representative Chris Deluzio (former Navy officer), and Representative Chrissy Houlahan (former Air Force officer).

«HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!!».

A rage-filled posting spree

In a single Truth Social post, Trump shared an article about the video and wrote: «This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP??? President DJT».

Trump seized on the message as a direct attack on his authority, branding the lawmakers «traitors» engaged in «SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR» and using his Truth Social feed to demand their arrest and hint that their actions should be «punishable by DEATH!».

«It is a call to hang Democratic lawmakers who spoke out against Trump.»

-Gavin Newsom

His rage-filled posting spree also included a series of retruths branding the Democratic lawmakers as «traitors», with some of the amplified posts even urging «HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!!».

«Donald Trump must immediately delete these unhinged social media posts and recant his violent rhetoric before he gets someone killed.»

House Democratic leaders condemned Trump’s rhetoric as incitement and a threat to their colleagues’ safety.

House Democratic leaders denounced Trump’s posts as dangerous incitement that could lead to real-world violence. In a joint statement, Hakeem Jeffries and his leadership team warned:

«We have been in contact with the House Sergeant at Arms and the United States Capitol Police to ensure the safety of these Members and their families. Donald Trump must immediately delete these unhinged social media posts and recant his violent rhetoric before he gets someone killed.»

California Governor Gavin Newsom also sounded the alarm on X, writing:

«Trump just reposted this. It is a call to hang Democratic lawmakers who spoke out against Trump.»

Trump just reposted this.

It is a call to hang Democratic lawmakers who spoke out against Trump. pic.twitter.com/8u4SJn5yID

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 20, 2025

The Trump administration spent weeks working behind the scenes to slow or block a congressional push to force the release of the Epstein files, with Trump repeatedly dismissing the effort as a Democratic hoax and doing everything possible to prevent the documents from coming out.

Breaking News: President Trump signed a bill calling on the Justice Department to release files tied to Jeffrey Epstein, but with significant exceptions. Follow live updates: nyti.ms/484IDWJ

— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2025-11-20T02:00:10.263959Z

But that strategy collapsed under intense, bipartisan pressure, culminating in Trump signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which compels the Department of Justice to make the documents public within 30 days.

«We will continue to follow the law with maximum transparency while protecting victims.»

A near-total agreement in Washington

The bill sailed through the House on a 427–1 vote and cleared the Senate by unanimous consent, reflecting rare, near-total agreement in Washington on the need for greater transparency around the Epstein case.

Yet despite the sweeping mandate, many observers doubt that the public will see the full contents of the files anytime soon.

The law allows prosecutors and the DOJ, under the control of Pam Bondi, to withhold or heavily redact material tied to ongoing investigations, classified information, or any information deemed to pose a risk to government security, leaving the Justice Department with significant discretion over what is actually disclosed.

Critics warn that these carve-outs, combined with the DOJ’s insistence that most releasable material is already public, could mean that some of the most sensitive records remain out of view for months or even years, even as the clock ticks on the 30-day deadline.

Investigation Could Delay Full Epstein Files Release for Years

While pressed by reporters, Pam Bondi had only one response to offer: «We will continue to follow the law with maximum transparency while protecting victims.»

But in a last-ditch push to block the release of the Epstein files, Trump asked the DOJ to investigate Bill Clinton, Larry Summers and other high-profile Democrats for alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Pam Bondi responded by assigning U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to lead the investigation «with urgency and integrity».

This move jeopardizes the release of the full set of files, despite approval by the House, the Senate and Trump’s final signature, and opens the door to an investigation that could drag on for years before any of these documents are made public.

The most explosive presidential scandal in history

The pressure surrounding the Epstein files has reached a level Trump has never faced before, fueling speculation that the documents could conceal the most explosive presidential scandal in modern U.S. history.

Whether Trump’s signature will ease the public pressure or whether it will continue to build, as it has for months, remains to be seen.

For decades, Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein moved in the same Palm Beach and New York circles, attending the same parties and appearing together at Mar-a-Lago, before Trump since claimed he had cut ties with Epstein «a long time ago» and was no longer his friend.

Newly released emails subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate, however, suggest their relationship may have continued into Trump’s first presidency: in a Thanksgiving Day 2017 exchange with modeling executive Faith Kates, Epstein, when asked who else was with him, simply replied: «david fizel, hanson, trump.»

The decision represents a stunning reversal for the president aimed chiefly at quelling a brewing GOP revolt and restoring his iron grip over the party. But few believe the path will be so easy from here. https://cnn.it/484YoNt

— CNN (@cnn.com) 2025-11-20T14:34:03.998426434Z

Axios y varios medios, entre ellos Reuters, informan de que Donald Trump y su Administración están presionando discretamente al presidente ucraniano, Volodymyr Zelensky, para que acepte su propuesta de plan de paz.

SCOOP: New Trump plan to end war in Ukraine grants Russia parts of eastern Ukraine it does not currently control.

— Axios (@axios.com) 2025-11-19T17:35:45.850Z

Una « hoja de ruta de 28 puntos »

Según Axios, la administración estadounidense está trabajando en una « hoja de ruta de 28 puntos » secreta para poner fin a la guerra en Ucrania, un plan supuestamente desarrollado en consulta con funcionarios rusos y supervisado por el enviado especial estadounidense Steve Witkoff. Las discusiones se están llevando a cabo a través de canales secretos en lugar de conversaciones diplomáticas públicas.

El plan descrito por Axios exigiría a Ucrania aceptar pérdidas territoriales significativas y una reducción sustancial de sus fuerzas armadas.

Estas condiciones, presentadas como parte de un esfuerzo más amplio para poner fin al conflicto, remodelarían notablemente las fronteras y las capacidades militares de Ucrania.

Según Axios, el plan propuesto por Trump para poner fin a la guerra en Ucrania incluye conceder a Rusia partes del este de Ucrania que actualmente no controla, ya que su administración intenta negociar estos territorios con Kiev a cambio de garantías de seguridad para Ucrania.

Grandes dudas sobre la credibilidad de las garantías de seguridad

El plan de paz de Trump entregaría a Rusia las regiones ucranianas de Luhansk y Donetsk (el Donbás), a pesar de que Ucrania sigue controlando parte de esos territorios. Según el plan, Trump quiere convertir el Donbás en una especie de zona desmilitarizada bajo control exclusivo ruso, alegando que Putin no podría estacionar tropas allí.

Según Axios, un funcionario ucraniano dijo que el plan de paz de Trump también limitaría el tamaño del ejército ucraniano y su armamento a cambio de garantías de seguridad estadounidenses, pero advirtió que la propuesta no asegura protección si Rusia ataca de nuevo o se apodera de más territorio ucraniano en el futuro, lo que arroja grandes dudas sobre la credibilidad de esas garantías en su conjunto.

Para muchos en Kiev, estas vagas promesas de seguridad son un eco de las garantías incumplidas del Memorando de Budapest de 1994, lo que ahonda las dudas sobre su valor real.

Es probable que el regateo de Trump con el territorio ucraniano a cambio de vagas garantías de seguridad escandalice a los aliados de Ucrania y a sus socios europeos, pues muchos ya le critican por no defender la soberanía de Ucrania desde que inició las negociaciones de paz a principios de este año y por tratar su territorio como moneda de cambio en beneficio de Putin.

The US signaled to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Ukraine must accept a US-drafted framework to end the war with Russia that proposes Kyiv giving up territory and some weapons, two people familiar with the matter said reut.rs/3X5jBBS

— Reuters (@reuters.com) 2025-11-19T17:02:49.333Z

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has raised his country’s US investment target from the $600 billion commitment he announced during Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May to a headline-grabbing $1 trillion, according to a statement on the White House website.

US, Saudi tout new business deals at investment forum reut.rs/47NZ1My

— Reuters (@reuters.com) 2025-11-19T16:50:13Z

The new figure, confirmed by the White House in a statement during the Saudi crown prince’s trip to Washington, dramatically expands the scale of the pledged investment but remains vague in practice, with no breakdown, timetable, or sector-by-sector plan, leaving key questions unanswered about how and when such funds would actually be deployed.

During his visit to Washington, the crown prince took part in multiple events with the president that brought together top US executives from across major industries, including Elon Musk of Tesla, Jensen Huang of Nvidia, and senior leaders from companies such as Chevron, Cisco, Qualcomm, Google, Boeing, and Pfizer.

The $1 trillion would be made up of prospective deals in major arms contracts (including a flagship F-35 package), artificial intelligence partnerships involving firms such as Nvidia and AMD alongside data centers and cloud infrastructure, and agreements on critical minerals and civil nuclear cooperation that Washington would present as key to securing US supply chains, according to the White House fact sheet.

«We’re told that $270 billion in agreements and sales are being signed between dozens of companies, and that’s just happening today.»

Trump Touts $270 Billion in US–Saudi Deals

During the investment forum, President Donald Trump announced that some US–Saudi deals were being signed with a total value of approximately US $270 billion, marking a further step in the deepening economic partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

He presented these agreements as part of a broader agenda to bring high-paying jobs and strategic industry cooperation back to the US, spanning sectors such as defence, technology and infrastructure.

Trump highlighted the scale of those deals by saying: «We’re told that $270 billion in agreements and sales are being signed between dozens of companies, and that’s just happening today.»

While the headline number of US $270 billion was cited, the administration offered few details on timing, exact terms or sector-specific commitments, which leaves major questions about how and when these deals will materialize.

Donald Trump touted $1tn of investment from Saudi Arabia during his welcome for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that included a 21-gun salute, a Marine Corps band, a fighter jet flypast — and threats against US journalists who might offend his guest. on.ft.com/3LKGOXG

— Financial Times (@financialtimes.com) 2025-11-19T01:05:36.870593Z

Axios and several media outlets, including Reuters, report that Donald Trump and his administration are quietly pressuring Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to accept their proposed peace plan.

SCOOP: New Trump plan to end war in Ukraine grants Russia parts of eastern Ukraine it does not currently control.

— Axios (@axios.com) 2025-11-19T17:35:45.850Z

A «28-point roadmap»

According to Axios, the U.S. administration is working on a secret «28-point roadmap» for ending the war in Ukraine, a plan reportedly developed in consultation with Russian officials and overseen by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff. The discussions are taking place through secret channels rather than public diplomatic talks.

The plan described by Axios would require Ukraine to accept significant territorial losses and a substantial reduction of its armed forces.

These conditions, presented as part of a broader effort to end the conflict, would markedly reshape Ukraine’s borders and military capabilities.

According to Axios, Trump’s proposed plan to end the war in Ukraine includes granting Russia parts of eastern Ukraine that it does not currently control, as his administration tries to bargain these territories with Kyiv in exchange for security guarantees for Ukraine.

Major doubt on the credibility of the security guarantees

Trump’s peace plan would hand over the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk (the Donbas) to Russia, even though Ukraine still controls part of those territories. According to the plan, Trump wants to turn the Donbas into a sort of demilitarized zone under exclusive Russian control, claiming that Putin would not be able to station troops there.

According to Axios, a Ukrainian official said the Trump peace plan would also limit the size of Ukraine’s military and its weapons in exchange for U.S. security guarantees, but warned that the proposal fails to ensure protection if Russia attacks again or seizes more Ukrainian territory in the future, casting major doubt on the credibility of those guarantees as a whole.

For many in Kyiv, these vague security promises echo the broken assurances of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, deepening doubts about their real value.

Trump’s bargaining with Ukrainian territory in exchange for vague security guarantees is likely to shock Ukraine’s allies and European partners, as many already criticise him for failing to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty since entering peace negotiations earlier this year and for treating its land as a bargaining chip for Putin’s benefit.

The US signaled to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Ukraine must accept a US-drafted framework to end the war with Russia that proposes Kyiv giving up territory and some weapons, two people familiar with the matter said reut.rs/3X5jBBS

— Reuters (@reuters.com) 2025-11-19T17:02:49.333Z

A federal appeals court is now reviewing Donald Trump’s attempt to revive a sweeping RICO lawsuit accusing Hillary Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey, and several others of driving what Trump calls the «Russia hoax» against his 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump’s lawyers appeared before an appeals court in Alabama to try to revive a civil suit accusing Hillary Clinton of leading a conspiracy to bog down his 2016 presidential campaign with bogus allegations tying him to Russia.

— Bloomberg News (@bloomberg.com) 2025-11-19T10:30:12Z

«This case should never have been brought. Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it.»

In 2022, Donald Trump brought a lawsuit claiming that Hillary Rodham Clinton, James Comey, and others conspired to invent allegations of collusion with Russia during the 2016 campaign, which he argued harmed his reputation and business dealings.

In 2023, U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton, dismissed Trump’s lawsuit, calling the 193-page filing a «shotgun pleading» that was confusing and poorly structured.

Middlebrooks found that the complaint failed to identify any coordinated enterprise, did not allege valid criminal acts, did not show concrete financial damages, and was filed outside the applicable statute of limitations. Concluding that the suit served a political rather than legal purpose, Middlebrooks wrote:

«This case should never have been brought. Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it»

«I can read this complaint. It seems a classic shotgun complaint. It incorporates, by reference, hundreds of paragraphs into succeeding counts.»

A «classic shotgun complaint»

At the appeals stage, the three-judge panel expressed skepticism as they weighed whether the case, dismissed in 2023, should be revived in federal court and whether nearly $1 million in sanctions against Trump and his former attorney Alina Habba stemming from that lawsuit should be allowed to stand.

Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr., one of the three judges on the Eleventh Circuit panel hearing Trump’s appeal, underscored early in the session that he viewed Trump’s sprawling 108-page complaint — expanded to 193 pages in a later version — as a «classic shotgun complaint» that improperly lumped together too many defendants and claims, saying:

«I can read this complaint. It seems a classic shotgun complaint. It incorporates, by reference, hundreds of paragraphs into succeeding counts.»

The appeals court is expected to issue its decision in the coming weeks or months, and if Donald Trump loses, he can seek a rehearing by the full court or ask the Supreme Court to take up the case.

«No reasonable lawyer would have filed it.»

-U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks

In another of his legal cases, Donald Trump recently filed a request with the Supreme Court seeking to dismiss a civil judgment against him in the E. Jean Carroll case, after a New York jury in May 2023 found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarded 5 million dollars in damages, followed by a second jury in January 2024 that ordered him to pay an additional 83.3 million dollars for further defamatory statements.

Appeals court panel mulls $1M penalty for Trump in lawsuit against Hillary Clinton

— Politico (@politico.com) 2025-11-19T03:33:32Z