Several members of the Trump family hail from New York, love gold, and have a tendency to lob creative insults at their rivals.
So we guess it makes sense that the Trumps would seek to enter the world of hip hop.
And who better to escort them into the realm of beats and rhymes than the surprise MAGA diehard Nicki Minaj?
Musician Nicki Minaj joins U.S. President Donald Trump on stage as he delivers remarks during the Treasury Department’s Trump Accounts Summit at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on January 28, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Yes, Nicki certainly lost a few fans when she came out as a Trump supporter earlier this year.
But she gained a fan in Lara Trump, the wife of Eric Trump.
And apparently, Lara has been exploring the idea of collaborating with the Grammy-nominated rapper for what would undoubtedly become one of the most talked-about musical pairings in recent memory.
According to journalist Rob Shuter, the notion of a Nicki-Lara collaboration is “much more than a passing idea.”
One source alleged that Lara has been leading the conversations.
“Lara is definitely driving this,” the insider claimed (via Radar Online). “She made the first move, they’ve been talking, and Nicki hasn’t shut the door. This is much more than a passing idea.”
Another source said ideas have already been exchanged, even if the project has yet to move beyond the discussion stage.
“Everyone involved knows it would create an enormous amount of buzz,” the insider claimed. “Whether people stream it because they love it or because they can’t believe it exists is beside the point.”
For now, no recording sessions or release dates have been announced, and neither Minaj nor Trump has publicly commented on the report.
The alleged collaboration would be another unexpected chapter in Lara Trump’s music career.
Although she first gained national attention through politics and television, Trump has spent the past several years releasing music across multiple genres.
After debuting with a cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” in 2023, she expanded into original material before later experimenting with pop and dance tracks, including collaborations with French Montana and Mohamed Ramadan.
Nicki, meanwhile, has made headlines in recent years not only for her music but also for her increasingly vocal support of President Donald Trump.
Once viewed as largely apolitical, the rapper has embraced the MAGA movement and has publicly praised the president, making a potential collaboration with Lara Trump seem less far-fetched than it might have appeared just a few years ago.
Whether the rumored duet ever materializes remains to be seen.
If it does, however, it would almost certainly become one of the most polarizing celebrity collaborations in recent memory, which might be exactly what Nicki and Lara are hoping for.
Bristol Bay is seen in 2004 from the community of Naknek. (Photo provided by the Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs)
Five days after graduating from high school in 1980, my identical twin brother, Malcolm, and I boarded a plane for Alaska. We were young, restless and convinced we were heading north to make our fortune.
We had no idea Alaska would shape the rest of our lives.
Our first couple summers were spent working long shifts in a cannery, surrounded by machinery, fish slime and the constant smell of salmon. We worked close to 100 hours a week and learned quickly that Bristol Bay did not care how tired, cold or inexperienced we were. Everyone was expected to carry his or her share of the load.
We watched the fisherman, seeing that’s who we wanted to be, and moved from the cannery to the decks of fishing boats. We became deckhands, then captains and boat owners. After years of fishing under other permit holders, we purchased our own limited-entry permit and earned a place in one of the most competitive wild-salmon fisheries in the world.
That journey became the foundation of my book, The Commercial Fishermen.
The book is my personal story, but it is also a record of 45 seasons of change in Bristol Bay. During those years, I watched boats, technology, regulations and markets evolve. Fiberglass boats replaced many of the older wooden vessels. Refrigerated seawater systems improved fish quality. Satellite communication, GPS navigation and more accurate forecasting changed how fishermen operated.
But some things never changed.
The weather could still turn without warning. A calm morning could become a dangerous afternoon of six-foot chop stacked across shallow water. Engines still failed. Nets tangled. Crew members got hurt. A missed tide, a bad delivery price or a transfer to the wrong district could determine whether a fisherman made money or went home owing it.
Commercial fishing is often portrayed as an adventure, and it certainly can be. But it is also a complicated business built around uncertainty. Before catching a single fish, fishermen invest in boats, permits, nets, fuel, insurance, repairs, food, transportation and crew. Then they depend on a wild resource, regulated openings and a market price they do not control.
Bristol Bay has always felt like the Super Bowl of wild salmon. Tens of millions of sockeyes return each summer, and thousands of boats compete during short openings sometimes measured in hours. Success requires preparation, instinct and the ability to make decisions under pressure.
It also requires respect for the fish, the ocean, the regulators, the processors and the communities that make the fishery possible.
Bristol Bay is not simply an economic engine. It is a living culture shared by fishermen, cannery workers, tender crews, mechanics, pilots, local families and Alaska Native communities whose relationship with salmon extends far beyond any commercial season. The health of the fishery depends on protecting the rivers and habitat that produce these extraordinary runs.
That responsibility belongs to everyone who benefits from Bristol Bay.
Over the decades, we witnessed strikes, low prices, record runs, enforcement disputes and seasons when optimism disappeared almost as quickly as the fish. Permit values rose to nearly unimaginable levels and later dropped dramatically. Some fishermen built successful operations. Others lost boats, marriages, money or years of their lives chasing one greater season. It’s the high of gold fever and always trying to catch more.
Yet fishermen return because Bristol Bay becomes part of them. They return for the first announcement over the radio, the sight of salmon hitting the net and the electricity that moves through the fleet when the fish arrive. They return for the friendships formed during long days and sleepless nights. They return because, for a few weeks every summer, every decision matters.
I wrote The Commercial Fishermen because these stories deserve to be preserved. Much of Alaska’s history lives not only in official records, but also in wheelhouses, net lofts, bunkhouses and conversations between fishermen waiting for the next opener.
My brother and I arrived in Alaska as teenagers looking for opportunity. We left with something more valuable: a lifetime of experiences, friendships and respect for a place that demanded everything we had to give.
My boat has been sold, but the tide keeps moving. New generations of fishermen are now writing their own Bristol Bay stories. My hope is that they will inherit not only a productive fishery, but also an understanding of the sacrifice, responsibility and community required to keep it alive.
TAMPA, Fla. — Disrespected. Undervalued. Very disappointing. Those were the words Baker Mayfield used to describe how he feels his current team has treated him as he seeks a contract extension beyond the upcoming season. And with that, Tampa has solidified its status as the drama capital of the NFL, wrapping up an offseason of major departures, uncertainty and now two big and public contract squabbles. “To feel disrespected a little bit, that’s really the disappointing part, to feel undervalued after, you know, thinking you earned it,” said Mayfield, 31, who is entering the final season of a three-year, $100 million contract. “This is not a ‘poor me’ thing. There’s a lot of other people that have it way worse off. I can sit here and look at other quarterbacks and peers and evaluate myself based on that and put myself in certain categories that I deserve to be compensated for that. “I think I’m a franchise quarterback. I’ve been told I’m a franchise quarterback. It’s been said publicly from ownership down here. So to not have a deal done is very disappointing.” It’s about as pointed a criticism as you can make publicly about your employer, all said with an even voice and framed in the context of him being grateful for the opportunity the Buccaneers have given him. It would have taken compromise, but this could have been a very different story, with Tampa Bay handing out the biggest contract in franchise history to find some stability in the franchise’s future. Instead, both sides are taking on significant risks in 2026. The Buccaneers know their best scenario — Mayfield returning to his 2024 form, when he threw for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdown passes to lead them to 10 wins and a division title — is now an outcome that will cost them more financially to keep Mayfield around. And Mayfield, who was with three teams in one year before he found solid ground in Tampa, risks losing the firm grip he has on the Bucs’ future at quarterback. What if he gets hurt? What if the team continues to struggle as they did in losing seven of their last nine games last year? What if Todd Bowles isn’t back as coach, or Jason Licht isn’t kept as general manager? Could new leadership possibly have the same interest in keeping him? We don’t know the exact figures offered or sought in this negotiation, other than that the Bucs offered Mayfield a two-year deal, he told ESPN. It’s hard to imagine the Bucs offering less than the $44 million a year the Colts gave Daniel Jones, coming off a half-season of success and a torn Achilles. It’s hard to think Mayfield and his agent want more than maybe $55 million a year, on the cusp of the top 10 at his position. And the uncertainty around the Bucs is hardly limited to Mayfield. Linebacker Lavonte David retired after 14 seasons, all in Tampa, and more stunningly, receiver Mike Evans took less money to leave in free agency for the 49ers, saying they gave him the best chance to win another Super Bowl. Defensive tackle Vita Vea, who Mayfield called “the anchor of our defense” on Thursday, recently asked for a trade, unhappy the Bucs won’t give him a raise and a new contract beyond his current deal. That’s not even counting a fan base divided over the decision to keep Bowles after a collapse that saw the Bucs go from 6-2 to 8-9, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019. It all adds up to put an incredible amount on the line in the upcoming season, which could have the Bucs back in the playoffs, or facing a complete overhaul. Even the long-term compromises look difficult. In theory, if the two sides can’t work out a deal after the season and before free agency in March, the Bucs could use the franchise tag on Mayfield at a cost of about $50 million. They would also incur about $30 million in dead money from his current deal if they couldn’t reach a long-term extension, resulting in a cap hit of about $80 million in 2027. “Franchise tag isn’t exactly in play for them,” Mayfield said. “There will be a lot of dead money. So it is what it is.” Three years ago, Mayfield had bounced to three NFL teams in a year, from the Cleveland Browns to the Carolina Panthers to the Los Angeles Rams, and he landed in Tampa on a one-year, $4 million contract after Tom Brady’s retirement. He re-established himself as an NFL starter, and he hasn’t missed a game in three seasons. He started his comments by reiterating how much he appreciates the home he and his family have found in Tampa and the stability that comes with that. “I’m very, very thankful for the chance they gave me. Do not get me wrong on that,” Mayfield said. “But I also know, I really know what I brought to this franchise, leadership-wise and even play-wise. It’s been some of the best years of my career, and I think it’s only going to trend upwards.” Can the Bucs push through the outside noise and stay together as a team, talented enough to be the oddsmakers’ favorites to win the NFC South after losing to Carolina on a tiebreaker last season? Mayfield said he’s confident the locker room remains close-knit and he’ll be focused on having the best season — for himself and his team — to set up whatever happens after that. “I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in, in a really good place, and feeling really confident with the staff Todd [Bowles] has put together, that we’re going to have a really good team,” Mayfield said. Both sides have expressed a consistent desire to keep Mayfield in Tampa — that hasn’t translated to an offer he’s willing to accept, saying Thursday their last offer was “not appealing whatsoever.” The cost of keeping him around could be even higher if he has a great season in 2026, but he said he won’t be motivated only by financial things like that. “Money should never be the motivation,” Mayfield said. “It’s ‘How do I help this team win?’ It’s never going to be the motivation for me when it comes to the kind of chip on your shoulder. It just puts me in the mindset of betting on myself, and that’s something I’m pretty familiar with. It’s a good place to be as a high competitive guy. Sometimes you have to back yourself into a corner and fight your way out. I have a lot of guys and a lot of staff around me that are with me, so I’m not alone in it. We’re fighting for the same goal.” Fans are divided on Mayfield – the franchise was starved for any kind of franchise quarterback for most of its first 50 years, but the second half of last season wasn’t the kind of play you want to reward with a huge contract. So, as strange as it seems, you have Mayfield essentially threatening to have a great season, to make the franchise he wants to settle in with pay by having to write a bigger check to keep him. And reiterating it’s still where he wants to play. “If you’ve waited this long to take care of your franchise quarterback, that’s too bad because it’s only going to get worse from here,” he said. “I’m going to have a really big year.”Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
In the past, such allegations in the media have resulted in a swift response from police, as in the case of comedian Russell Brand, who will soon face trial.
But according to a new report from TMZ, Leto is not currently under investigation by the LAPD.
Jared Leto attends the “Tron: Ares” premiere at Humboldt Forum on September 30, 2025 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Gerald Matzka/Getty Images)
“There have been no recent cases presented by law enforcement related to Jared Leto,” a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office tells the outlet.
That news comes on the heels of a scathing New York Post piece in which Leto is harshly criticized by insiders who’ve worked with him in the past.
“He’s not a good guy. There’s no soul behind his eyes,” said one source, who claims to have toured with Leto and his band, 30 Seconds to Mars.
“People who have known him for years have also said that he is very problematic with women,” the insider added.
“Everyone in the music industry knows there was going to be a day of reckoning for him.”
In the documentary, 10 women accused Leto of varying degrees of misconduct.
Four of them — using the pseudonyms “Clara,” “Alex,” “Isabel” and “Etta” — claimed they were sexually assaulted by the Oscar winner while they were still in their teens.
One of them, who went by Etta, alleged that Leto tried to get her to sign a non-disclosure agreement after grooming her when she was 16.
Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes dropped out of the crowded Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor on Thursday, as progressive state lawmaker Francesca Hong surges in the polls.
“It’s become very clear who our nominee is going to be,” he said in avideo posted to social media, while not directly naming another contender.
“We have to do everything to beat Tom Tiffany,” he added, referencing the likely GOP nominee.
The announcement comes as Democratic officials in the state brace for damaging media reports about Barnes, which were expected to hit in the coming hours. Barnes and his team had been on calls Thursday discussing whether to drop out, POLITICO reported earlier.
Shortly after Barnes exited the race, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported it was investigating allegations that Barnes had leveraged his role within the state Democratic party to have sexual encounters with young women, based on a 2025 review conducted by the party. Barnes has not been accused of any crimes, and the Journal Sentinel reported that the party’s review did not result in an actionable outcome.
POLITICO has not independently confirmed the allegations. Barnes’ campaign spokesperson Darby O’Connor said in a statement that “there are no allegations of misconduct or wrongdoing against Mandela.”
The primary had become increasingly messy as more moderate leaning Democrats have tried to stave off Hong’s rise, worried the democratic socialist’s victory could boost Tiffany. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ endorsement of David Crowley — who reentered the race in the final stretch after current Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez’s campaign imploded — further complicated the moderate coalition.
A Marquette Law School poll released Wednesday showed Hong with 38 percent support among Democratic primary voters, with Barnes in a distant second with 16 percent and Crowley stuck in third with just 7 percent. The same poll found that 30 percent Barnes supporters picked Hong as their second choice, almost twice as many as those who picked Crowley, though a plurality remained undecided.
Democrats, including some close to Barnes, are hoping the last-minute drop will allow voters to coalesce around Crowley, who is set to hit the campaign trail with Evers next week in the final stretch, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter. Evers is also slated to appear at several fundraisers for Crowley in the coming days, including one in Madison on Thursday and a Friday event in Milwaukee.
Those Democrats believe Evers can help boost Crowley’s support with older voters, who turn out more reliably than Hong’s base of younger Wisconsinites. Crowley still faces a major uphill battle, but that’s the only path to challenge Hong.
Crowley sought to attract Barnes voters in an X post Thursday: “To everyone who backed Mandela: there’s a place for you in what we’re building.”
But Crowley is still contending with two other Democrats — state Sen. Kelda Roys and former Evers cabinet member Joel Brennan — who are polling in the single-digits. Brennan said Thursday he plans to remain in the race, vowing to “continue reaching voters to talk about what I’ll do to win and lead our state to a stronger future.”
“I don’t know why he’s getting out,” Evers said of Barnes. “I have to believe it’s something relatively important, but at the end of the day, it’s his call.”
The Haines Borough Administration Building, March 3, 2025. (Will Steinfeld/Chilkat Valley News)
The borough is preparing to go public in a search for offers on Port Chilkoot Dock management, pending another assembly vote next month.
Even just a few months ago the concept of outside management at the borough’s cruise ship facility wasn’t on the radar. The borough has long owned the facility, maintained it, and in recent years has collected a head tax there from docking cruise ships.
In late April, an international port management company, Global Ports Holding, approached the borough with an unsolicited offer. In that offer, the company proposed taking over much of the operations and costs at the dock, as well as its main revenue streams. As part of the deal, the company said they would significantly increase the number of cruise passengers landing in town.
Following news of the Global Ports offer, two other companies, Huna Totem Corporation and Survey Point Holdings, said they would be interested in competing with Global Ports for the right to manage the facility.
Borough staff have been in contact with Global Ports for weeks now, after the assembly two months ago asked the company to put forward an official offer with more concrete details for the body to consider.
In some ways, it seems that process has stalled: borough manager Alekka Fullerton said Tuesday the company asked the borough to sign a non-disclosure agreement regarding the proposal, hoping to keep confidential what they said was proprietary business information that would be in a detailed offer. The municipal government, however, is subject to broad public-records laws which allow the government to keep information confidential under only a narrow set of exceptions to the law.
A solution proposed by the borough’s attorney, Fullerton said, was to put out a general call for proposals, open to any company interested in managing the facility. Fullerton had said she was considering the idea, referred to as an RFP, or request for proposals, as early as mid-June.
The assembly Tuesday was generally supportive of the idea and directed borough staff to draft documents for an RFP. That draft will be considered for assembly approval at its next meeting.
Under current plans, the RFP would be somewhat open ended, and wouldn’t bind the borough to choosing the lowest bidder. As Fullerton described it at the meeting, the borough would select an option from the range of bidders. Rather than accept the submitted offer outright, the borough would then begin negotiations with that company.
“It’s a qualitative relationship we’re talking about entering,” she said. “Certainly there’s an income component in terms of how much the lease would be, but that’s just one of several components should we choose to go forward.”
There are still outstanding questions about how to judge the quality of a deal in the first place. For instance, Global Ports has been offering an increase in passenger count, but it’s not clear whether that is seen as a positive or a negative by the community, or even the assembly itself.
“I couldn’t put out a credible RFP today because two parties would want to bid on the same deliverable, and we don’t have a deliverable right now,” said assembly member Eben Sargent.
“If we let these guys in… they’ll overrun us and do what they want,” assembly member Craig Loomis said. “The community should tell them what we want rather than them telling us what they want to do.”
Global Ports may be frustrated with how the borough is planning to open negotiations with other companies.
In a letter sent to the assembly prior to the meeting, the company said it would be amenable to participating in an RFP process, but asked for a sort of special treatment.
“While we appreciate that the borough wishes to test the market, we respectfully submit that it would be inequitable if the investment made by (Global Ports) in creating this opportunity were simply used to establish a competitive process without any recognition of our contribution,” the letter said.
The company proposed it be given best and final offer status, allowing it to match any “best” offer submitted by a different company.
The assembly did seem receptive to the company’s concerns about proprietary information, and it believes an RFP process would keep information confidential until a set date when all the proposals would be unsealed.
The assembly did not, however, vote into place or substantively discuss any measures to give Global Ports best and final offer status.
In a brief comment on the issue, assembly member Kevin Forster said “it feels like offering a best and final offer to one entity will open us up to all sorts of legal challenges.”
Chilkoot Moratorium
The borough will not grant any new commercial tour permits next season in the Chilkoot Lake area, including the bridge over the Chilkoot River. The assembly voted nearly unanimously Tuesday to put into place a one-year moratorium on new permits, a measure that had been recommended by the Chilkoot Corridor Working Group. The working group, comprising representatives from user groups and government agencies, has been tasked with addressing crowding and wildlife interaction concerns at the popular tourism destination.
Assembly member Cheryl Stickler said she supported the measure specifically because of a new state regulation banning tour operators from driving large buses into the Chilkoot Lake State Recreation Site. Critics of the regulation say it has resulted in more total vehicles and more congestion.
“Taking a year to see how this falls out, to get our feet under us and figure out how to proceed, is a wise decision,” Stickler said.
Assembly member Mark Smith was the only vote against the moratorium.
Dock contingency number stays put
Assembly member Eben Sargent Tuesday proposed increasing the amount of funds set aside as contingency for Lutak Dock construction.
The contingency number determines how much is set aside to be used in the event of cost overruns — funds not dedicated toward planned costs and construction. The borough has $26 million in total funding for the project, some of which has already been spent.
There’s been discussion for months over how large that contingency fund should be. In initial talks with the borough in November 2025, Moffatt & Nichol’s Shaun McFarlane, a borough advisor on the project, said he expected the contingency fund to be in the ballpark of 15-25% of total budget. In a memo from the same time, borough harbormaster Henry Pollan recommended a 20% contingency.
By May, Moffatt & Nichol had revised their advised contingency number to 10%. Borough staff in turn, based off the Moffatt & Nichol number, recommended a 12% contingency because it resulted in a “round number” of $22 million in available funds, Fullerton wrote at the time. Fullerton brought that figure to the assembly on May 12, asking for assembly approval, but the assembly did not vote on the issue at the meeting.
Sargent’s argument Tuesday was that circumstances had changed since that decision, requiring a reevaluation of the decision itself.
Specifically, he said, the recommendations were “made by Moffatt & Nichol with erroneous information.”
“At the time, (Moffatt & Nichol) communicated clearly they believed permitting was completely in place, which proved to be false. It was news to them this summer that they did have to communicate these amounts like pile driving to MARAD,” Sargent said.
Delays in the timeline from unforeseen permitting, Sargent argued, could result in increased costs, specifically because construction work won’t be able to go forward until permitting is completed.
Sargent, however, faced strong pushback from some assembly members and the borough manager who said a larger contingency — Sargent proposed 20% — would “hamstring” the project. “I’m worried that we need every cent for this project,” Fullerton said.
Smith said Sargent’s proposal was aligned with “dark forces in the community that don’t want to see the dock done at all.”
Assembly member Gabe Thomas took a slightly different tack, saying the proper time to limit construction costs was in awarding a bid to a contractor down the line, not increasing contingency funds.
Assembly member Kevin Forster spoke in favor of the larger contingency, calling it a way to ensure taxpayers wouldn’t be on the hook for municipal bonds to fund cost overruns.
The final vote on increasing contingency funds to 20% was tied, with Loomis and Forster siding with Sargent.
That put it to mayor Tom Morphet to break the tie. Morphet responded to the deadlock with a “hm” and a long pause.
The rather momentous decision being entirely in Morphet’s hands wasn’t something he could’ve prepared for, as Sargent’s motion hadn’t been on the agenda prior to the meeting. It was proposed as direction to the manager during the manager’s report. Morphet, when pressed by Sargent as he thought about the decision, said he “wasn’t expecting to vote on this.”
After some time deliberating, the mayor voted no, keeping the contingency at the current 12% figure.
Sales tax on alcohol advances
Voters may decide on a new tax this October: a 2% sales tax on alcohol. The assembly narrowly introduced the measure Tuesday, with the condition it go to the voters for approval.
Putting the tax into place is a somewhat complicated process. With the measure now introduced for consideration, the assembly will hold at least two public hearings on the new tax. Following the public hearings, the assembly will take another vote, on whether the measure goes on the ballot for the municipal election in October.
If that passes, voters will then decide at the polls whether to approve the new tax.
If approved in October, revenue from the tax would go into the areawide general fund, the borough’s broadest funding source, paying for services like the school.
Assembly members Thomas, Smith, and Stickler voted against introduction — the first step in kicking off the entire approval process. The tied vote once more gave mayor Tom Morphet final say. This time, Morphet voted in favor of the motion, saying the tax “deserves a public airing.”
