After being met with angry protesters at Washington, D.C.’s Union Station amid the Trump administration’s federal law enforcement crackdown, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller dismissed community dissenters and said the surge of National Guard troops and federal police agents was all for the “safety” of D.C.’s Black residents.

“Most of the citizens who live in Washington, D.C. are Black. This is not a city that has had any safety for its Black citizens for generations,” said Miller, who leads President Donald Trump‘s domestic policy.

The White House official, who is the chief architect of Trump’s anti-DEI agenda and launched a conservative law firm that sued to end several racial equity programs, told reporters on Wednesday alongside Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, “President Trump is the one who is fixing that with the support of the Metropolitan Police Department, the support of the National Guard, and our federal law enforcement officers.”

As he tried to speak over a chorus of protesters, Miller downplayed the level of vitriol captured in videos of likely travelers heckling him, Vance, and Hegseth as they visited National Guard troops stationed at a Shake Shack. He dismissed the angry hecklers as “crazy communists” who are responsible for D.C. being “one of the most violent cities on planet Earth.”

“For too long, 99% of this city has been terrorized by 1% of the city, and the voices that you hear out there…have no roots. They have no connection to the city,” Miller claimed without possibly knowing the residency background of the crowd of individuals. He continued, “They have no families they’re raising in this city. They have no one [who] they are sending to school in this city. They have no jobs in the city…They’re the ones who’ve been advocating for the 1%; the criminals, the killers, the rapists, the drug dealers.”

The senior Trump White House official said the administration will “ignore these stupid white hippies [who] all need to go home and take a nap because they’re all over 90 years old.” Miller added, “We’re going to get back to the business of protecting the American people and the citizens of Washington, D.C.”

But while President Trump’s top policy chief says the administration’s surge of federal law enforcement and American troops is for the benefit of Black D.C. residents, public policy experts and former D.C. and White House officials say the federal government’s actions will not make the city safer in the long run.

Gregory Jackson, a public safety expert and former deputy director of the Biden White House’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention, criticized the Trump administration for “demonizing and criminalizing entire Black communities” while cutting critical funding for public safety and community violence interventions.

Jackson said Biden-era investments in partnership with local leaders resulted in a significant decrease in crime in urban cities like D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

“The way that we reduce crime is by investing in people and holding the industry accountable for putting illegal guns into our communities,” Jackson told theGrio.

The former Biden official pointed to Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney of D.C. Jeanine Pirro, who recently instructed federal prosecutors in the district not to pursue federal charges for those holding rifles and shotguns.

‘They also reduced the timeline for you to get your concealed carry permit. So they’re encouraging more guns in our street, while defunding life-saving programs, while defunding city services, and while disrespecting a very large police force and really replacing them with outsiders,” said Jackson.

Simply put, Jackson said the Trump administration’s handling of crime in D.C. is an “ineffective approach.”

Courtney Snowden, a sixth-generation D.C. resident and former D.C. deputy mayor, told theGrio that the nation’s capital city is being “painted with this horrible perspective that is not grounded in any fact.”

“Like in any community across the country, we have some trouble. You can need additional support and engagement,” said Snowden. However, she said, “We shouldn’t be criminalizing homelessness. We shouldn’t criminalize poverty.”

Snowden said she believed D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser had done an “excellent job” creating public safety resources, citing the city’s 30-year low in crime. She added, “Right now, it feels like all of that’s getting undermined with this effort by the [Trump] administration.”

Markus Batchelor, a D.C. native and political director at People For the American Way, said of Stephen Miller’s remarks on Wednesday, “I’ll take a thousand white hippies standing up for our democracy over one white nationalist trying to destroy it.”

“Stephen Miller has spent the last decade creating and implementing the Trump administration’s most anti-Black policies,” Batchelor told theGrio.

“He’s led the effort to dismantle Black people’s access to housing, education, jobs, the vote, and equal justice under law,” he added. “Him pretending to be the savior of Black people in Washington is both a hilarious contradiction and disgusting propaganda.”

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Dafne Keen, the once-feral Laura from Logan who clawed her way into Hollywood stardom, has entered her grown-and-gorgeous era, and social media is absolutely spiraling over her latest Instagram posts.

The 20-year-old actress recently blessed her fans with a carousel of vacation shots from Puerto Rico, and it’s safe to say the internet hasn’t caught its breath since.

Island Goddess: Dafne’s Beachside Beauty

On a sandy tropical beach framed by lush green foliage, Keen poses in a chic brown bikini, hoop earrings catching the sunlight, and a delicate bracelet wrapping her wrist. In one shot, she subtly adjusts her bikini top with a knowing smile, while in another, she gives a sideways grin that radiates a playful confidence.

The vibe? Effortless beauty with just enough mystery to remind the world she’s no longer the child star people first met in Logan but a young woman shaping her own spotlight.

Dancing Under Bad Bunny’s Lights

In another slide from the same post, Keen is spotted in the crowd at a Bad Bunny concert, swaying and dancing with carefree energy. The clip adds another layer to her vacation narrative: part beach muse, part music lover fully immersed in Puerto Rican nightlife.

It’s a slice of realness that fans adore, Dafne looking as comfortable onstage at one of the world’s hottest concerts as she does stealing scenes in His Dark Materials.

The Internet Has Entered Its Dafne Keen Era

Fans and followers wasted no time making their thoughts known. The responses range from thirsty declarations to cultural comparisons:

• “Top 3 Baddest in the game rght now.”






• “Type you go to war for.”






• “2 million gooners and I’m one of them.”






• “She could definitely pull those claws on me.”






• “Cue all the idiots who resisted the idea of Laura as the MCU’s Wolverine suddenly having a change of heart.”

Others used the moment to remind people of her acting chops:

• “People hype up Sydney Sweeney when the real star of the show is Keen.”






• “She becomes more and more beautiful with each passing year.”






• “Dafne Keen is who they’re making Sydney Sweeney out to be, good lord.”

But not every reaction was celebratory. Some fans raised concerns over how the internet talks about actresses who grew up on-screen:

• “Is anyone else weirded tf out by how much people thirst over her on this app? Like yes she’s an adult but idk, there’s something about her coming to prominence as a child (not that long ago) that just makes it creepy to me.”






• “Too many of the headlines like this are basically just code for ‘this teen starlet is done with puberty, conventionally attractive, and of legal age, so it is totally ok for men to openly perv on her now.’ It’s weird, and it’s been an ongoing trend since forever.”

Related

If you want all of the tea on the life and times of the Obama family, Michelle Obama’s podcast with her brother Craig Robinson— “IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson”—has got you covered.

On the latest episode that features Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union, they spent a lot of time talking about the family unit and bridging the gap as parents with kids, Michelle shared about ‘growing up Obama’ for Sasha and Malia and how they related (or not) to their famous father, Barack Obama, as teenagers in the White House. 

According to our Forever First Lady, Barack had more of a connection with his daughter Malia than Sasha, though clearly he maintained a deep love and fondness for both of his kids. But anybody with multiple children will tell you that each kid comes with their own personality and way of doing things, which requires parents to learn how to relate to them as individuals.

According to Michelle, Malia was intent on making time for her dad. 

“I’d say this to Barack, when it comes to, you know, [our] oldest, Malia, she is going to figure out who you are, what do you like and let’s discuss,” she said. “When Malia was a teenager, it wasn’t that she was going out any less or doing anything differently; she would tell me, ‘I’m going out this weekend, but I’m going to go in and give dad like 15 minutes.’” 

She continued, “Barack would come out of the Treaty Room and say, ‘I just had an amazing conversation with Malia!”

Any parent will tell you that a teenager taking an interest in you will engender all of the warm and fuzzy feelings. When my own 16-year-old daughter asks me how my day was, I start to tear up. I know she loves me, but, ya know, taking an interest? Swoon. If that is how you engage with one child, the oldest, if the younger is providing an entirely different, less attached experience, you might wonder why. 

Michelle said that’s why Barack called Sasha “difficult,” which made Michelle explain to him that Malia was more of a people-pleaser and Sasha was…well, not. 

“Sasha is like a cat. She’s like, ‘Don’t touch me, don’t pet me. I’m not pleasing you. You come to me,’” shared Michelle.

As a parent of four kids, I have a broad spectrum of kids. Some of my kids want to hang with us, and other kids will disappear for the entire day doing their own thing if we let them. As Michelle pointed out, you have to learn every kid’s temperament and meet them where they are. 

Be that as it may, the Obama girls are no longer teenagers but young adults who maintain close relationships with their parents as they forge their own lives in the world, separate and apart from their famous mom and dad. 

If there’s one takeaway from Michelle’s discussion about the challenges of parenting teens, it’s that all parents go through the same things, whether nobody knows your name or you’re one of, if not the, most famous parents on the planet. 

21

On August 18th, Former Saved by the Bell star Tiffani Thiessen reminded everyone that legends never die, they’re reborn. On a hot Instagram post, the woman who was pretty much the face of a generation raised on 90s television busted out her “naked carrot cake” recipe. In character, she was bare-chested, fork at the ready, recreating the kind of smolder once printed on bedroom walls and locker rooms across America.

This was not a recipe at all. It was a crisp, high-gloss feature that balanced precariously on the edge between culinary journalism and style direction. Using headings such as “It feels like summer” and “How do you eat it?”, Thiessen elevated a slice of carrot cake to ready-for-a-Helmut-Newton-spread-proxy status.

The Enduring Glow of Kelly Kapowski

Years had passed since pop culture was dominated by Kelly Kapowski, but by the gauge of comment section, Thiessen’s charm never aged a day. Fans gushed with all the devotion of those who were thinking about their high school heartthrobs:

• “Kelly Kapowski ????”
• “She still looks great. Whoa!”
• “She looks wonderful!”

The piece was not nostalgic so much as proof of continuity. From her adorable-but-intelligent days on Saved by the Bell to her later stints on 90210 and White Collar, Thiessen had never fully been able to balance girl-next-door adorability with secret, inner glamour just dying to break out. Now having fun and going topless, she possesses that look again with the confidence of a woman well in control of her legacy.

Applause, Shade, and the Social Media Runway

All runways have their critics. While others applauded her bravery, others grasped for cynicism. One comment sighed, “I would have cared 35 years ago.” Another attempted to feign concern in the disguise of cruelty: “She’s gotten fat to the point that I’m legitimately concerned for her health.”

And that is where she excels. Thiessen seized on this thread. What is so brilliant about this video is its brazenness. Standing next to a bareplate and bare chest meant she was making something other than cake; she was making a point. She is not Kelly Kapowski. She is Tiffani Thiessen, a woman who can combine nostalgia, sex and humor all together into one viral moment.

Related

President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook to resign after a member of his administration accused Cook of committing mortgage fraud, the latest example of the Trump administration’s efforts to gain control over the central bank.

Bill Pulte, director of the agency that oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, urged the Justice Department to investigate Cook, who was appointed to the Fed’s governing board by former president Joe Biden in 2022. She was reappointed the following year to a term that lasts until 2038.

Pulte, in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, alleged that Cook has claimed two homes as her principal residences — one in Michigan, the other in Georgia — to fraudulently obtain better mortgage lending terms.

Pulte also charged in his letter that Cook has listed her condo in Atlanta, Georgia, for rent. Mortgages for homes used as principal residences typically carry lower interest rates than properties that are purchased to rent, Pulte’s letter said.

The allegation represents another front in the Trump administration’s attack on the Fed, which has yet to cut its key interest rate as Trump has demanded. If Cook were to step down, then the White House could nominate a replacement. And Trump has said he would only appoint people who would support lower rates.

The more members of the Fed’s governing board that Trump can appoint, the more control he will be able to assert over the Fed, which has long been considered independent from day-to-day politics.

Trump will be able to replace Chair Jerome Powell in May 2026, when Powell’s term expires. Yet 12 members of the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee have a vote on whether to raise or lower interest rates, so even replacing the Chair doesn’t guarantee that Fed policy will shift the way Trump wants.

All seven members of the Fed’s governing board, however, are able to vote on rate decisions. The other five voters include the president of the Fed’s New York branch and a rotating group of four of the presidents of the Fed’s other 11 regional branches.

Trump appointed two members of the Fed’s board in his first term, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman. Both dissented July 30 from the central bank’s decision to keep its rate unchanged in favor of a rate cut.

Another Fed governor, Adriana Kugler, stepped down unexpectedly Aug. 1, and Trump has appointed one of his economic advisers, Stephen Miran, to fill out the remainder of her term until January.

If Trump is able to replace Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Fed’s board, as well as Kugler and Powell, that would give him a clear majority on the board of governors. Powell, however, could stay on the board after finishing his term as chair next May.

The Federal Reserve declined to comment on the accusation.

Trump has for months demanded that the Federal Reserve reduce the short-term interest rate it controls, which currently stands at about 4.3%. He has also repeatedly insulted Powell, who has said that the Fed would like to see more evidence of how the economy evolves in response to Trump’s sweeping tariffs before making any moves. Powell has also said the duties threaten to raise inflation and slow growth.

Trump says that a lower rate would reduce the government’s borrowing costs on $37 trillion in debt and boost the housing market by reducing mortgage rates. Yet mortgage borrowing costs do not always follow the Fed’s rate decisions.

The Trump administration has made similar claims of mortgage fraud against Democrats that Trump has attacked, including California Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James.