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As Trump Media scraps some businesses, it's doubling down on Truth Social and the president

NEW YORK (AP) -- The president's media company has tried its hand at a half-dozen new lines of business to lift its stock, but nothing has worked.

Now it's getting back to its roots.

In a conference call with investors Monday, the company behind Truth Social said it will be unwinding much of its expansion and doubling down on its original media business by selling a form of White House access, a move that has raised big ethical questions among Democrats and government watchdogs.

Donald Trump started Truth Social after he was kicked off Twitter and Facebook, but the two reinstated him more than three years ago, so the company has had to transform itself. Instead of a "free speech" forum, it now acts more like a "hear it here first" site, a second White House press office where people get scoops from the president on everything from the Iran war to tariffs to the future of the U.S. central bank.

But shares of the parent company, Trump Media & Technology, kept falling so it decided to become more than a media company, and branched into unrelated industries like online betting, finance, investment funds, buying and storing bitcoin and nuclear energy.

Now it's returning to its original mission, with a twist: It's offering a special new service that grants fast access to President Trump's posts for a fee.

The new business could double or triple revenue

In a conference call with investors, the company's new chief executive, Kevin McGurn, said it had already signed up several high speed trading firms, each paying between $60,000 and $100,000 a month.

"We're in the early innings," said McGurn, noting that the potential market included data center companies, news organizations and developers of large language models, not just traders, and he was talking to them all.

McGurn has rejected the idea that the new business is an ethics quagmire as good-government groups have said, noting that other social media companies provide a similar service. As for the White House, it denies conflicts even exist between Trump the president and Trump the businessman where his private interests may influence his public policy.

Traders on Wall Street can make big money if they get White House news faster and so are signing up -- 10 in the week since the service began, which may seem like a tiny number but translates into a major boost for the company. The monthly customers collectively are paying as much as $7 million and $12 million annually -- two to three times the revenue the company took in for all its businesses last year.

Medicaid says it will stop paying for some gender-affirming care for transgender minors

President Donald Trump's administration said that Medicaid will stop paying for gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments for transgender minors and the state Children's Health Insurance Program won't pay for the treatments for those under 19.

The announcement is the latest in a series of policies from the administration aimed at transgender people that began the day Trump returned to office last year.

The policy is to take effect Oct. 13.

It is not clear how much taxpayer funding is going to cover gender-affirming treatments for transgender youth now. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did not respond to questions about the policy on Tuesday.

At least 27 states have already banned gender-affirming care for those under 18. Even in states that haven't, many major hospitals have stopped providing some of the treatments. And gender-affirming surgeries for minors are rare. Puberty blockers and hormone treatments are more common.

The policy calls for Medicaid and CHIP to continue to pay for mental health treatment for transgender minors but phase out coverage of hormone treatments that are used both to block puberty and to produce sex-related physical changes for those already receiving them as of April 2027.

Trump said in a social media post Tuesday that he directed Dr. Mehmet Oz, the CMS administrator, to make the change.

"We are not going to pay for our innocent children to undergo these barbaric surgeries and practices, which result in unthinkable and irreversible harm to their young bodies," Trump said in his post.

Advocates for LGBTQ+ young people look at it differently.

GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders legal director Josh Rovenger said the rule "is putting up barriers between parents and their ability to make the best medical decisions for their children" and would face a legal challenge.

"The Trump administration is terrorizing trans youth and their families with these kinds of actions, and it has to stop," Human Right Campaign President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.

3 states are set to hold executions on the same day, a first in the US since 2010

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Tennessee, Alabama and Oklahoma plan to execute inmates Thursday in what would be the first time in nearly 16 years that three people are put to death on the same day in the United States.

The executions come as a small number of states, including the three with scheduled lethal injections Thursday, drive execution numbers in the United States.

"You look at the country as a whole, you've just got this little pocket of five or six states that are using the death penalty, executing people, and a small number of states that are still imposing new death sentences," said Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. Maher said it is highly unusual to have three executions on one day, although it is largely a scheduling coincidence.

Eleven states executed a total of 47 people in 2025, the highest number since 2009. Florida accounted for most of the surge with 19 executions. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas each carried out five. Tennessee carried out three. Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arizona and Indiana each carried out two. Louisiana and Missouri each carried out one execution.

The 19 executions so far in 2026 have occurred in four states. Florida, which again leads the country, executed two inmates on the same day in July.

The last time three executions were held on the same day was Jan. 7, 2010, when Louisiana, Ohio and Texas put inmates to death. Three executions were scheduled on the same day in 2018, but only one went forward after a Texas man was granted a reprieve and prison officials in Alabama had problems with the IV line.

Tennessee plans to execute Anthony Darrell Hines three months after the attempted lethal injection of another inmate was called off because of problems inserting an IV. The aborted execution put a spotlight on issues states have sometimes had in establishing IV lines during lethal injections.

"All eyes really are on Tennessee at this moment because of the problem that happened," Maher said.

During the attempted execution of Tony Carruthers in May, the IV team established a primary line right away but then worked for more than an hour trying to insert a required backup line. The execution was ultimately called off and Carruthers was given a one-year reprieve.

Hines, 66, has seized on the problems with the previous execution, saying his health issues -- including two strokes that left him partially paralyzed -- increase the risk of difficulties at his execution. He has unsuccessfully asked the governor and courts to intervene, claiming the doctor who oversaw that execution was unqualified and is likely to botch his execution, as well.

Former US Marine held in Russia for more than 4 years on disputed charges has been released

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Russia released an American military veteran on Tuesday, allowing his return to the U.S. after four years of what his family and U.S. officials allege was wrongful incarceration and abusive treatment that left him near death.

Robert Gilman, a 32-year-old Massachusetts teacher and former Marine, was freed after President Donald Trump said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about his release, which Trump said was "very much on a Humanitarian Basis."

"We appreciate this decision, and the fact that Russia asked for no one in return -- No exchange took place," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Arrests of Americans have become increasingly common in Russia in recent years. Concern has risen that Russia could be targeting U.S. nationals to use later as bargaining chips in talks to bring back Russians convicted of crimes in the U.S. and Europe. Five other Americans remain imprisoned in Russia with deteriorating medical issues, according to a news release from Global Reach, a group that's been working to free them.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted a photo on social media of a gaunt-looking Gilman draped in an American flag and surrounded by his family aboard an airplane.

"While we appreciate this positive step, we are still seeking the immediate return of all other unjustly detained Americans," Rubio stated.

Gilman will arrive at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland outside of Washington on Tuesday evening, Trump said in his post.

"I just spoke to him, and he had one request -- A GREAT cheeseburger when he lands," Trump wrote. "I will take care of that!"

Gilman is bound for a military hospital in Texas, where he will be medically and psychologically assessed and treated, Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of Global Reach, said in a statement.

Gilman was detained in 2022 on charges of beating a police officer after being taken off a train for causing a disturbance. He was convicted and handed a 3.5-year sentence.

He later was convicted of attacking a prison inspector during a cell check, beating an investigator and assaulting a guard. In October 2024, he was sentenced to eight years and one month. His sentence was extended in December to 10 years after he was found guilty of assaulting prison guards.

Russian media reported that he pleaded guilty to the charges and apologized to the guards he was charged with assaulting. The business daily Kommersant said he explained his actions by saying he wanted to stay in the prison where he was serving his sentence and avoid being moved to another penitentiary.

Gilman's father has disputed the charges against his son, while the State Department has said the U.S. determined that Gilman was wrongfully detained,

Gilman's sister, Lexie Hudson, credited Trump and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts with bringing about his release.

Taylor Swift, Lyle Lovett and more are headed for Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame

Global superstar Taylor Swift and country legend Lyle Lovett will be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the organization announced Tuesday.

The new class also includes Shawn Camp and Lee Thomas Miller, both elected in the contemporary songwriter category, and Bruce Channel as the veteran songwriter. They will be formally inducted during the 56th Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala later this year.

Swift, the 14-time Grammy Award winning artist, is elected in the contemporary songwriter/artist category. She's known for writing many of her own hits since launching her career in Nashville as a preteen. Those include her country singles "Teardrops On My Guitar" and "Love Story," as well as her blockbuster pop hits "Blank Space," "Anti-Hero," and "Cruel Summer." She became the youngest woman ever inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June.

Lovett is elected in the veteran songwriter/artist category. He started his career in the folk scene before finding success for his clever lyricism and innovative country-Americana songs like "She's No Lady," "Cowboy Man," "Give Back My Heart," "Why I Don't Know," "God Will" and more.

Camp began as a fiddle player for Shelby Lynne, Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood and others in the '80s before becoming a hit songwriter. His credits include Garth Brooks' "Two Piña Coladas," Brooks & Dunn's "How Long Gone" and Willie Nelson's "A Beautiful Time."

Miller's hits include Terri Clark's "I Just Wanna Be Mad," Trace Adkins' "You're Gonna Miss This," Tim McGraw's "Nothin' To Die For" and "Southern Girl," Chris Stapleton's "Whiskey And You" and many songs for Brad Paisley, including "The World."

Texas talent Channel is perhaps best known for "Hey! Baby!" written in 1959 and recorded by José Feliciano, Ringo Starr, Conway Twitty, Anne Murray and DJ Ötzi; it may be most recognizable for its prominent placement in the 1987 film "Dirty Dancing."

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame executive director Mark Ford made the announcement inside Belmont University's R. Milton and Denice Johnson Center.

"This is always one of the most anticipated days on our calendar -- the annual reveal of our incoming class," Ford said in a statement. "We're excited to once again add new names to a legendary list that began more than a half century ago."

Tiffany Haddish avoids more jail time by pleading guilty to a drunken driving charge in Georgia

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. (AP) -- Actor and comedian Tiffany Haddish avoided additional jail time Tuesday when she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor alcohol-related driving charge that stemmed from her 2022 arrest in Georgia after someone called 911 about a driver asleep at the wheel at a traffic light.

Other charges were dropped. After entering the plea by video, Haddish was placed on 12 months' probation and told to avoid drugs and alcohol and complete a substance abuse evaluation. She was credited for the brief time she spent in jail following her arrest.

Haddish's films include the comedy "Girls Trip," "Night School," "Like a Boss" and "The Kitchen." She wrote the New York Times bestseller "The Last Black Unicorn," which earned a Grammy nomination for a subsequent audiobook she narrated. In 2018, she won an Emmy for her appearance on "Saturday Night Live" and a Grammy in 2021 for her special "Black Mitzvah."

At around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 14, 2022, someone called 911 to report seeing a person who appeared to be asleep in the driver's seat of a white Ford Explorer with their foot on the brake in Peachtree City, about 30 miles south of Atlanta, according to a court filing. An officer spotted an SUV that matched the description given by the caller and stopped Haddish as she pulled into a neighborhood, according to a police report.

Haddish's lawyers in May asked a judge to dismiss the case, arguing that waiting more than four years for the case to be resolved had caused personal and professional difficulties and violated her right to a speedy trial. Fayette County State Court Judge Jason Thompson rejected her arguments.

The judge found that Haddish and her attorneys had requested some of the delays, including a request for a delay so she could attend a fashion show in Morocco and a request to leave a hearing early to catch a flight. He wrote that she also did not show any evidence of having missed specific performing opportunities or of actual financial harm because of the delay.

Haddish also was arrested in November 2023 in Beverly Hills, California, on suspicion of driving under the influence after police received a call and said Haddish appeared to be slumped over the wheel of a vehicle while the engine was still running.

Haddish reached a plea deal with prosecutors in that case in February 2024, pleading no contest to a vehicle code violation, and the two misdemeanor DUI charges against her were dropped, according to the Los Angeles Times.