Call

CALL Her Daddy host Alex Cooper is pregnant and expecting her first child.

The podcast host revealed that she and husband Matt Kaplan were about to become parents in a new social media upload.

Alex flashed her bare baby bump as she sweetly looked into Matt’s eyes in the new snaps.

She could also be seen laughing as she gently placed a hand underneath her bump.

Alex added the caption: “Our family.”

She then took to her stories to re-post the announcement along with the additional caption: “Daddy Gang, there is something I’ve been waiting to share with you…”

NAME GAME

Louise Thompson claims Call Her Daddy star ‘stole’ her podcast name in new feud

OUCH!

Alix Earle takes aim at ‘ambulance chaser’ Alex Cooper in brutal TikTok repost

In another snap, Alex could be seen sat on Matt’s lap as she showed off her baby bump once more.

Her fans and celebrity pals were quick to react with congratulations over the baby announcement.

One person said: “I’m screaming!!!!!! I’m so happy for you guys!!!!!!!!”

Love Island USA star Huda Mustafa added: “IM GONNA CRY OMGGGG IM SO HAPPY FOR UUUUU!!!!!”

Another penned: “Call her MOMMY!”

With a fourth then stating: “Missed opportunity for the caption to be call him daddy.”

Alex has become the leading female talent in the podcast space thanks to her successful show.

She has welcomed guests including Victoria Beckham, Kim Kardashian and Zara Larsson to her couch.

Alex has been the world’s second biggest and second highest-earning podcaster since 2024, only behind Joe Rogan.

As well as landing various other endorsement, her podcast alone is understood to net the star $20million a year.

Didn’t hit. Didn’t pitch.

But that didn’t make Shohei Ohtani not the story.

On the contrary. Seeing him chillin’ in a Dodger-blue hoodie — and not dressed for success in his white home uniform top — was the most striking part of the Dodgers’ 5-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.

Back on Tuesday, before the Dodgers’ fourth consecutive loss, with Ohtani having recorded just four hits in 36 at-bats, manager Dave Roberts announced plans to bench baseball’s best player.

To get him some R&R — rest and reset. “A good spa day,” Roberts would joke Thursday.

Of course, it’s Ohtani, so much is being made of the much-needed breather.

Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

Maybe you hate it. Maybe you hate it for him. Maybe you think a $700 million contract doesn’t account for days off. Maybe you were among the unfortunate 51,048 paying customers who came to watch the Dodgers even their series with the Giants without Ohtani’s help, and you’re sad about it.

Maybe, though, you should give Roberts the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you should remind yourself Ohtani isn’t actually a unicorn. Not a myth, but a man.

“Mentally, the days that he does pitch, it’s tougher on him [to also hit],” Roberts said Thursday. “Physically, it’s the day after.”

And so the manager wasn’t joking; he wasn’t juking. Even after Ohtani homered for the first time in 53 plate appearances in Tuesday’s 6-2 loss, Roberts stuck with the plan and gave his superstar a whole day off Thursday after having him only pitch the night before.

Only. As in that he only pitched seven scoreless innings, only struck out eight and only lowered his ERA to a major-league leading 0.82. Yes, he only teed up the Dodgers for a 4-0 victory. An honestly exceptional day’s work for anyone else.

Then on Thursday, Ohtani contributed only vibes.

Which was weird. Which was good.

Instead of swinging a bat, Ohtani served as the welcoming committee after Will Smith led off the game with a home run. Ohtani was later an accessory to Smith’s prank filling Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s hood with wrapped pieces of bubble gum. And still, for the second consecutive game without him in the lineup, the Dodgers (26-18) finished the job.

For all of their recent scuffing and shuffling, these loaded, baseball-ruining Dodgers should be able to survive an Ohtani skip day every so often.

Even without Ohtani or Mookie Betts, a lineup with Smith, Freddie Freeman, Kyle Tucker, Andy Pages, Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández should be able to overpower the lowly Giants, who have been outscored by 45 runs and now are 18-26.

Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani laughs with teammates while sitting in the dugout before a game against the Giants Thursday.

(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)

But maybe you think: Here the Dodgers go again, making it too complicated, being too cute. They’re back to being too cautious, too careful.

But don’t think of it as load management. Consider it asset management.

The Dodgers are going to protect their personnel from as much wear and tear as possible — and from themselves.

Obviously, Ohtani — who came into the season appearing to really covet the Cy Young award — is capable of multidimensional greatness. He’s the Him who closed out the National League Championship Series with a wildest-dream-exceeding, 10-strikeout, three-home run game.

But it’s important that the Dodgers don’t let the 31-year-old burn himself out.

“The thing is with all players, once you get to a point where you’re exhausted and tired and that’s in the middle of the summer, it’s tough to recoup,” Roberts said. “So you kind of have to know how to push them but not get to the red line point. If we can kind of hold and get a good rhythm, which I think we’re getting a good grasp on now, then we’ll have more of a base, a foundation to push him when the time is right. It’s certainly not right now.”

Roberts said Ohtani is sharing in these decisions. If there are days that Roberts feels like Ohtani would benefit from a day off, he’s given the manager his blessing.

Sometimes less is more, even for the guy who can do it all.

The Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 5-2 on Thursday night, reclaiming first in the National League West after San Diego lost to Milwaukee. The Dodgers also escaped a third straight series loss at home ahead of their weekend road series against the Angels.

Designated hitter Will Smith, whom Dodgers manager Dave Roberts described earlier in the day as “unflappable,” hit from the leadoff spot and homered to right-center field in the first inning to set the tone for the series-splitting win.

The decision to put Smith in the leadoff spot allowed Roberts to maximize the 31-year-old’s plate appearances without moving other players after Shohei Ohtani was held out of the lineup.

The Dodgers (26-18) are trying to lighten Ohtani’s workload after his recent struggles at the plate. It’s the first time a healthy Ohtani has been out of back-to-back batting orders, except for the paternity list, since the universal designated hitter rule was implemented in 2022.

Though the Dodgers outlasted the Giants (18-26) without Ohtani’s help, the team’s compounded mistakes almost cost it a win.

In the second inning, the bottom of the lineup strung together two hits to score Max Muncy, who reached on a walk. However, after Miguel Rojas softly hit a ground ball to Giants starter Landen Roupp, Teoscar Hernández found himself stranded in no-man’s land after running toward home from third — there was no force play at the plate.

Rojas, who stood on the basepath, slammed his helmet down in frustration after Smith struck out to end the inning.

Will Smith gets a face full of sunflower seeds from teammate Andy Pages after hitting a leadoff home run in the first inning for the Dodgers on Thursday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Rojas wasn’t the only one upset. Dalton Rushing was shown on the game broadcast breaking his bat in the dugout and slamming his leg guard on the back bench after striking out in the fourth inning. Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan shared some words of encouragement with the catcher and patted him on the back.

Sheehan’s night was relatively uneventful before the fifth. He put together three hitless innings before San Francisco’s Rafael Devers hit a one-out single to left field.

From there, things got worse. In the fifth, Jung Hoo Lee hit an inside-the-park home run when Hernández misread the ball off the left-field wall in foul territory, allowing the ball to roll past him. Rojas’ relay throw was too high for Rushing to catch, and Lee slid into home to become the first Giants player to hit an inside-the-park homer at Dodger Stadium.

But the Dodgers responded in the sixth. After Max Muncy reached base on a force out at second and was moved over to third on a single from Hernández, Alex Call delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single to right field. Rojas then blooped a ball over the infield to drive in Call.

Sheehan finished his night after six innings, giving up two earned runs, two hits with six strikeouts and two walks. With combined efforts from relievers Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia and Edgardo Henriquez, the Dodgers shut down the Giants the rest of the way.

There will be no replacement referees — and therefore, hopefully, no “Fail Mary” repeat — in the NFL this fall.

The league and the NFL Referees Assn. have avoided a work stoppage by agreeing on a new collective bargaining agreement that runs through the 2032 season.

The current deal was scheduled to expire May 31. The sides having been negotiating since the summer of 2024, and the NFL had begun the hiring process for replacement officials last month.

“This agreement is a testament to the joint commitment of the league and union to invest in and improve officiating,” NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said in a statement. “It also speaks to the game officials’ relentless pursuit of improvement and officiating excellence. We look forward to working together for the betterment of the game.”

Terms of the agreement have not been released, but the Associated Press reported in March that the league had increased its offer to a 6.45% annual growth rate”growth rate” = increase? in compensation over a six-year labor deal.

“We see this new CBA as a partnership with the league that benefits our membership but also seeks to make our game better,” NFLRA president Carl Cheffers said in a statement. “It is good to get these negotiations behind us so we can focus on preparing for the 2026 season.”

No such agreement between the sides was reached during the 2012 offseason, leading to a lockout that lasted 110 days. It all culminated in Week 3 of that season with the notorious “Fail Mary” call at the end of the Green Bay Packers-Seattle Seahawks game on “Monday Night Football.”

With the Seahawks down by five in the closing seconds, quarterback Russell Wilson threw deep to receiver Golden Tate in the end zone. Green Bay defender M.D. Jennings appeared to come down with the ball first, with Tate attempting to wrestle the ball away.

Two officials stood above the players, with one signaling touchdown (meaning Tate caught the ball, Seattle wins) and the other signaling touchback (meaning Jennings caught the ball, Green Bay wins). The final call on the field was a touchdown, which stood after a lengthy review.

It got worse. The next day, the NFL released a statement saying the officials missed a pass interference call on Tate that would have negated the touchdown. A day after that, the NFL and the referees union announced a new collective bargaining agreement that brought the regular officials back for that weekend’s games.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — President Bush left many viewers mystified last week when, answering a question in his debate with Democratic challenger John F. Kerry, he invoked the 1857 Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery.

The answer seemed to be reaching far back in history to answer the question about what kind of Supreme Court justice Bush would appoint. But to Christian conservatives who have long viewed the Scott decision as a parallel to the 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling legalizing abortion, the president’s historical reference was perfectly logical — and his message was clear.

Bush, some felt, was giving a subtle nod to the belief of abortion foes, including Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, that just as the high court denied rights to blacks in the Scott case it also shirked the rights of the unborn in Roe, which many conservatives call the Dred Scott case of the modern era.

“It was a poignant moment, a very special gourmet, filet mignon dinner,” said the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, a prominent conservative advocacy group based in Washington. “Everyone knows the Dred Scott decision and you don’t have to stretch your mind at all. When he said that, it made it very clear that the ’73 decision was faulty because what it said was that unborn persons in a legal sense have no civil rights.”

Sheldon, who said he confers frequently with Bush and his senior campaign advisors on outreach to religious conservatives, though not in this instance, credited the use of Dred Scott with raising the abortion issue to “a very high level” and “back to the front burner.”

“It didn’t just slip out by accident,” Sheldon said.

Douglas Kmiec, a Pepperdine University constitutional law professor who served as a lawyer in the Reagan and first Bush administrations, said the reference instantly struck him for its appeal to abortion opponents, advocates for judicial restraint and even civil rights advocates who regard the Scott case as the court’s all-time worst moment.

“I thought it had so many constituencies that could applaud that comment; it was one of the most intelligent things that I heard in the debate,” he said.

Bush’s remark Friday came after a questioner in the St. Louis debate — which occurred just miles from the courthouse where Scott filed his lawsuit seeking his freedom — asked whom he might appoint to the court should there be a vacancy.

Kerry and other Democrats, looking to mobilize their base, have warned that Bush would fill vacancies with judges who would overturn Roe. Bush has often said that he believes in appointing justices who would not legislate from the bench.

He repeated that refrain Friday night but did not mention abortion in his answer. Instead, he pointed to Dred Scott as an example of a court action he found objectionable, along with another favorite citation of religious conservatives: the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal’s ruling that the reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional.

“Another example would be the Dred Scott case, which is where judges years ago said that the Constitution allowed slavery because of personal property rights,” Bush said. “That’s a personal opinion. That’s not what the Constitution says. The Constitution of the United States says we’re all — you know, it doesn’t say that. It doesn’t speak to the equality of America.”

That answer left many wondering what he meant.

Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said Tuesday that the president did not intend to draw a parallel between the slavery and abortion cases, but that he was merely giving voters an example of a case in which he felt the court erred.

But Bush has a history of using language with special meaning to religious conservatives, a critical portion of his base that senior strategists have said will assure his reelection only if they turn out in larger numbers than in 2000.

Bush himself is an evangelical Christian, and his speeches are frequently sprinkled with phrases that sound merely poetic to many, but to others sound a more spiritual theme.

His reference in many campaign speeches to his belief in a “culture of life” often draws the loudest applause from his largely conservative audiences.

In his State of the Union this year, he spoke of the nation’s “grace to go on” despite its grief over terrorist attacks, and in a subtle reference to religious texts that refer to divine service as a time “set apart,” he said: “Having come this far, we sense that we live in a time set apart.”

Activists and legal scholars on both sides of the abortion debate said Tuesday they believed the president was sending a signal to that base.

Bush, who opposes abortion, has walked a careful line on the issue in a campaign in which women make up a large portion of undecided voters. Abortion has been overshadowed this year in the culture wars by gay marriage, but activists say it remains a motivating force for many.

Polls show a majority favor abortion rights. Critics say the Dred Scott reference was an attempt by Bush to make his point without alienating moderates who might decide the election.

“The minute he said it, I said to myself, ‘Here he goes,’ ” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority. “He’s not going to say to anybody that he would pick a Supreme Court justice that’s opposed to Roe vs. Wade because he’s afraid that would cost him. So he’s trying to keep his base riled up in a way that won’t offend moderate women.”

Harvard University law professor Laurence Tribe, a Bush critic who has written extensively about the abortion debate, said Bush was signaling that he believed there was a direct parallel between women who would abort a fetus and slave masters of the 19th century.

Tribe pointed to Scalia’s dissent to a 1992 ruling that upheld Roe, in which the justice drew the parallel. Scalia wrote that both cases focused on issues of “life and death, freedom and subjugation.”

“He’s talking in code, but it’s not obscure code,” Tribe said of Bush. “This has been a fixture in the talking points of the religious right for years.”

LOUISE Thompson is locked in a new feud with Alex Cooper after claiming the Call Her Daddy star stole her podcast name.

The former Made in Chelsea star, 36, posted a TikTok video as she began: “I don’t know how well this is going to land but I’m going to say it anyway because I’m feeling like a big, brave dog.

“I was just on Instagram, I shouldn’t be doom scrolling on my way home, and I saw a Bloomberg business post that is essentially a takedown of Unwell, which is the podcast production company set up by Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper and her husband.

“So there have been claims they’ve been treating staff badly, they have been shouting, they’ve been disrespecting people and obviously there’s been this very public feud that Alex Cooper has had with Alix Earle.

“I’m just gonna say something, karma is a b***h. Here’s a little story that none of you guys know, so I had a meeting when I was peak unwellness shall I say, a couple of years ago with an exec that come from the US who worked with a big talent agency about doing a podcast with us.”

Louise admitted that she wasn’t mentally in the right frame of mind during the meeting but she did suggest the name ‘Unwell’.

READ MORE ON LOUISE THOMPSON

AISLE SAY!

Louise Thompson shares real reason she’s not married Ryan after 8 years engaged

LOVED BY LOUISE

Fashion fans race to buy Louise Thompson’s floral midi dress for spring

“I thought it would be a really clever play on what I’ve been through to call this new business and this new project or podcast venture, Unwell or Unwellness. I have it written in my list of notes that I wrote years ago when I was recovering early doors.

“Then I noticed four or five months later, she announces that her entire podcast thing is going to be called Unwellness and I think it’s just a little bit too suspicious that we both had exactly the same name idea, especially given that I had the conversation with people who a part of her overall management team.

“What are they saying? Copying is the highest form of flattery,” Louise concluded.

She wrote over the video: “Alex cooper nicked my brand name… and karma exists.”

The mum-of-one captioned it: “Never thought I’d share this, but in the interest of being honest… this happened and in the words of carrie Bradshaw…. I can’t help but wonder.

“Sometimes I hate how dog eat dog this industry is… but stealing names isn’t cool.”

Alex, 31, founded her Unwell network in 2023, which has extended into wellness with Unwell Hydration and the Unwell Creative Agency last year.

Louise has faced a number of health issues since the traumatic birth of her son Leo in 2021, which has culminated in her living with a stoma bag due to chronic ulcerative colitis.

She launched her own podcast, He Said, She Said, with her partner Ryan Libbey in late 2024, before joining Staying Relevant Productions this year, which is owned by her brother Sam Thompson and Pete Wicks.

The Sun have contacted Alex’s representatives for a comment.

Most presidents battling the perception of being too chummy with Russia might think twice about picking up the phone offering congratulations to the Russian leader on his election.

Most presidents, that is, except for President Trump.

TRUMP’S CALL TO PUTIN

On Tuesday, Trump recounted for reporters his “very good call” to congratulate newly reelected President Vladimir Putin, after Russian officials had already confirmed the two leaders had chatted.

“We had a very good call,” Trump said, “and I suspect that we’ll be meeting in the not-too-distant future to discuss the arms race, which is getting out of control.”

Not a fan of the call: Arizona Sen. John McCain. “An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections,” McCain said in a statement and online.

COAST-TO-COAST LAWSUITS AGAINST TRUMP

There’s new legal and political jeopardy for Trump in both California and New York. A former Playboy Playmate is suing to break a confidentiality agreement that keeps her from discussing the president, at the same time that a judge in the Empire State has rejected his request to quash a lawsuit stemming from a charge of sexual assault.

Those legal challenges are on top of the ongoing battle over an adult film actress’ insistence that her own confidentiality agreement is invalid.

Sign up for the Essential Politics newsletter »

NATIONAL POLITICS LIGHTNING ROUND

— A California law that requires pregnancy centers — even those that are faith-based — to inform clients about abortion faced sharp, skeptical questions in the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.

— The nation’s election systems, targeted by Russian hacking in the 2016 presidential race, need stiffer defenses to block future cyber-assaults, a bipartisan group of senators said Tuesday.

— Trying to persuade Trump to back down from his increasingly public battle with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Republican leaders turned Tuesday to the approach that has worked for Fox network personalities: They talked to him through the television screen.

— Retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, a longtime analyst for Fox News, told colleagues he is done with the network he says has become “a propaganda machine” for President Trump.

— Democrats see the tumultuous Trump presidency as the means to finally oust a five-term Republican congressman in Colorado, one of the most vulnerable GOP incumbents in the November midterm election.

— Congressional negotiators laboring to write a trillion-dollar plan to fund the federal government are caught up in last-minute partisan disputes over abortion rights, healthcare costs and the fate of a Northeastern railway tunnel that Trump has sought to derail.

— Education Secretary Betsy DeVos faced blistering questioning from House Democrats on Tuesday as they confronted her on gun control, racism and LGBTQ rights.

— As the Trump administration barrels ahead with its plan to apply stiff tariffs on imported metals starting Friday, governments and businesses across the globe are in a fog as to what is happening and are bracing for at least a short-term hit.

— A study says the coalitions behind the nation’s two major political parties have grown steadily apart over the past decade. Democrats are increasingly racially diverse, younger and college educated. Republicans have remained overwhelmingly white and non-college-educated.

— A wall on which border? “We might need to build a wall between California and Arizona as well,” said Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday.

NO SANCTUARY HERE, SAYS ONE ORANGE COUNTY CITY

The small city of Los Alamitos is making big news for its rejection of California’s new “sanctuary state” law that limits the immigration assistance provided by local law enforcement officers.

Los Alamitos leaders on Monday approved an ordinance that exempts their city from Senate Bill 54, a state law that took effect Jan. 1. It marks a rare effort by a city to challenge the sanctuary movement, which has wide support among elected officials.

NO CASH FROM APPOINTEES TO STATE POSTS?

Californians appointed to state posts could soon be barred from writing checks to lawmakers who must vote on their nomination.

A Central Valley assemblyman has introduced legislation to outlaw contributions to state senators by political appointees for up to a year between the time they are chosen by the governor until their required confirmation.

“The state Legislature should safeguard the public’s confidence in our government institutions,” said Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced).

TODAY’S ESSENTIALS

— Here’s how California Republicans are responding to Trump’s attacks on Mueller and to former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe‘s firing.

— The Los Angeles Police Department’s practice of keeping video from body cameras and patrol cars under wraps will end after the agency’s civilian bosses approved a policy Tuesday that requires the release of recordings in the future.

— New state legislation would end a city of Los Angeles policy giving council members veto power over proposed homeless housing projects in their districts.

— Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is on a two-week visit to the U.S. that will include a visit to Los Angeles to meet with entertainment and defense executives, and Silicon Valley to meet with tech leaders.

— Despite pleas from relatives of those killed in the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, leaders of the state’s largest public sector pension fund have rejected a proposal to consider divesting from retailers who sell assault-style rifles.

— California privacy advocates are asking Facebook to stop opposing their proposed November ballot measure after the Cambridge Analytica debacle.

— Gov. Jerry Brown took aim at opponents of his signature high-speed rail project, cursing at those who argue that rising cost estimates threaten the effort’s viability.

LOGISTICS

Essential Politics is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

You can keep up with breaking news on our politics page throughout the day. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics?

Miss Monday’s newsletter? Here you go.

Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com.

Did someone forward you this? Sign up here to get Essential Politics in your inbox.

Iran’s foreign minister heads to Russia as Trump says Iranian leaders can call on the phone if they want to talk.

WASHINGTON — President Trump was preparing to take the stage at the White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner Saturday night, eager — by his own account — to “let it rip” before a room of Washington’s elite and reporters he has spent years calling the enemy of the people.

Then shots were heard. Secret Service agents rushed him off the stage. And within hours, the president was at the White House calling for unity, offering overtures to a press corps that he had long clashed with.

“I just want to say you did a fantastic job, what a beautiful evening and we are going to reschedule,” Trump told Weijia Jiang, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Assn., at a news briefing after the shooting at the dinner.

His magnanimity did not last long. On Sunday night, sitting down for an interview with Norah O’Donnell of CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Trump reacted with fury to her reading of the suspected shooter’s manifesto, calling her a “disgrace.”

The manifesto characterized his targets as rapists and pedophiles.

“You’re horrible people. Horrible people,” Trump said. “He did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.

“I’m not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all — stuff that has nothing to do with me,” he added. “You should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things.”

It marked a return to the familiar dynamic between the president and the press after a night of shared crisis and purpose — raising doubts about how long the goodwill would last.

Just hours before, at the briefing, Trump expressed dismay at the violent outburst at the Washington Hilton, where the black-tie event has been held for more than 50 years.

“I will tell you, I fought like hell to stay, but it was protocol,” the president said. On Sunday he repeated his desire to reschedule the event, telling Fox News that he is committed to attending it in the near future, even proposing to do it within 30 days.

Trump appeared to be enjoying himself moments before Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old tutor from Torrance, allegedly ran past a security checkpoint at the hotel and fired off two shots. Oz Pearlman, a mentalist and the entertainer for the night, seemed to be doing a trick for the president and the first lady when the shots were fired, videos show.

Trump was preparing to deliver remarks at the end of the night. His team was excited about it, and the president had been making tweaks to his speech on Air Force One up until Saturday morning.

“It will be funny. It will be entertaining,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a red carpet event ahead of the dinner.

The speech was going to mark Trump’s first at the White House correspondents’ dinner. He told Fox News on Sunday that he was “really going to let it rip,” and that he had considered the moment an “important event” until it came to a halt.

Trump said he would like to reschedule the event within the next month, adding that he will make an “entirely different speech” — one that he said will be focused on “love.”

It is unclear how long Trump’s media-friendly tone will last, but some Republicans continued to blame reporters for the violent act. Kari Lake, the senior advisor to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, said some reporters attending the event “have spent a decade spreading absolute lies” about Trump.

Trump, for his part, used the security breach at the event to make the case for his White House ballroom project, claiming that the Washington Hilton is “not a particularly secure building” and is a prime example of why legal challenges holding up its construction need to be dismissed.

“We need the ballroom,” Trump told reporters. “Today, we need levels of security that probably nobody’s ever seen before.”

However, the annual dinner’s venue is picked not by the White House, but by the White House Correspondents’ Assn., an independent organization of journalists who cover the president.

Trump has vowed to return to the event in the near future, and has called for it to take place within the next month to show that “bad people” cannot “change the course of the country.” But the ballroom project could not be ready that quickly.

It remains under construction and “ahead of schedule,” Trump has said. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court allowed construction on the project to continue through early June, as legal challenges remain ongoing.

The construction of the $400-million ballroom on the White House grounds has come under searing scrutiny. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued last year to stop the project, has argued that Trump lacked authority to make architectural changes to the White House grounds.

Carol Quillen, president and chief executive of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has argued the White House is “the most evocative building in our country” and any changes should go through a review process, including a public comment period. Trump on Sunday described the lawsuit as one brought by a “woman walking a dog.”

The attempted attack, which marks the third time in less than two years that Trump has faced the threat of a gunman, has reignited questions about the tense political environment besetting the United States.

Trump, for his part, called his job a “dangerous profession” and said he believed he has become the target of attacks because of his presidency’s own consequence.

“The people that do the most, the people that make the biggest impact, they are the people that they go after,” Trump told reporters at the White House after being rushed out of the hotel.

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, he added: “If you’re a consequential president, you’re in much more danger than if you’re not a consequential president.”

As an example, Trump pointed to his war in Iran, a conflict that recent polling shows has contributed to his approval rating falling to around 40%. The president said the war “should’ve been done by previous presidents … but nobody did anything about it.”

At Saturday night’s dinner, people infiltrated the hotel to protest the Iran war and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Two demonstrators, wearing suits, crashed a red carpet photo shoot in the hotel lobby and called for Hegseth to be arrested for war crimes, underscoring how the foreign conflict is fueling the political rhetoric at home.

In the hours after the shooting, Trump remained defiant. In an interview, he said he was determined to show a unified front and not let “one nut” derail his agenda or events.

“I hate it when a sick, bad person,” he told Fox News on Sunday. “I hate someone like that changing the course of our country.”

WASHINGTON — The criminal indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center this week was met with much outrage but little surprise from civil rights leaders, who have for more than a year prepared for heightened legal scrutiny from the Trump administration, and how to mount a coordinated response.

In rounds of calls immediately following the indictment, civil rights leaders discussed how to support the SPLC, a Montgomery, Ala.-based civil rights group founded in 1971 that has tracked white supremacist groups and been outspoken on voting rights, immigration and policing. Organizers on one call agreed that winning in the court of public opinion would be crucial as judicial proceedings began, leading to dozens of public statements of support and planned rallies.

And legal advisors to civil rights groups urged organizers to prepare themselves for similar criminal indictments, protracted legal action that may exhaust their resources and audits of their staff and internal documents.

The flurry of behind-the-scenes coordination represented a marked escalation and mobilization of plans for activist groups that have been at odds with the Justice Department since President Trump’s return to the White House last year. Organizers say they are prepared to back the SPLC in its legal fight.

“It’s a blatantly obvious attack on civil rights and civil liberties to whitewash the foot soldiers of the great replacement theory and other extremists. This coalition isn’t going silent,” said Maya Wiley, president and chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, an umbrella organization of hundreds of civil rights groups.

Without addressing the indictment, a coalition of more than 100 activist groups on Tuesday published a letter vowing solidarity with groups that are “unjustly targeted” by the federal government. SPLC was a signatory to the pact.

“An attack on one is an attack on all,” the coalition declared. “We will share knowledge, resources, and support with any organization threatened by abuses of power.”

DOJ alleges criminal conduct in SPLC’s longtime informant network

The Justice Department alleges that the SPLC, which rose to prominence for its work prosecuting and tracking hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan, violated federal law through its network of paid informants in extremist groups. The DOJ claims the payments funded hate groups and misled the SPLC’s donors.

The SPLC now faces charges of wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in the case brought in the federal court in Alabama, where the organization is based.

“The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence,” said acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche at a news conference announcing the charges. Blanche promised the department “will hold the SPLC and every other fraudulent organization operating with the same deceptive playbook accountable.”

Longtime civil rights activists found the claims to be a disingenuous and partisan move that may empower extremist groups.

“The indictment is nakedly political and represents the Justice Department turning on itself,” said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League. “It places the Justice Department in the posture of, in effect, defending white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and others.”

Advocates also view the indictment as part of the administration’s broader upending of civil rights law and the Justice Department’s prosecution of Trump’s political opponents.

The SPLC in recent years became a bogeyman among conservatives who resented that the watchdog designated several rightwing organizations that engage in Republican politics as hateful or extremist.

In October, FBI Director Kash Patel canceled the agency’s longtime anti-extremism partnerships with the SPLC and the Anti-Defamation League, which combats antisemitism. Patel at the time called the SPLC a “partisan smear machine.”

The Justice Department and SPLC did not respond to requests for comment.

Indictment represents marked shift for civil rights work

Advocates dispute the DOJ’s characterization of the SPLC’s work, which civil rights activists credit to combating extremist groups across the country.

“The problem is that the indictment essentially claims that it was a fraud on SPLC’s donors to use their funds to fight the Klan, the neo-Nazis and other white supremacist groups, when that is exactly why people gave to the organization,” said Norm Eisen, founder of Democracy Defenders Action, a legal group that works with organizations in legal disputes with the Trump administration.

Eisen added: “The notion that there’s something wrong with using informants and protecting their identities to prevent white supremacist violence is belied by the fact that that is not only what the SPLC did, but it is also the stock and trade of the FBI itself.”

Civil rights organizations are now preparing for further legal action against other organizations that disagree with or actively oppose the Trump administration. Organizations have reviewed their document retention, tax compliance and auditing policies over the last year to safeguard against any probes or lawsuits.

Some civil rights organizations have also floated creating new organizational structures that may better withstand legal scrutiny. On another recent call, activists floated restructuring some groups into for-profit entities, or potentially crafting new financial conduits for donors to give through to ensure that staff could receive pay if an organization’s assets were seized or frozen.

The preparations represent a marked shift for many civil rights leaders, who in recent years counted the Justice Department under both Democratic and Republican administrations as a reliable ally in key civil rights battles.

“What we are seeing in real time is an administration seeking to leverage its position to target individuals and organizations that do not agree with its political thought,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson, who said the Justice Department has been “weaponized by dangerous forces.”

But for other leaders, the SPLC indictment raised the specter of a return to a previous era, when the Justice Department monitored — and at times prosecuted — civil rights leaders to disrupt their activities.

“We’re not backing down, but we are clear-eyed. Everyone could be in some form of jeopardy if you’re in the crosshairs of this administration,” said Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a civil rights group suing the Trump administration over executive orders addressing birthright citizenship and mail-in voting.

“That’s what they’re looking for; they want this to have a chilling effect,” Proaño said.

Brown writes for the Associated Press.

SUPERSTAR Cher was left “speechless” when she found out she had a secret granddaughter aged 15.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday, the girl’s mum Kayti Edwards says she told the chart legend the bombshell news in an emotional phone call last year.

Ex-model Kayti had a brief romance with 79-year-old Cher’s second son Elijah Allman in 2010 which led to the birth of their daughter, Ever.

Kayti, who lives on a ranch in Joshua Tree, California, explained: “Cher got in touch with me last June and asked if it was true, so I had to confess.

“She said she had heard something about it from Elijah back in 2021, but didn’t know if it was just crazy talk.

“When she heard the news, she was speechless.

strong enough

Cher seeks conservatorship of son Elijah Blue Allman’s estate after arrests

shock arrest

Cher’s son Elijah Blue Allman arrested on suspicion of assault at prep school

“Cher told her family, ‘Oh my God, I’m finally a grandma’.”

Kayti, 49, said she had been friends with Elijah, also 49, for years but they briefly became romantically involved.

The mum-of-four explained: “Elijah and I spent the night together and I fell pregnant.

“He always knew from day one, but he never wanted to be a parent.

“He would pop in every couple of years but would just say hello.

“It wasn’t until 2021, when he overdosed on drugs, that he blurted out to his then-wife that he had a child.

“This is what started the rumours in the family.

“He then sent me a text message to say he wanted to make amends.”

But Kayti says her husband has been Ever’s “true father” throughout her life.

She said: “She has a father who has raised her from day one and that is her dad. I couldn’t ask for a better father for my kids.”

Guitarist Elijah’s history of drug addiction was made public after Cher filed for an emergency conservatorship in 2023.

She claimed he was “substantially unable to manage his own financial resources due to severe mental health issues”.

The pair later resolved the matter privately.

But in June last year, Elijah — who is Cher’s son from her second marriage to the late musician Gregg Allman — was hospitalised for several days after a second overdose.

Kayti explained: “He came back into my life just recently.

“I didn’t know anything about his state.

“But he asked me if he could come to Joshua Tree as he needed to get out of Hollywood.

“As soon as he stepped out of the car, I knew he wasn’t well.

“A few weeks later, he overdosed and was hospitalised, and this was when Cher got in touch.

“She wanted to know what had happened and then she asked me if it was true regarding Ever.

“That’s when I had to tell her the situation.”

Kayti, who owns a horse rescue centre, told how Cher invited her and Ever to her Malibu home last September.

“We went to the house and stayed the night,” she said.

“She was lovely and kind and we had dinner.

“Cher asked Ever if she wanted to see her closet and showed her a pair of jeans she had worn in concert.

“It was a cool experience for her.

“Cher was very childlike.

“They played in the pool and she spoke to Ever about school and asked her about boys.

“She was like a kid herself.”

The Believe hitmaker, who played a glamorous gran in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, has previously told how she longed to be a grandma.

On the 2018 press tour for Mamma Mia!, the singer said: “I don’t have any grandchildren.

“I wish I did, I really do.”

Kayti said Cher is still “processing the news” after the shock reveal, but she and Ever — who is a straight-A student — are building a relationship.

She went on: “Cher sent her a Christmas card and present.

“It was a Chrome Hearts hoodie.

“And then for her birthday, she sent her some money and Chrome Hearts sweats.

“She called her and they spoke on the phone.

“Cher is really trying.

“It’s an adjustment and I’m not pushing any relationship.

“It has to come naturally.

“Elijah and his wife always said Cher didn’t want to be a grandma and to keep Ever away, so I was nervous to introduce her, but it’s been nothing but a good experience.”

Kayti said Elijah wanted to be a part of Ever’s life, which is why he went to Joshua Tree.

She said: “He wanted to see her and have a relationship with her, but he wasn’t in any fit state.

“She thought he was just a family friend at that point.

“I had to shelter her from him and, when he gets better, he will appreciate that.

“Cher is also very protective of Ever and the family dynamic and she knows Elijah’s state and wants to protect that from her, too.

“He needs to get back to being the guy I once knew, and Cher agrees.

“We need to get him better.”

Kayti told Ever that Elijah was her father last month when rumours started to swirl after he was arrested for allegedly assaulting someone at an elite school.

Elijah reportedly told cops he was a “prospective father”, which caused mass speculation online.

Days later, he was arrested again for allegedly breaking into a house.

He is currently in jail awaiting trial in New Hampshire.

With her voice cracking, Kayti said: “Elijah did this.

“I’m only speaking about this now because I want this to be my story.

“I would have kept it under wraps.

“I have to say, Cher loves her son.

“He needs help and, regardless of what anyone says, she goes to any lengths to help him.”

Kayti, who is the step-granddaughter of Mary Poppins star Julie Andrews, said: “I know what it’s like to have a famous grandma and it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

“I craved the ideal of grandma baking cookies in the kitchen with me, but it wasn’t like that.

“We had cooks and were raised by nannies.

“To talk to my grandma, I had to call her assistant.

“They are busy women in Hollywood.

“It’s not a normal life and I never wanted that for Ever.

“But I think she thinks Cher is pretty cool — I mean, she’s a pretty cool grandma.”

Cher is reportedly in talks with Netflix over a TV documentary deal worth £12.6million.

The singer, who turns 80 in May, found fame in 1965 as part of the folk-rock duo Sonny & Cher, with her first husband Sonny Bono.

She went on to become one of the best-selling music artists in history.

Kayti added: “We are dealing with Elijah and once he gets settled and in a place that is more stable, we can sit down and talk about this situation.

“I don’t want this to change Ever’s life.

“We all need to heal.”

SACRAMENTO–A housing advocacy group, casting embattled state Sen. Ronald S. Calderon (D-Montebello) as a symbol of the influence special interests have on lawmakers, called for tighter bans on lobbyist gifts at a Thursday rally at the Capitol.

Around 50 members of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) convened at the Capitol’s south steps, many clad in matching yellow T-shirts. Members focused on Calderon’s notable accumulation of gifts, which they said indicated close ties to industries–sometimes, they charged, at the expense of his constituents.

Peggy Mears, an organizer from the Inland Empire, said her group had no specific knowledge of wrongdoing or cause for the FBI raid on his offices Tuesday.

“We’re not here to say the charges against him are false or true,” Mears said. “What we’re saying is that there’s an epidemic in the elected officialdom of accepting gifts. And we want this to stop.”

Calderon’s office did not immediately respond to a call for comment.

Mears called for a ban on all gifts from lobbyists and lobbyists’ employers. Lobbyists currently cannot give more than $10 per month to an elected official. But Mears said those limits can be skirted by giving through employers or nonprofit foundations. She also criticized lawmakers like Calderon for holding out-of-state fundraisers.

“The constituents of this state pay you enough money. You can buy your own gifts,” said Abdullah Muhammad, who lives in Calderon’s district. “You don’t need Christmas year-round. You don’t need your birthday year-round.”

The group has clashed with Calderon before, particularly in their advocacy for the Homeowner’s Bill of Rights, a foreclosure protection measure. ACCE members said the Senate banking committee, of which Calderon is a member, often posed an obstacle.

Calderon voted for the bill and lauded its passage last summer.

“Although we got the Homeowner’s Bill of Rights passed, it was a hard-fought battle,” Mears said. “We had to fight lobbyists. We were like David and they were Goliath.”

ALSO:

FBI’s Ron Calderon probe has lawmakers feeling somber

Calderon ties to water district may be part of FBI investigation

FBI search targeted Calderon’s office, not Latino caucus, officials say

melanie.mason@latimes.com

@melmason

Champions League analysts Stephen Warnock, Nedum Onouha and Julien Laurens look at why the semi-finals between PSG & Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid & Arsenal are both really hard to call who will win.

MATCH REPORT: Champions League – Arsenal 0-0 Sporting (1-0 agg)