by Felicia Schwartz | Nov 12, 2026 | News, Russia, Ukraine, World
Marc Beckman made his name selling sneakers, soda and fashion. Now he spends much of his time helping Melania Trump with her public image, including negotiating with Russia and producing her multimillion-dollar Amazon documentary.
He has labeled himself her “exclusive senior adviser,” an amorphous title that over the past year has also included diplomacy on her behalf.
Beckman and Trump were the top American representatives at a White House ceremony on Nov. 5 commemorating a humanitarian ceasefire in one of Ukraine’s hardest-hit frontline cities in the war.
Top Russian and Ukrainian officials involved in the limited ceasefire efforts were also there and credited Beckman — a little-known Trump adviser with no official U.S. government role — with bringing the effort over the finish line.
To mark the occasion, Beckman posted a black-and-white photo of himself standing between top Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Ukrainian official David Arakhamia under a portrait of Andrew Jackson inside the White House.
Beckman, a man in his 50s with chin-length, feathered brown hair and salt-and-pepper scruff, wore a black blazer over a black T-shirt for the White House meetings. Dmitriev and Arakhamia were both in suits and ties.
The temporary humanitarian ceasefire in Oleshky is one of the Trump administration’s few concrete achievements since getting involved in the peace process between Russia and Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday agreed to a large prisoner swap after trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, the first in nine months, ended in no major breakthroughs. Beckman was not present.
‘The guy who looks like Fabio?’
Beckman has no diplomatic experience or security clearance. He does not report to the National Security Council, the State Department or any
by Hayes Brown | Nov 12, 2026 | Opinion, White House
It’s normal for administrations to see some turnover after a midterm election, especially if the president’s party takes the kind of beating we saw last week. What’s unusual, though, is the number of high-ranking officials who’ve already left the Department of Justice since the midterms. With their departures, an already struggling department will find itself even further under the White House’s influence, even as it becomes more hard-pressed to meet President Donald Trump’s demands.
Over the past week, the heads of three of the department’s seven divisions that handle litigation have taken their leave. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Thursday that John Eisenberg, the head of the National Security Division, had stepped down. He leaves on the division’s plate a mandate to expand domestic terrorism investigations against leftists, harass journalists for the sources of leaks and efforts to use a secretive court to deport noncitizens accused of terrorism.
The upside is that the Justice Department will have even less legal firepower, even as Democrats in Congress staff up and look to recruit top legal talent.
The same day, Blanche also announced the resignation of Harmeet Dhillon as leader of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. According to MS NOW, Dhillon was frustrated at not getting promoted despite having successfully flipped the script on the division’s historic role protecting minority rights.
And Civil Division head Brett Shumate packed his bags Monday, abandoning an office charged with defending the government against a nonstop deluge of lawsuits challenging the administration’s policies.
As of now, Dhillon is the only top staffer of the three who’s already been replaced by a temp: Craig Trainor, previously the assistant secretary for fair
by Kevin Frey | Nov 12, 2026 | News
It’s an old political adage: You can’t beat somebody with nobody.
At the moment, that’s the big problem for the handful of Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill — both new and incumbent — who are calling for new leaders in the House and Senate. It’s also a problem for the torrent of online commentators critical of the current Democratic leaders: Who, exactly, would replace them?
As it stands now, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York is on track to become the first Black person to ever wield the Speaker’s gavel next year. And Jeffries’ fellow Brooklynite, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, is expressing confidence he will regain the title of Senate Majority Leader in January.
No one has publicly announced bids to challenge either leader.
Play
Strategist says Sanders announcing he won’t support Schumer for Majority Leader is ‘seismic’
November 10, 2026 / 07:34
But as Democrats unpack the results of their electoral romp last week, their big electoral gains have done little to quell some of the long-simmering calls for new leadership — if detractors can find someone willing to run.
In the Senate, Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen has come the closest to publicly challenging Schumer.
The 67-year-old, who first joined the Senate in 2017 after serving for more than a decade in the House, has been in “listening mode” and said this week that he’s been making calls to his colleagues.
“There should not be a coronation,” Van Hollen said Tuesday. “We need to have a discussion in the caucus, and there needs to be a plan on how we’re going to use this large majority to deliver for the country.”
The argument Van Hollen and others
by Jacques Berlinerblau | Nov 12, 2026 | culture, Opinion
In a leaked clip from a recent Madison Square Garden performance, comedian Dave Chappelle mused, “Ever since that guy Charlie Kirk got murdered, and I shouldn’t say this publicly but … I feel better.”
The precise context of these remarks is as murky as the smuggled recording that was posted on the internet. But what couldn’t be more clear — and ironic — is the effect that Chappelle’s provocations had on right-wing activists.
The joke, if we can even call it that, was abhorrent considering Kirk was brutally publicly assassinated. Yet Chappelle makes many abhorrent jokes about many different people. MAGA’s response to this one in particular reminds us of two things: They have woefully misunderstood Chapelle’s true brand, and many of them behave as if the First Amendment contains a Charlie Kirk carve-out.
MAGA’s response to this one in particular reminds us that they behave as if the First Amendment contains a Charlie Kirk carve-out.
When it comes to vicious quips about the LGBTQ community, Black people, Jews, Asian Americans or people with disabilities — if you ask your average MAGA enthusiast, those are cast as thought-provoking, healthy and constitutionally protected forms of expressive liberty.
But any invidious reference to the assassinated Kirk is beyond the pale, dangerous and potentially punishable by jail time or the revocation of one’s visa.
Kirk’s widow, Erika, posted on X: “To see leftist podcasters, comedians, and commentators laugh about political assassination as though it’s entertainment and the destruction of a human life is a punchline, is beyond disgusting. … Political violence must never be something this country tolerates, excuses, or celebrates.”
Elon Musk, ever the arbiter of kindness, posted, “Dave
by The Associated Press | Nov 12, 2026 | News
CAIRO (AP) — An Israeli airstrike targeting the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed six people and wounded at least a dozen more, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
The strike was carried out early Thursday, according to the Israeli military, which said it struck “a senior Hamas terrorist” and other militants, without providing evidence.
The Gaza Health Ministry said the strike hit the hospital’s surgical wing and that a doctor was among the dead. An Associated Press journalist at the scene said that parts of the building’s second floor were destroyed.
Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis is one of the few functioning medical facilities left in Gaza, whose healthcare infrastructure has been decimated by a yearslong war.
Israel accuses Hamas and its allies of using hospitals as cover for military activity. In a statement, the Israeli military said Hamas had “established a presence within the hospital complex” and was using it as “a command center for military and terrorist activities.”
Israeli forces have previously attacked and raided Nasser Hospital. In 2025, the military killed five journalists — including AP contributor Mariam Dagga — when it struck a gathering point for local reporters at the complex.
The war started on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Since then, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 74,600 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government but whose figures are generally considered reliable by the international community.
Israel has continued to strike Gaza despite a U.S.-backed ceasefire and controls at least 60% of the enclave. Since the truce went into
