
Decoding Donald Trump's statement on his Senate acquittal
CNN
In the wake of the Senate's decision Saturday to acquit Donald Trump of a charge of incitement of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, the former President released a celebratory -- and, at times, cryptic -- statement.
Trump's statement had two clear goals: 1) To dismiss even the notion that he would be chastened or changed by the fact that seven Republican senators voted to convict and remove him from office and, even among those who voted to acquit him, like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, there was a widespread admission that he had behaved in ways that were potentially criminal.
Elon Musk has claimed the Department of Government Efficiency is “the most transparent organization in government ever.” But Merici Vinton, a federal worker who recently left her job at the government information technology office weeks after it was taken over by DOGE, told CNN in an interview she witnessed a “highly secretive” effort operating by “a different set of rules.”

Democrats continued a trend of strong overperformance in off-cycle elections on Tuesday, making double-digit gains on the margin over their 2024 showing in both Florida congressional districts and statewide in Wisconsin. That trend has emerged at least in part because Democrats’ base is increasingly more likely to vote in such elections, but a CNN analysis shows that Tuesday’s results may reflect more than just a deeply engaged base.