Regardless of political opinions most people have shown decency in their responses to the recent news of Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis. Being the current VP you’d expect JD Vance to have a respectful reaction to the news like everyone else, but it seems the man just can’t help kicking the former president while he’s down. 2b3y3m

Vance’s comments have earned him outrage from both sides of the political sphere. Former GOP rep. And attorney Barbara Comstock responded to the VP via a post to X. In her post she labeled him a “graceless, soulless ghoul.” She went on to point out that “his job approval is the lowest of VPs at this point in modern history.” The truth hurts but someone’s gotta say it.

According to Washington Monthly, the current VP’s approval ratings in March were lower than Kamala Harris’ were at the same point in her term. In fact, it’s possible that, at the two-month mark, Vance had a lower rating than any VP in U.S. history.

What did JD Vance actually say? 2o506r

Speaking to reporters outside Air Force Two the VP wished the best for Biden before going on to question “whether the former president was capable of doing the job.” There’s a time and place for these sorts of things. He went on to suggest staffers and doctors around Biden turned a blind eye to his health.

“You can separate the desire for him to have the right health outcome with the recognition that whether it was doctors or whether there were staffers around the former president ‒ I don’t think he was able to do a good job for the American people.”

Discussing Biden’s ability to act as president so soon after the news was shared shows Vance’s lack of decorum, even Marjorie Taylor Greene was able to show her comionate side when it came to wishing the former president well. Of course, Vance wasn’t the only one to make cold remarks about Biden’s health, Don Jr. quickly jumped into conspiracy territory like the man-child he is.

Responses to the VP’s comments 1p1w1e

Comstock wasn’t the only one to call out Vance for his insensitive comments. One individual even accused the VP of “campaigning on [Biden’s] body.” Another asked, “DOES JD VANCE HAVE A SOUL?” Biden is no longer president yet Vance has leapt at the opportunity to try and score a few more political points against the Democratic leader who is no longer a threat to them.

The VP did try to specify that his comments had nothing to do with disagreeing with Biden’s policies and everything to do with whether “he was in good enough health.” The former president’s last physical took place in February 2024. Dr. Kevin O’Connor reportedly did not find any signs of cancer at the time.

Marjorie Taylor Greene has never been one to hold back on social media, but when it came to former President Joe Biden‘s aggresive cancer diagnosis, she had a surprisingly comionate side.

In an X post, Greene shared, “I’m sorry to see this news. Cancer is truly awful. My Dad ed away in 2021 with cancer. Prays for Joe Biden and his family.”

Biden’s office announced that the 82-year-old former president had been diagnosed with an advanced form of prostate cancer that has already spread to his bones. Despite the grim outlook, Biden, who lost his son Beau to brain cancer in 2015, issued a hopeful statement alongside his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, and their cat Willow, thanking ers for their well-wishes.

But while Greene did have some nice words for Biden, she also rushed to publicly fellow conservative firebrand Scott Adams, the cartoonist behind “Dilbert” and a staunch Trump er.

Unfortunately, Adams has cancer, too, the same kind as Biden he says, but Greene failed to mention any of the controversial things Adams has said, including in 2023 when he called Black Americans a “hate group” and advised white people to “get the hell away from Black people,” among other examples. Instead, she “thanked” Adams for his “thoughts.”

“Many prayers for you during this difficult time” 5p5x2h

Upon hearing about Adams’ diagnosis, MTG suddenly found her voice. She quickly took to X to offer , writing, in part, “Thank you for always sharing your thoughts and engaging in important discussions that affect us all.” Perhaps because Adams has embraced his status as a MAGA icon, frequently wading into right-wing culture wars and controversies. Like Greene, his unapologetic for Trump and disdain for “woke” culture have made him a polarizing figure, especially after his racially charged comments in 2023 led to the widespread cancellation of his long-running comic strip.

Even Trump and Vance managed to say some nice words 2z3b6p

Of course, Greene isn’t the only one who commented on Biden’s health update. Even Donald Trump, who once dismissed Biden as a mentally unfit “sleepy Joe,” managed to muster a few kind words, publicly wishing his 2020 opponent a “speedy recovery.” Vice President JD Vance, a rising MAGA star in his own right, also chimed in, putting aside partisan sniping (sorts of) to send his best to the president.

For someone who claims to be a defender of Christian values, her selective memory about what Green has said and done stands out. Greene openly ing Adams despite his past has not gone unnoticed. It’s a reminder that, for some, political loyalty may outweigh human decency.

It seems the congresswoman who never misses a chance to slam Biden has found a rare occasion to be nice. But prayers for Adams, with no “thanking” Biden for his years of service. Maybe Greene’s idea of comion just has a bright red hat on it.

The MAGA crowd thought they had cornered the market on “saying the quiet part loud,” but it turns out Pope Leo XIV might just have them beat.

America’s first pontiff has barely warmed the papal throne, and he’s already using his Twitter fingers to remind us that JD Vance‘s interpretation of Catholicism has about as much theological backing as Trump’s claim to being a “stable genius.”

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago ascended to become Pope Leo XIV yesterday, following the second ballot of the conclave assembled after Pope Francis’s ing. At 69, the multilingual American brings a communication style that feels distinctly more Windy City than Vatican whisper. Leo XIV’s linguistic arsenal is genuinely impressive – he’s fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese, with reading knowledge of Latin and German. This polyglot prowess allows him to connect with Catholics worldwide.

Unlike his predecessors who approached social media with the cautious pace of a millennium-old institution, Leo XIV has maintained an active, if sporadic, Twitter presence since 2011. The most eyebrow-raising tweet came just months before his elevation, when he directly challenged JD Vance’s misrepresentation of “ordo amoris,” the Catholic concept of ordered love. While Vance tried to fashion this theological concept into a convenient immigration hierarchy that conveniently places foreigners at the bottom, the then-Cardinal Prevost wasn’t having it. “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” he wrote.

Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019 (coincidentally around the time he began considering higher political ambitions), found himself in the crosshairs of both the previous pope and the current one. His Fox News performance, where he confidently mansplained centuries of Catholic teaching into a neat America-first package, demonstrated either a profound misunderstanding of his adopted faith or a calculated reimagining of it for political convenience.

The Vatican’s theological position has been consistent: Christian love doesn’t follow a nationalistic priority queue. Leo XIV’s predecessor had already addressed this misrepresentation in a pointed letter to American bishops, and the new pope’s amplification signals continuity rather than change in the Church’s position. A deeper dive into Leo XIV’s Twitter archive reveals a man whose social conscience extends far beyond correcting vice presidential theological flubs.

In 2020, during the George Floyd protests, he retweeted a bishop’s prayer for Floyd’s family and shared posts decrying systemic racism. He’s been a vocal advocate for climate change action, echoing Pope Francis’ call for humanity to repent for its destruction of the planet. And during the Covid-19 pandemic, he championed vaccines as an “act of love,” even as MAGA-world descended into anti-vax conspiracies.

So, why is all of this significant? Because it’s about more than just one pope or one politician. It’s about the soul of the Catholic Church—and, by extension, the moral com of millions of people around the world.

FIFA likely breathed a sigh of relief when the 2022 Qatar World Cup ended. That tournament was riddled with controversies, ranging from exploited workers, human rights abuses, and protests against repressive religious laws. But World Cup 2026 was set to be in the safe hands of Canada, Mexico, and the United States – what could possibly go wrong?

Well, Canada and Mexico remain reliable partners, but the same can’t be said about the United States. Yesterday, Donald Trump convened the first meeting of his istration’s 2026 World Cup task force and, along with JD Vance, strongly indicated they’re not rolling out the red carpet for international visitors.

At the FIFA Meeting, Vance joked about deporting World Cup visitors pic.twitter.com/SLxRJR8RaF

— Olga Nesterova (@onestpress) May 6, 2025

Vance appears fixated on the possibility of millions of international soccer fans arriving in the United States for the tournament and refusing to leave. After insisting that he’s very cool with World Cup tourists, he quickly struck a darker note and said, “when the time is up, they’ll have to go home. Otherwise, they’ll have to talk to Secretary Noem.”

Ah, nothing like thinly veiled threats of deportation to drum up enthusiasm for the World Cup! All this comes against the backdrop of America’s collapsing tourism economy, largely driven by entirely justified fears about what’ll happen if border security decides they don’t like the look of you.

This has already seen British and Canadian tourists shackled and tossed into ICE detention centers, sometimes left there for weeks as their frantic families try to figure out where their loved ones are. Even simply going through the United States border is now a gamble, particularly as guards are apparently insisting on checking visitors’ phones to ensure they haven’t said anything critical of America and its glorious leader.

Tourism collapse 4r1qg

Absolutely incredible numbers.

As a reminder, tourism is about 9% of US GDP (https://t.co/x8XdThD8Tf)

As the saying goes "Empires are not murdered. They commit suicide." https://t.co/vPmDIU1LLG pic.twitter.com/rcKXEBJh

— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) April 13, 2025

As such, many are staying away. In December, research group Tourism Economics projected that America would see an 8.8% increase in international tourists, with a 16% increase in their spending. Then the Trump effect hit, with Tourism Economics now predicting a 9.4 percent decline in international visitor arrivals, potentially costing the country $9 billion.

There are also major questions about whether the country is equipped to handle an influx of World Cup visitors, players, and team staff. The US Travel Association has issued a report containing a dire warning that massive government cuts have left the visa system on its knees: “We’re not ready to host the mega decade of events that will draw millions of domestic and international travelers. This poses risks to our national security and hampers economic growth.

Looking further into the future, we have the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, which will come with its own difficulties when it comes to visitors from around the world descending on the country. But by that point, who can say what America will look like? Either way, if you want to attend the next World Cup, maybe stick to the Canadian and Mexican matches unless you want to end up in ICE detention.

The Star Wars prequels have spent years slowly rehabilitating their image. On release, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith were box office smashes but critical duds, with much mockery of their wooden acting, questionable dialogue, and some odd plot decisions.

But in 2025, the generation of millennials who watched these movies as children has fierce nostalgia for them, even with their flaws. Hayden Christensen’s return as Anakin Skywalker in Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka was much praised, and Revenge of the Sith has been an unlikely hit on its 20th anniversary theatrical re-release.

Now all that is in tatters thanks to a certain moon-faced Pope-killing Vice President. In response to a post by Jack Posobiec in which he bashed the prequels and made the bizarre claim that George Lucas “only had a small role in the original series”, Vance responded that the “prequels were underrated”.

Prequels were underrated!

— JD Vance (@JDVance) May 5, 2025

And just like that, with a clatter of Vance’s keyboard, the years of work bolstering the prequels’ reputation were undone. After all, if Vance likes them, they must be bad – that’s just simply inarguable logic. Star Wars fans are now in agony:

Years of prequel revisionism undone by JD Vance. People are in the streets throwing the DVDs into the gutter. An incredible sight to see.

— F♯A♯∞, fka (@coopercooperco) May 5, 2025

jd vance being a prequel defender is the worst thing to ever happen to me

— woop (@woop54) May 5, 2025

Prequel revisionism has reached its end game guys pack it in you’ve been doing it for almost 10 years

Now you got JD Vance tweeting that they were underrated pic.twitter.com/9oI5y58www

— Robert (@JRAMNOTTHAGOAT) May 5, 2025

Hundreds of my mutuals have been building up a prequels reclamation project brick by brick against strong odds over 2 decades and JD Vance just gave it the kiss of death inside of 5 seconds…it’s impressive, really.

— serge daney mcbride (@abs_sweetmarie) May 5, 2025

The prequels are now irrevocably tainted by Vance, all of which means we can finally once again hold our heads up high and say at least three quarters of The Phantom Menace is bad, damn near everything in Attack of the Clones is embarrassing, and while Revenge of the Sith has its moments, they’re few and far between.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the prequels exist as they’ve proved to be a fine setting for many other Star Wars stories and introduced some great characters – but as an actual movie-going experience they’re ugly, boring and bad. Disagree with me? Then line right up alongside JD Vance.

Pope Francis spent his life providing aid to the poor and needy, then transitioned into a transformational papacy in which he met practically every major world leader, preached a message of tolerance, and attempted to defuse conflicts with a philosophy of peace. So, the fact that his final meeting in his life was with JD Vance might have given him a huge last-minute challenge.

It’s difficult to imagine any two people more philosophically and morally opposed to one another: Francis with his radical message of pure tolerance and kindness against Vance’s hateful and divisive rhetoric. And… as some on X are positing, maybe Vance’s purestrain evil was simply too much for the 88-year-old pontiff to bear:

JD Vance just before he killed the Pope pic.twitter.com/2fH1zjliWR

— Mick AgЯo (@MickAgro) April 21, 2025

id keel over too if i had to be near him

— leo ! | ☆ !! (@wnjgiggles) April 21, 2025

It’s your fault, you sneaky poisonous snake who slithered in with a smirk and a handshake so toxic it should’ve come with a hazmat warning. pic.twitter.com/Wc8EKRp3Jq

— Ultramõrd Sillu (@suunasolkija) April 21, 2025

JD Vance killed the pope on Easter?!?!?!?

— Luke (@LukasMukasPukas) April 21, 2025

Now, let’s be clear, Pope Francis was a very ill man before meeting Vance. He’d recently suffered multiple major respiratory crises, including a critical episode on Feb. 28 when he inhaled vomit, putting immense strain on his lungs. Doctors confirmed he’d received blood transfusions, high-flow oxygen, and non-invasive mechanical ventilation. Honestly, given the choice between having to spend even a second in Vance’s company and inhaling vomit, I’m going with the vomit every time.

It’s worth underlining that Vance’s meeting with Francis was essentially a photo op. Vance shook his hand, going on to say that it was “good to see him in better health” (uh, evidence suggests otherwise JD). For his part, Francis, likely wishing the heavenly father had summoned him to heaven one day earlier, sat there and stared blankly at Vance, only saying “thank-you” when Vance leaned in to shake his hand.

Vance left with a couple of chocolate eggs for his children and hopped on a plane to continue his evil campaign of hate, discrimination, and warmongering. Meanwhile, the Pope was wheeled away to what would become his deathbed. We imagine his first words on meeting St. Peter at the pearly gates were “ugh, did you get a load of that guy? Do me a favor and make sure he ends up downstairs.”

He’s just weeks into the veep role, but JD Vance has already established a reputation as a bumbling idiot. Not only has he directly insulted several important allies and recently dubbed Chinese people as “peasants”, apparently galvanizing the country to resist Trump’s tariffs whatever the cost. But now we can add being a physical butterfingers to his list of deficiencies, as the man apparently can’t even lift a simple trophy.

Yesterday, the vice president welcomed the Ohio State football team to the White House to celebrate them winning the national championship. But, as he lifted the trophy, disaster struck. Vance, clearly unused to participating in sports, screwed up, and somehow managed to yank the trophy apart.

The CFP National Championship Trophy falls apart as VP JD Vance tries to hold it aloft at the White House. pic.twitter.com/XYmZRnCsK0

— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) April 14, 2025

OSU running back TreyVon Henderson did his best to assist, but couldn’t prevent the bumbling Vance from embarrassing himself. Everyone around him winced and gasped, as the Marine Corps band churned out a suddenly ironic ‘We Are The Champions’. Trump himself was present and could be seen grimacing in disbelief and shaking his head as Vance instantly transformed an elegant celebratory photoshoot into a Three Stooges sketch.

We know that Trump hates this particular brand of embarrassing tomfoolery, so doubtless later gave Vance a stern reprimand for making the White House look like actual literal clowns in front of the world’s press.

Vance feebly laughed off the incident on X, saying “I didn’t want anyone after Ohio State to get the trophy so I decided to break it.” It’s telling that even when technically being self-deprecating Vance is still trying to save face by jokingly claiming he meant to do this. A silly public gaffe doesn’t necessarily signify much in the wider scope of politics, but hey, Vance shambling around like an oaf on stage and being laughed at by everyone is comedy enough for us right now.

If Vance keeps this up, he’s in danger of developing a firm reputation as a gaffe machine. For example, last year he was commiserating a bombing at Abbey Gate in Kabul, Afghanistan, in which 13 American soldiers died. Vance got that mixed up with The Beatles album’ Abbey Road: “The families of these poor people who had their loved ones die three years ago at Abbey Road.” Who thought Mean Mr Mustard would claim so many lives?

JD Vance buys donuts in Holt’s Sweet Shop in Valdosta Georgia pic.twitter.com/xOO2j3AoRf

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) August 22, 2024

Then there was the bizarre donut shop interaction in Valdosta, Georgia, in which Vance appeared unable to actually order a donut. He ended up stammering to the perplexed guy behind the counter that he wanted “just whatever makes sense”. Pick a donut, dude.

If you’re in the Trump White House, maybe just keep this guy away from the cameras for a while. Maybe there’s a cameo spot for him in the new Naked Gun movie? He’d fit right in.

JD Vance‘s trip to Greenland had two objectives: the first was to show Greenlanders and Denmark that the Trump istration is deadly serious about seizing the island. The second was to prove that there’s not much they can do to stop them.

Though the trip was intended to encom a tour of Greenland, the extent of the people’s hatred of him meant Vance’s visit was confined only to an American military base. We can imagine that while those on the base were all smiles in Vance’s presence, an unnecessary threatening visit from the Veep disrupts their work and causes friction between the American soldiers and any Greenlanders working on the base.

To ease tensions, Col. Susan Meyers, the commander of the 821st Space Base Group, sent an email to all personnel after the visit. She said she “spent the weekend thinking about Friday’s visit — the actions taken, the words spoken, and how it must have affected each of you. I do not presume to understand current politics, but what I do know is the concerns of the U.S. istration discussed by Vice President Vance on Friday are not reflective of Pituffik Space Base.”

This is in line with Meyers’ position that America needs to work side-by-side with Greenlanders, underlining that in a Jul. 2024 Facebook post which said: “I commit that, for as long as I am lucky enough to lead this base, all of our flags will fly proudly — together”.

Unfortunately, friendliness, loyalty, and working closely with our international allies are the exact opposite of what Trump and Vance want. And so, Meyers has been fired from her job with immediate effect for, I guess, making Vance look bad? Oh, and subverting President Trump’s agenda:

Actions to undermine the chain of command or to subvert President Trump's agenda will not be tolerated at the Department of Defense.

https://t.co/ITFeGw0kUf pic.twitter.com/MO68aje1X2

— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellATSD) April 11, 2025

This is just one woman, but this decision doesn’t bode well for Greenland. We’d bet her replacement will be entirely on board the Trump train and ready and willing to launch into military action against the country if the White House orders it.

Trump has already grimly promised that Greenland will fall under the control of the United States “one way or another” and if faced with an invasion, there’s little that Greenland could realistically do to resist. This would cause outrage in the United Nations and cause widespread political discontent in Europe (not that things could get much worse right now), but we doubt anyone would be willing to stand up for the island if it meant military action against U.S. soldiers. Good luck, Greenlanders.

JD Vance called Kilmar Abrego Garcia a “convicted MS-13 gang member” and Karoline Leavitt said she had “credible information” that he was involved in human trafficking and “was a member – actually a leader – of the brutal MS-13 gang”. These were lies. They made it up. It’s not true.

Vance and Leavitt lied because they had been made to look extremely foolish and extraordinarily cruel by accidentally sending an innocent man to the El Salvadoran nightmare prison. Garcia is, in fact, a Maryland dad who was in the country legally, is in full-time union employment and, by the Trump istration lawyers’ ission, was only deported as a result of an “istrative error”.

Despite that unambiguous fact, the Trump istration has spent countless hours searching for a way to ignore this inconvenient truth and abandon Garcia to his fate. First, the lawyers casually explained that as he’s in El Salvador there’s nothing they can do to help him. Then, when a district court judge ordered his immediate return, they smeared the judge as a liberal activist overreaching her power and appealed to the Supreme Court.

In a ruling with no noted dissents, the Supreme Court has told the Trump that, no seriously guys, GET THIS GUY BACK NOW. The order, released on Thursday, instructs the government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to “ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”

This will have left red faces at the White House, some with embarrassment and some with fury. Naturally, they need to save face, so Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin clutched at straws to say that, actually, the order telling them to return Garcia is a win for them as the judges “agreed with us that the District Court improperly interfered with the President’s foreign affairs power”. Well, yes, technically. But the Supreme Court is also banging you guys’ heads together and telling you to get this guy on a plane, stat.

As there is no route of appeal from a Supreme Court decision, two things could now happen. The first is that Trump’s goons grudgingly comply, fly to El Salvador, pick up Garcia and return him to his family. The second is that they simply ignore it and see what happens. After all, who’s going to step in and enforce it? But, at that point, the US really would be living under a dictator, so let’s hope it’s the former.

Another day, another helpful reminder from Adam Kinzinger, this time courtesy of his response to vice president JD Vance’s recent comments about China. 

In case you missed it, Vance appeared on Fox News last week to defend president Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on China, arguing that without them, the current economic dealings with the country are “not a recipe for economic prosperity.” To make his point, Vance argued that without tariffs, the U.S. “[incurs] a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make for us,” before launching into a questionable analogy involving the term “Chinese peasants.” 

“We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things that Chinese peasants manufacture.” – JD Vance

Yeah. I’m sure the Politburo is going to take that comment very well.

pic.twitter.com/D0NuLIb0df

— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) April 9, 2025

“To make it a little more crystal clear, we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture,” Vance said. Since he hasn’t let up in his quest to hold the istration to , Kinzinger took to social media to condemn Vance’s comments, saying they were the result of an inexperienced politician who makes “so many errors.” Kinzinger re-shared the clip of Vance and wrote: “ [Vance] is what happens when you put a 39 year old with no government experience in office.”

Vance’s lack of experience was a major talking point when he was named as Trump’s running mate last year, since he was only part-way through his six-year Senate term and had never managed a federal agency or Cabinet office. Vance’s inexperience isn’t the only source of aggravation for Kinzinger, who has criticized the vice president on everything from his response to the assassination attempt on Trump back in September, to his involvement in the White House verbal spat with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to his more recent trip to Greenland in service of Trump’s annexation plans. 

@JDVance is what happens when you put a 39 year old with no govt experience in office.

So many errors https://t.co/JezDEgBusb

— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) (@AdamKinzinger) April 9, 2025

Making matters worse, Vance received swift rebuke for his “peasant” comments by China itself, with Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, telling media outlets that “it’s both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice-president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks.” Even before Vance’s regrettable comments, the topic of tariffs had caught the ire of Beijing, particularly in the wake of Trump’s announcement of tariffs on China last month. 

“If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war, or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” the official of the Chinese Embassy in the United States wrote on X. While Vance is the target now, Kinzinger’s criticisms of the Trump istration have been consistent and wide-ranging ever since Inauguration Day. The politician has taken aim at everything from Trump’s response to the Potomac mid-air collision, to his economic agenda, and his stance on the Russia-Ukraine war. 

beijing foreign ministry spox lin jian on jd vance’s “chinese peasants” comment

“it’s both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice-president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks.”
“pressure, threats and blackmail are not the right way to deal with china.” pic.twitter.com/xLY8Mh9ROP

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) April 8, 2025

So sweeping is Kinzinger’s distaste for Trump that, last week, he published a lengthy (and scathing) Substack essay explaining the “legacy of broken promises” that will be left by the istration. Part of Kinzinger’s months-long takedown has included criticisms of the Democrats, whom he has denounced on multiple occasions for their lack of action in response to Trump’s increasingly brazen political manoeuvres.

A $500 million grant set aside for Cleveland-Cliffs in Middletown, Ohio, might be canceled under the Trump istration and The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This funding was meant to help the steel company upgrade its old blast furnaces with cleaner technology, which would have created more than 100 permanent jobs and 1,200 temporary construction jobs in Vice President JD Vance’s hometown.

The grant was part of a larger $6.3 billion program started by the Biden istration to improve American manufacturing, per CNN. The planned upgrades would have shifted the furnaces from coal to hydrogen, natural gas, and electricity, making the plant more environmentally friendly and running longer.

However, internal documents suggest the Trump istration is planning to cut this funding. DOGE has been leading the effort to find programs to eliminate. The Energy Department says no final decisions have been made and that different options are being reviewed. Still, the department has already paused billions of dollars in Biden-era grants for months while evaluating them. Internal records indicate the $6.3 billion program could lose two-thirds of its funding.

Trump istration may cut project in Vice President’s home town 435c6r

The possible cancellation of the Cleveland-Cliffs grant has worried people involved in the project. One source called the move senseless, especially since the company employs many people in the Vice President’s hometown and has backed Trump’s trade policies. Another compared the decision-making to random choices made by people who don’t know what they’re doing.

Shawn Coffey, the leader of the union representing over 2,000 workers at Cleveland-Cliffs in Middletown, stressed how important the grant is. He said the upgrades would keep the mill open longer and reduce its environmental impact, which matters for the community’s future. If the funding is cut, the company will have to decide whether to pay for the project itself. Coffey said there would be 170 fewer jobs without the grant in the next five years.

The Trump istration’s freeze on Biden-era grants has also disrupted early planning for many other projects. A former worker from the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations said many projects that got initial funding for planning suddenly had their money cut off. Energy Department staff were reportedly told not to talk to companies about whether their grants would continue.

The Cleveland-Cliffs project fit with the Biden istration’s goals of cutting industrial pollution, but it also helped modernize a major U.S. industry, making it more competitive. Former Biden officials argue that the Trump istration’s plan to slash programs goes against its own promises to boost manufacturing and bring jobs back to America. They say the U.S. needs smart public investments, not cuts, to stay competitive.

Beijing strongly criticized U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance after he referred to the Chinese people as “peasants” in a recent interview on Fox News. His remarks, made last Thursday, were part of his defense of President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on Chinese goods. These comments have made the already strained relationship between the two economic superpowers even worse.

The trade war, involving both sides repeatedly raising tariffs on each other’s products, could cause even more instability in global markets. Vance’s statement—where he said the U.S. was borrowing money from “Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants make”—was quickly condemned by the Chinese government, per CNN.

The Guardian reported that Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said of the Vice President’s words, “It’s both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice-president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks.” Lin Jian also repeated China’s stance on trade relations with the U.S., stressing that pressure, threats, and intimidation are not acceptable ways to handle disagreements.

China takes offense to JD Vance’s statements 736f36

To understand why this diplomatic clash is so serious, it’s important to look at the bigger picture. President Trump recently announced major new tariffs on several trading partners, including a 34% increase on Chinese imports. This came after a 20% tariff hike in March. China reacted right away by putting a 34% tariff on all U.S. goods entering their country. Per BBC, Trump warned that if China didn’t remove these retaliatory tariffs by April 8, 2025, he would add another 50% tariff on Chinese products—bringing the total to 104%.

This growing trade war is causing major problems worldwide. The tariffs have already disrupted global supply chains and caused big drops in stock markets, some of the worst in years. Banks and financial experts around the world are worried that the conflict could push the global economy into a recession.

In China, the response has been strong and widespread. While the government officially focused on how insulting Vance’s words were, people on social media reacted in different ways—some were angry, while others made sarcastic comments mocking the idea of China being a nation of “peasants.”

Many posts pointed out China’s progress in technology, such as high-speed trains, artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, and drones, as a way to counter Vance’s remark. Some even demanded that Vance be banned from entering China.

This situation shows just how tense U.S.-China trade relations have become. There’s a real risk that things could get worse, which would have serious consequences for the global economy and international politics. What happens next depends on how China responds to Trump’s deadline and whether both sides take even more aggressive steps against each other.