Remembering
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The Brew: People Funding Assassination Attempts? What?!

By Gayle McQueary Published on July 17, 2025

This surely isn’t what the creators of crowdfunding had in mind when they were developing the idea.

Crowdfunding to Kill a President

An Iranian movement called the “Blood Covenant” — reportedly linked to a former employee of Iran’s state propaganda network, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) — has used a crowdfunding platform to raise more than $40 million as a reward for assassinating President Donald Trump, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute. The movement’s website features a poster of Trump in crosshairs, urging people to donate to “help establish stable peace” and quoting a verse from the Koran calling for jihad.

Blood Covenant poster of Trump in crosshairs

Max Lesser and Maria Riofrio from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies analyzed metadata to identify Hossein Abbasifar, a former IRIB radio specialist, as the individual behind the website. The campaign follows U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and is supported by fatwas, including one issued on June 29 by Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, labeling Trump an “enemy of Allah” for allegedly threatening Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The Blood Covenant’s website pledges to reward those who bring “militants” threatening the “Deputy of Imam Mahdi” to justice, framing the act as a defense of Islam with promises of Paradise as well as the financial bounty. The U.S. Secret Service declined to comment on specific threats; a senior State Department official told the Washington Free Beacon that the Trump administration is committed to holding bad actors accountable using sanctions and other tools under a “maximum pressure strategy.” FDD analysts suggest that identifying individuals like Abbasifar could help U.S. target its sanctions to address threats.

Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or something in between, we should all be praying for Trump’s protection!

Trump Firing Jerome Powell?

Always keeping people on their toes, Trump is sending mixed signals about his intentions regarding Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. On Tuesday, while meeting privately with about a dozen House Republicans about cryptocurrency legislation, Trump discussed a draft of a letter to fire Powell, polling the lawmakers on whether he should proceed and indicating he likely would, according to The New York Times. He expressed frustration over Powell’s refusal to lower interest rates and highlighted the Federal Reserve’s $2.5 billion building renovation project (which is $700 million over budget) as a potential justification for dismissal. Trump even gestured toward a document he claimed was the letter of dismissal — and some lawmakers encouraged the move.

Yesterday, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that firing Powell is “highly unlikely,” though he added a caveat that he never rules anything out and suggested fraud could justify removal. He confirmed discussing the “concept” of firing Powell with lawmakers, noting their support, but denied that the firing is imminent. CNN reports White House officials and allies suggest Trump is applying maximum pressure on Powell without necessarily intending to follow through, at least not yet.

The administration has intensified its campaign against Powell through public statements and bureaucratic maneuvers, including Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, who accused Powell of breaking the law by failing to comply with oversight regulations and lying to Congress about the renovation project. Trump also replaced three members of the National Capital Planning Commission — who oversee the Fed’s renovation — with White House officials Will Scharf, James Blair, and Stuart Levenbach. Additionally, senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro wrote an op-ed in The Hill, labeling Powell one of the “worst Fed chairs in history,” and Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, called for a congressional investigation into Powell’s political bias and Senate testimony in June.

Firing Powell would be unprecedented, as Fed chairs are protected from removal without cause, such as malfeasance or gross misconduct; policy disagreements are not included, as the Supreme Court ruled in May. Powell’s term as chair ends on May 15, 2026, but he could choose to remain a member of the federal Board of Governors until 2028. It’s worth noting the timing of this controversy comes as Trump is defending his administration’s handling of the Jeffery Epstein files with many long-time supporters, like General Mike Flynn, criticizing the mixed messaging concerning them.

Count us out of this round of 4D chess.

PBS and NPR Funding Cuts

The Senate began a series of votes yesterday to address Trump’s request to rescind $9 billion in spending by Friday, following the House’s approval of a $9.4 billion rescissions package last month. The Senate narrowly advanced the proposal with Vice President JD Vance casting tie-breaking votes late Tuesday, despite opposition from three Republicans — Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

The package targets $8 billion in foreign aid, including USAID, and $1 billion earmarked for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS. Senate Republicans negotiated a $400 million amendment to preserve an AIDS prevention program, but this did not satisfy Collins, who, along with others, criticized the lack of detail on the cuts’ impacts and the erosion of Congress’s budget oversight. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said cuts to CPB would hurt rural public broadcasting responsible for communicating critical alerts during natural disasters.

In reality, the funding to keep these rural stations operating without interruption would come from a reallocation of “climate” funds, and would not impact the PBS Warning, Alert, & Response Network which is only a FEMA backup for Mobile Carriers. Pesky facts. The Senate’s amendments require House approval before the Friday deadline, or the funds must be spent as originally planned.

Along The Stream…

In case you missed it, Chenyuan Snider uses “A Hybrid Dishwasher” as an analogy for Marxism’s failure to deliver on promises.

Later this morning, Jules Gomes details how “Pope Leo XIV Adopts Hands-Off Approach to Promotion of Predator Priests.”

 

Gayle McQueary is The Stream’s social media specialist. She has a background in production and an opinion on most news headlines.