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American Jessica Pegula falls to top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets in US Open semifinal
The current World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka moved one step closer to a third consecutive U.S. Open title Thursday, defeating third-ranked Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 in the women’s singles semifinal in New York.
The match was even through most of the first set, but Sabalenka found another gear late, taking advantage of Pegula’s second serve and carrying that momentum into the second set. She turned the final set into arguably her most impressive stretch of tennis in the tournament.
"No complaints," the 28-year-old Belarusian tennis star said after securing a spot in Saturday's final. "I’m just super happy that I was able to pull out such tennis."
ARYNA SABALENKA FIRES BACK AT REPORTER FOR ASKING QUESTION ABOUT PARTYING AFTER US OPEN VICTORY
Sabalenka will face the winner of the semifinal between No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina and No. 4 seed Coco Gauff on Saturday. A win over either opponent would make her the first women’s player since Serena Williams from 2012-14 to win three consecutive U.S. Open titles.
Rybakina will replace Sabalenka atop the women’s tennis rankings next week, and Sabalenka said this week she would be fine ceding No. 1 after she held it.
It will be hard to prevent that if she hits the ball Saturday the way she did against Pegula.
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Sabalenka pounded 29 winners to Pegula’s 12, turning their third straight meeting at the end of the U.S. Open into a rout, after her victory in the 2024 final and 2025 semifinals were tight most of the way.
"I was so desperate for the win, I wanted it badly," Sabalenka said.
She has won 19 straight matches at the U.S. Open since losing to Gauff in the 2023 final.
Megan Rapinoe says women’s sports are facing ‘regression’ of ‘equal rights’ in new Kamala Harris interview
You thought Kamala Harris was done after getting summarily beaten in the 2024 presidential election by Donald Trump? Think again.
The former vice president is right back at it, laughing it up with friends, discussing her future in politics, and avoiding any and all difficult questions she does not have prepared answers to.
On Thursday, Harris joined former US women’s soccer player and political activist Megan Rapinoe for a fawning new interview on "Why Are You Like This?" where she touched on important questions, like, "Why are you so amazing?"
"You could do anything, you’re brilliant, and you’re talented, and you’re beautiful, and you’re smart, and you’re funny and you’re all these things," Rapinoe said in an incredible moment of journalism. The context for this question is Rapinoe's wondering why Harris chose to go into politics because she would be reminded that she’s "still a woman" and "still black."
Her answer? Well, not much. Determination, enjoying hard work, and some barrier breaking, of course. As for her upbringing, Harris said that she was taken to "marches" in a "stroller" by her parents, which she associates with her educational and political choices later on.
While the interview is light on important topics around women’s sports, Rapinoe couldn’t help herself when talking about her own experiences and what we’ve supposedly lost since her playing career ended.
"I’m thinking about my own experience being a female athlete, and I went through, in the prime of my career, just the most historic time in women’s sports," she said. "I mean, it was crazy in the best ways. We saw a huge amount of progress, which has led into a pretty significant regression in terms of just equal rights and people’s rights in general. I definitely think those two are tied."
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What rights have women in sports lost? Is she implying that because there are now limitations on males in women's sports, women are losing their rights?
The reality is precisely the reverse. Had a male athlete occupied Rapinoe's spot on the US women's soccer team, she would never have achieved the level of success and the accomplishments that defined her career.
Not to mention that male athletes are not prevented from playing sports, they're simply required to play sports against other males. That's the only reasonable and rational position, which is why Rapinoe opposes it so fiercely.
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Rapinoe then tries to tie women's sports being "different" to men's sports to governing "as a woman," to which Harris laughs aggressively, then responds with, "Well, I've always been a woman, so I don't know what to tell you," which about sums up the level of scintillating intellectual discussion present throughout the episode.
Harris then goes on a fascinatingly inept tangent, saying that in order to describe her experience as a woman in politics, she wants Rapinoe to close her eyes and picture someone based on four words: "the boy next door."
"Now you have a sense of what he looks like," Harris continues. He probably plays softball, he probably lives somewhere in suburban America. He's a good kid."
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Do boys play softball? What is she talking about?
Harris brings the comparison home by saying, "What four words together in our language would describe you or me?," then adds, "we don't have it."
Well, there are plenty of four-word phrases to describe Megan Rapinoe and Kamala Harris actually, just none that they would like.
Later in the interview, Harris says that "We have increasingly witnessed a concentration of wealth and power among a few, to the exclusion of the most, and that wealth and concentration being also a political power."
Obviously, Harris is excluded from this, despite being an extremely wealthy woman who just purchased an $8 million house in Malibu with a heated pool and in-ground spa. Joe Biden is excluded from this, despite his decades-long career in politics and his son, Hunter, using his influence with the former vice president and eventual president to increase his wealth. Barack Obama is excluded from this, despite owning multiple mansions, including a beautiful Martha's Vineyard estate.
As for whether the very wealthy Harris will run again for the 2028 nomination? She hasn't decided, she told Rapinoe. God help us all if she does.
The interview as a whole illustrates a central reason Harris fell short in 2024: her campaign and her party were, and continue to be, represented by figures such as Rapinoe. Who believe that males should play in women's sports and that every day is an opportunity for grievance. Harris has no meaningful insights to make about herself, politics, or how to improve the country. Only vague hand waving about the need to change things.
Whatever that might mean.
There's been no "regression" in women's rights in recent years, and if anything, the rise in popularity for sports like the WNBA has made it more obvious how important it is to protect those athletes. Both physically and in terms of competitive fairness. Rapinoe can't accept that, because it undermines her and Harris' worldview. Reality often does.
Charlie Kirk supporters return to site of assassination 1 year later: ‘We are still standing’
One year after Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University, the people who stood feet from him when he was killed returned to the campus Thursday night in what Turning Point USA (TPUSA) described as a deliberate effort to "reclaim" the space in his honor.
"We’re doing an event in Utah right now at UVU, a deliberate act reclaiming that space in his honor and for his legacy," TPUSA spokesman and "The Charlie Kirk Show" Executive Producer Andrew Kolvet told Fox News host Jesse Watters Thursday night.
Andrew Sypher, TPUSA’s chief field officer, told the gathering at UVU in Orem that he had been standing about 10 feet to Kirk’s left when the fatal shot rang out on Sept. 10, 2025.
"Steps from these doors is the ground where evil unfolded," Sypher said. "We did not come back to rehearse the crime scene."
Instead, Sypher said, they returned because "this is where they tried to end him" and "this is where we refuse to let the last word be a gunshot."
For the students of UVU’s TPUSA chapter, the anniversary marked a return to the campus where some witnessed Kirk’s assassination.
"A year ago, our lives changed forever," chapter President Sage Lloyd told the crowd.
Lloyd said students experienced "fear, grief, confusion, and heartbreak" and had every reason to walk away.
INSIDE CHARLIE KIRK’S EFFORT TO DEVELOP THE NEXT GENERATION OF CONSERVATIVE VOICES
"We could have packed our bags. We could have stepped away," she said.
Despite the tragedy, the TPUSA chapter stayed.
"The same students who witnessed a political assassination are willing to stand up, speak out and keep moving forward," Lloyd said.
"We can let it define us through fear, or we can let it strengthen us through courage," she added. "The Turning Point chapter at UVU has made our decision, and we chose courage."
Sypher also revealed what he said was a text Kirk sent him on the morning he was assassinated.
"Andrew, I’m not here to pick a fight. I am here to show them kindness," Kirk wrote, according to Sypher.
"That was the assignment this time," Sypher said. "To talk with students who hate you. To share the truth, and to not become cruel doing it."
Soon afterward, Kirk was fatally shot.
"Charlie’s assassination did not put our faith to death," Sypher told the crowd. "It woke it up."
The service was marked with worship performances and video tributes to the fallen conservative leader, as well as an unveiling of a new statue to stay on campus at UVU.
ERIKA KIRK PENS ESSAY ON GRIEF AS READERS GAIN INSIGHTS INTO WRENCHING PAST YEAR
Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, separately marked the anniversary with a black-and-white photograph from their wedding showing the couple holding hands.
Across the image were two words: "...until Heaven."
The university closed its campus for the one-year anniversary. UVU itself did not organize the memorial, but university President Dr. Jon Anderson previously told Fox News Digital the school supported TPUSA using campus space for its event.
Lloyd closed her remarks with a message about what returning to UVU meant for Kirk’s student movement.
"Our chapter is still here, we are still speaking, and we are nowhere near done," she said. "And that is how his voice lives on."
Fox News Digital's Michael Ruiz contributed to this reporting.
Crowd erupts as Vance smacks down protester waving Mexican flag: 'Get your a-- over there'
Vice President JD Vance blasted a heckler waving foreign flags and yelling at him from the GOP convention floor during his primetime keynote address Thursday night.
The rabble-rouser emerged from the crowd waving Mexican and Palestinian flags, catching Vance's eye as he delivered his rallying cry to thousands of GOP voters at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The incident wasn't captured by the convention's official television feed, but Vance described it for viewers at home.
"What the people at home missed is that we just had a protester interrupting us and waving the Mexican flag.," he said. "Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your a– over there. I'll buy you the plane ticket."
JD VANCE TO INVOKE CHARLIE KIRK, FAMILY ‘BIRTHRIGHT’ IN FIERY MIDTERM KEYNOTE SPEECH THRASHING DEMS
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The crowd erupted into chants of "USA! USA! USA!" as the troublemaker was escorted out of the event.
Vance delivered a deeply nationalistic keynote focused on America First principles.
"I believe the Founders built this nation on a promise that echoes our Creator: That every American child is born an heir, born with a birthright," said Vance. "Born with the right to inherit the blessings of this country. Not because of who their parents are. Not because of what they look like or where they come from. But because they are Americans."
Throughout his speech, event attendees interrupted with a chorus of "JD! JD! JD!" chants, and the roared as finished and departed the stage.
Clippers face federal criminal probe after NBA punishes team over Kawhi Leonard deals
Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into allegations that the Los Angeles Clippers arranged secret, off-the-books sponsorship deals for Kawhi Leonard to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap, first reported by The New York Times.
The inquiry is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, which has previously pursued major sports integrity cases involving NBA referee gambling and FIFA corruption.
Federal authorities began scrutinizing the Clippers’ alleged conduct before the NBA announced its penalties, including a $30 million fine, the forfeiture of five consecutive first-round picks from 2029 through 2033 and a one-year suspension for owner Steve Ballmer. Two top Clippers executives also received suspensions.
MALIK BEASLEY INDICTED ON FEDERAL CHARGES FOR ALLEGEDLY FIXING HIS OWN NBA PERFORMANCES FOR BETTORS
The Times reported that a grand jury has already issued at least one subpoena in the investigation.
Investigators are zeroing in on undisclosed endorsement deals, including a reported $28 million agreement with Aspiration Partners.
The green finance company later collapsed into bankruptcy, while co-founder Joe Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for fraud.
Prosecutors are examining whether Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and team executives helped facilitate side deals that compensated Leonard beyond the NBA’s salary-cap limits.
The SEC has also entered the investigation. Daktronics, which supplied displays for the Clippers’ Intuit Dome, confirmed that regulators requested records tied to its sponsorship agreements with Leonard.
The federal investigation significantly escalates the Clippers’ scandal, which the NBA called a "pattern of misconduct" after a yearlong review by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
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Leonard’s uncle and manager, Dennis Robertson, received a five-year ban from the NBA, while Leonard was ordered to pay $700,000 in restitution.
The Clippers strongly rejected the NBA’s findings, accusing the league of conducting a biased investigation designed to justify a predetermined narrative.
"We vehemently reject the NBA’s findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence," the franchise said in a statement.
The team added, "We intend to vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us and look forward to an ethical and impartial arbitration process."
David Kelley, Ballmer’s attorney, called the NBA’s investigation a "witch hunt" and a "gross injustice" in a letter to Commissioner Adam Silver.
Kelley argued that league officials privately acknowledged facts that contradicted the NBA’s public position.
"League counsel has acknowledged in our discussions that the league does not believe there was an agreement between the Clippers and Aspiration to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard," Kelley wrote.
He also emphasized that federal authorities previously determined Ballmer was "a victim of Joe Sanberg’s fraud, not a participant."
Leonard defended his conduct while acknowledging mistakes by members of his inner circle.
"Integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am," Leonard said. "I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family."
Leonard added that he entered into his Clippers contract and the other agreements "in good faith," with no knowledge of any effort to circumvent the salary cap.
Ballmer and the Clippers are considering a federal lawsuit against the NBA to block the sanctions.
The criminal investigation could complicate that effort. Civil litigation may be delayed if key witnesses invoke their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
Spokespersons for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Clippers and the NBA declined to comment on the investigation.
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Juror on Lindsay Clancy trial says 'we let down Lindsay' following mistrial
A juror on the high-profile Lindsay Clancy murder trial in Massachusetts said she believes the jury "let down Lindsay" and that it was "hard to separate the children from what our task was."
Clancy was on trial for strangling and killing her three young children in January 2023 after sending her then-husband, Patrick, out to pick up medication and takeout. When he returned, he found Clancy injured outside after an apparent suicide attempt and the children unconscious in the basement. Two children died that night, while the third was airlifted to a Boston hospital and died several days later.
The trial ended in a mistrial last week after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Eleven jurors sided with finding Clancy not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility — Massachusetts’ version of an insanity defense — while one holdout favored finding her criminally responsible.
"Everybody says you're not supposed to feel like you failed, but you have a task to come out unanimous. And we tried everything we could to get to that end. And I feel like we let down Lindsay," Paula, 65, who was one of the jurors who sided with the majority, told WCVB.
LINDSAY CLANCY LAWYER SAYS HE PLANS NEW MOTION TO DISMISS AFTER JURORS SPEAK OUT ON MISTRIAL: REPORT
Clancy's legal team did not dispute that she killed her children but argued that she should not be found criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis. Clancy also admitted in court filings to killing her three children, but claimed that severe mental illness left her not criminally responsible.
Paula said the jury's majority believed that Clancy needed help and that the healthcare system failed her, adding that she thinks the medical community should do more to support women with postpartum mental health issues.
"There was a clear indication that the medical community failed her and not just her, but her whole family, because something like that affects the whole entire family. And if everybody can be educated in a better way, then it will help the whole family unit," Paula said.
After attorneys made their arguments, Paula said the jurors were sent to deliberate with 297 pieces of evidence, including Patrick's emotional 911 call, which she said some jurors had trouble listening to during deliberations.
"We all tried to help each other. It was hard to separate the children from what our task was, and it was very emotional," she said.
The jurors polled themselves at the start of deliberations, at which point eight believed Clancy was not guilty due to lack of criminal responsibility, two thought she was guilty and two were undecided, Paula said.
The majority eventually came to the belief that Clancy was not guilty due to lack of criminal responsibility.
Prosecutors argued during trial that Clancy was criminally responsible for the killings despite evidence that she suffered from mental illness.
"We did not start out 11 to one," Paula said. "Everybody had different opinions and different reasons and different ways that they got there."
Paula said the majority had a hard time understanding why the one holdout wanted to vote to convict Clancy.
"We did not feel that he was following the law because he admitted that he had doubt at different times, that he had doubt about the case that was presented, and the way that the rule read to all the rest of us is if we had doubt, then we could not convict her of first-degree murder or second-degree murder or manslaughter," Paula said.
The foreperson then sent a note to the judge saying the jury could not reach a verdict and accusing the holdout of refusing to apply the law on reasonable doubt.
Judge William Sullivan called up each of the jurors and individually asked them if they could apply the law as he had explained it, and they reportedly answered in the affirmative.
"The judge has to believe that people are telling him the truth. And so, you know, 11 people told the truth and one maybe didn't. And I will never know why," Paula said.
Paula said she believed it would have been worth restarting deliberations with an alternate if the court had removed the holdout.
"If our holdout juror had given us evidence to support his reasoning, we would have felt differently about what we told the judge," Paula said.
Other jurors have also spoken out in recent days to take issue with the holdout's position.
"He had the hardest time getting off the fact that Lindsay viciously killed her children," juror Kellie Farina previously told NBC10 Boston.
On Thursday, Clancy's defense filed a motion arguing the prosecution failed to meet its burden and asked the judge to enter a required finding of not guilty, which the defense argues would prevent a retrial.
Top GOP senator reveals what Dem colleagues are fretting about behind closed doors
DALLAS — As Republicans huddle for a last show of unity before the home stretch of the midterm elections, a top Senate Republican revealed what his Democratic colleagues are predicting about the future of their party.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital that in private, his colleagues across the aisle are wringing their hands over the insurgent progressive wave that has fast become the standard-bearer of the Democratic Party during this election cycle.
"It's surprising how the energy of the Democrat Party has moved to the far, far left," Barrasso said during an interview at the Republican National Committee midterm convention.
TOP REPUBLICAN NAMES WHO HE SAYS IS REALLY LEADING DEMOCRATS — AND IT'S NOT SCHUMER OR JEFFRIES
"Those are the people that are driving the party. And the concern that I have, talking to other colleagues in the Senate, who they’ll say that is the future of their party," he continued.
Republicans are trying to fight against history and anxious voters feeling the crunch on their wallets, and as the war in Iran continues to sputter on without a clear end in sight.
The convention in Dallas is meant to hammer home that while President Donald Trump’s name isn’t on the ballot, his agenda, and the incumbents and fresh candidates that could execute it, are.
TRUMP'S $5,000 DIVIDEND CHECKS WOULD COME WITH A MAJOR CATCH UNDER GOP SENATOR'S PLAN
While that push to energize Trump’s base to hit the polls in November ensues, key races across the Senate map have seen progressive and far-left candidates emerge as the standard-bearers for the party during this cycle.
Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, James Talarico in Texas and Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota all bucked expectations, and the Democratic old guard in Washington, D.C., including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to earned the nomination in their respective races.
REPUBLICAN SOUNDS ALARM ON RISING DEM STAR: 'THIS GUY’S GOING TO BE A PROBLEM'
El-Sayed and Talarico, in particular, have been targeted heavily during the convention, which Trump declared was, in part, dedicated to ensuring Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton would win out and prevent the Lone Star State from turning a shade of purple.
"And we cannot allow that to become the future of our country," Barrasso said. "So that's, to me, the reason that we need to win all of these races, why it's so critical, is that these people that are winning the Democrat primaries, I believe, would be terrible for our nation."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Patrol sergeant accused of murdering sheriff’s captain in yearslong romantic dispute over woman they dated
A North Carolina highway patrol sergeant has been indicted in the murder of a sheriff’s captain following a years-long romantic dispute involving a woman both officers dated, according to authorities.
North Carolina State Highway Patrol Sgt. Nekime Matu Oxendine, 44, reportedly shot Cumberland County Sheriff’s Capt. Adam Bean on March 27 outside the woman’s home in Hope Mills following a confrontation between the two men, according to authorities and CityView.
Police arrived to find the woman, Tara Lynn Whitman, performing CPR on Bean as Oxendine remained nearby, according to search warrant filings. Bean was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.
The fatal shooting followed years of escalating tension surrounding Whitman’s relationships with both men, state investigators wrote in court filings.
FORMER COLLEAGUES DETAIL CHP CAPTAIN’S SPIRAL BEFORE ALLEGED MURDER-FOR-HIRE PLOT AGAINST HUSBAND
According to investigators, Oxendine had displayed persistent jealousy and insecurity over the years regarding Whitman’s connection to Bean.
According to the warrant, Whitman began dating Bean in 2022 after ending a long-term relationship with Oxendine. She eventually ended that relationship and returned to Oxendine.
FLORIDA DEPUTY KILLED EX-GIRLFRIEND OVER A TV, THEN HIMSELF, SHERIFF SAYS
While Whitman was with Bean, Oxendine appeared to exhibit increasingly concerning behavior, according to text messages cited in the warrant. Whitman and Bean had described some of his behavior as "stalking," documents reported.
"I seen u have been talking to Adam!!! Best wishes!!!" Oxendine wrote in one message.
"Better tell that Mother F—er to get ready too!!! " he added.
Oxendine also sent messages questioning Whitman’s decision to stay with Bean, demanding to know the truth and claiming he knew where Bean lived, according to the warrant.
In December 2025, Whitman eventually resumed her romantic relationship with Oxendine, moving out of the home she shared with Bean.
For the next three months, however, Oxendine continued to show insecurity over Bean, asking Whitman whether Bean was more attractive and accusing him of having the power to "lure u in and out of my life on demand." He also sought continued reassurance about Whitman’s commitment, according to the warrant
Then, on the night of March 27, Bean asked Whitman to come to his residence after work to talk. Whitman initially agreed but later stopped responding to his messages.
When Whitman did not show up, Bean messaged her, "F— it, I’ll come to you," and threatened to blow his car horn and cause a scene if she did not come outside.
When Bean arrived, he became irate after seeing Oxendine’s vehicle parked outside, according to the warrant.
Oxendine stepped outside and fired about two warning shots into the ground. Bean continued advancing toward him, and Oxendine then opened fire two to three more times, according to the warrant.
Bean collapsed onto his back in the yard, according to the warrant. Police said they found a handgun and magazine nearby.
Oxendine has been charged with first-degree murder.
Bean had served with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office for 20 years and most recently served as assistant chief of detectives with the rank of captain.
He was posthumously recognized with the Merit Award for his outstanding service, forward-thinking leadership, initiative and lasting contributions to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.
Trump tells Dallas crowd the Luka Dončić trade 'might go down as the worst in sports history'
President Donald Trump used his appearance in Dallas to dunk all over the Mavericks’ infamous trade of Luka Dončić.
Speaking at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention on Wednesday night, Trump stood in American Airlines Center, the old home of Dončić before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he added a major jab to the Mavericks midway through his remarks.
"I must tell you, I don’t understand the trade," he said. "That trade is not good."
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Dončić, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris were traded to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round draft pick in February 2025.
It was a deal that sent a shockwave through the entire NBA. In fact, sports fans in general were baffled that Dončić would be teaming up with LeBron James out west, while the Mavericks traded away their franchise cornerstone.
After all, Dončić carried the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals just the season prior.
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So, Trump didn’t mince words about how he felt this trade would go down in history.
"It’s not going to go down as the greatest trade in the history of sports," he said. "It might go down as the worst trade in the history of sports."
Trump did say, though, that Babe Ruth being traded from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees remains the worst trade in sports history. But he thinks the Mavericks will get to the point where they regret dealing Dončić away.
He even joked to "redo" it.
"Maybe we can redo that trade?" Trump said. "I redo deals all the time."
The Dallas crowd gave Trump a loud cheer when he mentioned it, which is hardly surprising considering how unhappy Mavs fans were when GM Nico Harrison dealt Dončić. Some fans even held a "funeral" for Dončić outside American Airlines Center, mourning the loss of their franchise star.
Dončić never requested a trade from the Mavericks, which made it even more surprising. Also, the Mavericks exclusively spoke with the Lakers about the trade instead of getting the best offer from across the league.
Harrison strongly defended the decision at the time, arguing that "defense wins championships" when justifying the move to trade Dončić for a rim protector in Davis. However, Harrison’s mindset didn’t show up on the court, and he was eventually ousted from his post in the front office.
The trade definitely looks better for the Lakers, though James is now playing for the Philadelphia 76ers entering the 2026-27 season. Dončić is averaging 31.9 points, 8.1 assists and 7.8 rebounds since joining Los Angeles.
Restaurant chain once frequented by Kardashians files for bankruptcy after 36 years
Another longtime American restaurant chain is fighting to keep its doors open as mounting debt and financial losses batter the dining industry.
Marmalade Cafe, a 36-year-old Southern California brunch favorite, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sept. 2, citing "rent disputes and mounting supplier debts."
It owes more than $1 million to Gilmore Farmers Market, US Foods, Sysco Ventura Inc., the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and others, according to multiple reports.
The Encino-based company listed total assets of $12.7 million in the filing but reported a net loss of $680,314, according to the New York Post.
LONGEST-RUNNING RED LOBSTER LOCATION IN AMERICA IS CLOSING AFTER 56 YEARS
Over the years, the chain, which first opened in Santa Monica in 1990, evolved from a grab-and-go spot to offering private dining and catering to businesses, including Boeing, Mattel, CBS and Warner Bros. Studios. The Calabasas location was even a favorite of the Kardashians, according to reports.
It was operating just four locations across Southern California at the time of the filing after closing four others in recent years. The company cited hardships, including "unsustainable financial losses and a lack of rent relief," according to the filing.
BEFORE MCDONALD'S AND STARBUCKS, AMERICANS PACKED THESE ONCE-BELOVED LUNCH COUNTERS
The Calabasas restaurant closed after construction disrupted parking and drove down sales; its Santa Monica location shuttered amid losses tied to the Palisades Fire; and the Original Farmers Market outpost closed after failing to regain pre-pandemic business, the Los Angeles Times reported.
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"Unfortunately, the ongoing construction throughout the shopping center has resulted in a devastating decline in business," the restaurant wrote in a Facebook post in July about the Calabasas closure.
"Despite our best efforts to weather these challenges, and after seeking rent relief from our landlord during this extended construction period, the landlord declined to help," the statement continued. "With construction expected to continue for an extended period, we simply cannot sustain the financial losses any longer."
That closure was reportedly a main catalyst for the bankruptcy filing.
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Marmalade Cafe's four remaining locations in El Segundo, Malibu, Sherman Oaks and Westlake Village remain open, and a representative told the Los Angeles Times they are "very healthy and very strong."
Longtime restaurants are being squeezed by simultaneous increases in rent, wages, insurance and utilities, chef Andrew Gruel, founder of American Gravy and a Huntington Beach city councilman, told Fox News Digital.
"Marmalade's Chapter 11 filing is a prime example of how difficult the restaurant business has become, particularly in California," Gruel said.
"Longevity and a loyal customer base are valuable, but they don't necessarily protect a restaurant when the underlying cost structure changes faster than the business can adapt."
The filing also stated that the company had downsized from more than 200 employees to about 50 as of this year.
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Marmalade Cafe is the latest in a string of restaurant bankruptcies and closures across the Golden State and nationwide.
Other recent casualties include Fireman Hospitality; Salad and Go; FAT Brands, the parent company of Fatburger; Johnny Rockets and other chains. Red Lobster, Carl's Jr. and On the Border locations have also recently shuttered.
The closures do not necessarily mean the restaurants were poorly run, Gruel added. Rather, rising costs can catch up with even established businesses, part of an industry reset he expects will bring more closures.
"The operators who survive will likely be those who can adapt their menus, staffing, hours, footprint and overall business model while maintaining the experience that brings customers back," he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Marmalade Cafe for comment.