Democrats trolled Trump Hotel and Tower Chicago Sunday night by projecting taunting messages onto the skyscraper ahead of their national convention. Messages were reflected on the side of former President Donald Trump's eponymous tower at 401 N. Wabash Ave.
in downtown Chicago, social media posts show. ““Trump-Vance: ‘Weird as Hell," one message reads. Another dubs the tower “Project 2025 HQ.
” The Democratic National Committee confirmed to the Daily Beast late Sunday night that it was responsible for the cheeky campaign tactic and had booked a hotel room across the street to target Trump's tower with a high-powered projector. “He’s a grifter and nothing we said wasn’t the truth," Abhi Rahman, deputy communications director for the Democratic National Committee, told the Daily Beast. A Trump spokesperson did not respond to the publication's request for comment.
ALSO READ: Donald Trump deep in debt while foreign money keeps coming: disclosure "Weird" is of course the word Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) used to describe MAGA Republicans in a viral video that sent him into the national arena and helped him secure his place on Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign ticket . Project 2025 is the controversial policy agenda from powerful conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation from which Trump has tried to distance himself amid growing concern about the policies found within it.
His efforts have been foiled by reporting that about 140 of its contributors have worked with him and that his running mate Sen. J.D.
Vance (R-OH) wrote the foreward for Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts' yet-to-be-released book. The projected taunts spurred much laughter on social media after video was shared by reporters such as NBC's Alex Tabet. "That is genius," replied Christopher Deutsch , the founder of a venture capital firm in Chicago.
Watch the projection below or click here . Ringed by once-free beaches and green parks, Hungary's Lake Balaton has delighted generations of holidaymakers -- but now, locals warn, private developers are fencing off the sandy bays for rich visitors, with the nationalist government's blessing. Luxury hotels, apartment blocks and closed-off marinas have begun in recent years to replace the free-entry beaches, campsites and greenery around central Europe's largest freshwater lake -- affectionately known as the "Hungarian Sea".
Some locals warn the trend threatens traditional tourism and blame the changes on Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Critics accuse the nationalist leader of letting his allies take over large swathes of the economy since his 2010 return to power. "I'm seriously worried," said Peter Karpati, a local activist who has been selling ice cream for almost 40 years in the port of Balatonfoldvar.
He denounces the "greed that is gradually eating away at the lake and leading it to ruin." The lake, with its 235-kilometer (146-mile) shoreline, sees 2.8 million visitors each year, mostly Hungarians.
But figures from the state statistical office show a decline in overnight stays in June year-on-year even though total spending by visitors has increased, against a backdrop of gentrification and soaring prices. Karpati accuses the municipality of "flushing away" money on "senseless" developments instead of focusing on attracting tourists. He is considering moving his shop -- in exchange for a hefty check from the municipality -- to make way for "a big entrepreneur in Orban's system".
- 'No beach is safe' - More than 50 developments around the lake are spearheaded by businessmen close to Orban, according to corruption watchdog K-monitor. Among those said to be involved is his son-in-law Istvan Tiborcz. Tiborcz told AFP he was involved only on an "intermittent basis" several years ago and said "misleading" claims had been made about his role.
The government says it provides funds to develop tourism, but critics accuse it of financing controversial projects and supporting legal changes to push them through. In Balatonfoldvar, ice-cream seller Karpati is a member of a local group that is fighting a prolonged legal battle to protect the beach from a contested marina project, already half-built, which the group says is linked to Orban's allies. Construction was halted twice by the courts which cited a lack of public consultation and a missing environmental impact study.
But it was restarted after the town council -- led by Orban's Fidesz party -- retroactively changed the local building code last year. "If this can be done here in Balatonfoldvar..
. then not a single beach in Balaton is safe," warned the head of the activist group, Karoly Herenyi. He is a prominent member of a now defunct party, once a close ally of Fidesz.
Holidaymaker Laszlone Szabo, a 46-year-old teacher, has signed a petition against the marina. "The port is a bit of a nuisance, because we've been holidaying here for years, the kids grew up here -- and as you can see, it breaks the view a bit," she told AFP. "It has taken the part of the western beach where we used to sunbathe and spend the whole summer.
" The local mayor's office did not grant AFP an interview. - 'New aristocracy' - Herenyi believes there is a "strong political will" to create a "new aristocracy" that will have the lake to themselves as the nobility did a hundred years ago, when the region started to become popular. Host during the communist period to then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Cuban president Fidel Castro, Lake Balaton saw many Soviet-style buildings spring up.
After the democratic transition in the 1990s, the authorities promised to stop the boom in construction -- but it has resumed with renewed vigour in recent years. Activists anxious to preserve affordable family tourism saw a glimmer of hope in June when Fidesz lost ground in the municipal elections . In Keszthely, sometimes known as "Balaton's capital", Fidesz lost the mayorship it had held since 2006 to a 54-year-old alternative economist, Gergely Toth.
He won after promising to pursue "gentle development" and to listen to the people. When he takes office in October, one of his first acts will be symbolic: to dismantle a gate built without a permit -- a frequent tactic of real estate developers -- that blocks public access to a local beach. Russia's prosecutor general on Monday said it had banned a foundation started by US film star George Clooney and his human rights lawyer wife Amal.
"The activities of The Clooney Foundation for Justice are declared undesirable on the territory of our country," it said in a statement. The organisation "conducts extensive work aimed at discrediting Russia , actively supports false patriots and members of banned terrorist and extremist groups". "Under the guise of humanitarian ideas, these 'warriors for justice'.
.. advance initiatives of criminal probes against the highest Russian authorities," it said in the statement entitled "The Russian Prosecutor General's Office Appreciates Hollywood Activists' Acting Talent".
After Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Russian authorities have upped repression of dissent to levels not seen since the Soviet Union. In July, the Clooney Foundation, along with several other non-governmental organisations, filed a case with the UN Human Rights Committee, accusing Russia of violating the human rights of Ukrainians killed in a 2022 missile attack on Vinnytsia. In early August, Russia's prosecutor general banned as "undesirable" German pro-democracy foundation Konrad Adenauer and in July did the same with the Moscow Times news outlet.
The "undesirable" status forces organisations to shut down in Russia and means Russians that work for, fund or collaborate with them can also be liable to prosecution Scandal-plagued former congressman George Santos, a New York Republican who was ejected from the House after being charged with bankrolling a lavish lifestyle with stolen donor cash, intends to plead guilty on Monday, US media reported. The 36-year-old's outlandish downfall came after it was revealed he had fabricated almost his entire backstory and was indicted on dozens of federal charges in 2023 of stealing from campaign donors, credit card fraud, money laundering and identity theft. Santos, who has previously denied the charges, allegedly used donor money for Botox treatments and the OnlyFans porn website, as well as luxury Italian goods and vacations to the Hamptons and Las Vegas, according to a congressional ethics committee.
US media reported Saturday that Santos is expected to plead guilty in federal court in Central Islip, New York, to multiple counts. The story was first reported by Talking Points Memo, which cited Republican donors who were fleeced by Santos and who were notified of his plea deal by federal prosecutors. Terms of the deal and any sentencing were not yet clear, according to the New York Times.
The ex-lawmaker, who was otherwise scheduled to head to trial on September 9, could still change his mind. Santos swept into the House of Representatives in 2022, helping the Republicans grab a tiny majority, but it quickly emerged that almost his entire backstory was a fabrication, from his education and religion to his personal history and professional experience. His bizarre biographical fabrications included claiming to have worked for Goldman Sachs, being Jewish and having been a college volleyball star.
He was ultimately doomed by a congressional ethics investigation that found "overwhelming evidence" of misconduct and accused him of seeking to "fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy." Santos became only the third person to be ejected as a US lawmaker since the Civil War, a rebuke previously reserved for traitors and convicted criminals. He was initially indicted on 13 charges in May 2023, before 10 more counts were added in October.
In February, voters in his suburban New York district picked Democrat Tom Suozzi to replace him..
