Happy Friday, Wake Up Right fam! We’re on day 3 of the Democrat shutdown as we head into the weekend.

Consequences: According to Treasury Secretary. Scott Bessent, every week this goes on, we lose $15 billion in GDP. If it lasts a month, 43,000 workers will lose their jobs.

The Senate is back in session today – will Chuck Schumer and the rest of the left-wing lawmakers vote to end the chaos they’re inflicting on Americans? Probably not.

• 🚮 Trust in the media hit an all-time low of 28%

• 🇺🇸 TPUSA high school clubs surge from 1.2K to 2.7K

• 🏈 43% think legal sports betting is bad for society

• 💵 Gen X has an average $47,857 in student loan debt

• 📉 Trump approval avg: 44.9% approve, 53% disapprove

^{Sources: Gallup, The Post Millennial, Pew, WSJ, RCP}

You broke it, you Vought it

President Donald Trump met with budget chief Russ Vought on Thursday to discuss how the ongoing government shutdown could be leveraged to shrink federal spending and reduce the number of bureaucrats, as Democrats continue to refuse to open the government.

The details: On Thursday, Trump posted to Truth Social that he planned to meet with his Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), intentionally mentioning that Vought was "of PROJECT 2025 Fame" – the left's boogey man during the 2024 election.

• Trump said they would “determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent. I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity.”

He’s already started: Since the shutdown began, Vought has already:

• axed $8B in green energy projects across blue states

• frozen $18B in New York City infrastructure

This morning, he continued: As I was writing this article, Vought posted on X that he was slashing funding in Chicago, writing:

• “$2.1 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects--specifically the Red Line Extension and the Red and Purple Modernization Project--have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting. More info to come soon from”

Back up: Last week, Vought ordered agencies to draft mass layoff plans in the event that the Democrats shut down the government. On a GOP call, he said pink slips could start within days.

What the left is saying: Dem leaders Schumer and Jeffries called Trump’s mass layoffs plan “intimidation” and insisted courts won’t allow it.

Zoom out: The Trump administration says essential services like the military, ICE, Social Security, and Medicare will be spared.

What happens next? The Senate resumes votes today, but with Democrats dug in, a quick resolution looks unlikely.

[Source: Breitbart, WSJ]

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Left-wing assassination culture

"Assassination culture" is on the rise among young, highly online, leftists – with a majority believing that killing President Donald Trump is justified.

The details: The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) surveyed 1,264 Americans and analyzed open source platforms popular with leftists like BlyeSky and Reddit for its flash brief titled “Assassination Culture: How Burning Teslas and Killing Billionaires Became a Meme Aesthetic for Political Violence.”

The numbers: Among respondents who identified as left of center:

• 56% said it's at least somewhat justified to murder President Trump

• 50% said it's at least somewhat justified to murder Elon Musk

• 59.6% said it’s at least somewhat acceptable to destroy a Tesla

Online assassination culture: Survey respondents who reported more time spent on left-wing social X (formerly Twitter) alternative BlueSky were more likely to justify assassinations.

• NCRI's analysis of BlueSky reinforced their respondents’ beliefs, finding that memes that used Luigi Mangione [the guy who assassinated the UnitedHealthcare CEO in 2024] had become a coded rallying symbol for violence.

• One example cited in the report was an AI-generated image of Luigi [from Super Mario Bros.] sneaking up on Elon Musk.

Zoom out: Over the past two years, there has been a surge in high-profile left-wing violence – from the aforementioned Luigi Mangioni to the attempted assassinations of President Trump to the successful assassination of Charlie Kirk.

The last word goes to the researchers, who concluded: "Unless political and cultural leadership explicitly confronts and condemns this trend, NCRI assesses a growing probability of real-world escalation."

[Source: NCRI]

🤝 President Donald Trump signed an executive order that promises to defend Qatar in the event of an attack, calling the U.S.-Qatar relationship an “enduring alliance.” Read more.

❎ Harvard University hired a visiting professor in the Women, Gender, and Sexuality department whose alter ego is a drag queen who goes by the name of “LaWhore Vagistan.” Read more.

🇺🇦 The U.S. is assisting Ukraine in locating key Russian energy infrastructure and is considering providing it with long-range weapons like Tomahawk and Barracuda cruise missiles. Read more.

🔫 The Justice Department is suing the LA County Sheriff's Department, accusing it of violating the 2nd Amendment by "systematically" delaying concealed carry permits for law-abiding citizens. Read more.

✅ An immigration judge denied MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s request to reopen his asylum case. Read more.

🇸🇾 Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is reportedly hospitalized after an assassination attempt by poisoning. Read more.

🐊 Florida plans for President Trump’s presidential library to be built in a prime location in downtown Miami next to the city’s iconic Freedom Tower. Read more.

🏈 Corey Lewandowski, advisor to President Trump, says ICE agents will be in attendance at the 2026 Super Bowl. Read more.

☕️ Maxwell House coffee is changing its name after 133 years, rebranding as Maxwell Apartment. Read more.

🤠 The SEC approved the Texas Stock Exchange, paving the way for the first new, fully integrated U.S. stock exchange in decades — and the only one based in Texas. Read more.

💻️ Netflix shares dropped 2.4% this week (equal to +$15 billion) following boycott calls from Elon Musk over its inclusion of transgender themes in children’s content. Read more.

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🎥 An LA oil refinery caught on fire, and it looks like a nuke went off. Watch.

🎥 ANTIFA tough guy shaking in fear after arrest. Watch.

🎥 WTF. Teens in Brooklyn with MACHETES slash another teen and terrorize the neighborhood. Watch.

🎥 Chris Cuomo fact-checks HACKeem Jeffries over government shutdown lies. Watch.

🎥 Antifa whistleblower shares what made him quit. Watch.

🎥 LOL: Democrat gets fact-checked in real time by Fox News host. Watch.

🎥 Police released 911 calls after the horrific stabbing of Iryna Zarutska by a career criminal. Watch.

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