PopInfo Weekly: Bankrolls, blackouts, and body cams
Since the start of 2025, 110 House members and 37 senators have sponsored or cosponsored 40 bills to expand the power of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Popular Information identified the corporate donors who have provided the most support to these politicians, which include SpaceX, Home Depot, Walmart, and Google.
After two fatal shootings by ICE agents in Texas and Maine, during which officers were not wearing body cams, White House Border Czar Tom Homan defended the agency. He said Democrats held up the purchase of body cams and “as soon as [ICE] had funding they bought them.” That funding was provided in April. Documents uncovered by Popular Information show that it was not until July 17 and 20, days after Homan claimed the purchases had already been made, that ICE spent over $30 million on body cams.
On May 26, the Food and Drug Administration sent a letter to pharmaceutical company QOL Medical with serious allegations that could pose an existential threat to the company. Days later, QOL Medical CEO Frederick Cooper wrote a $1 million check to Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced a nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia that could pave the way for the kingdom to enrich uranium. The deal comes after the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund invested $2 billion in Jared Kushner’s private equity fund. Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, is continuing to collect fees from the Saudi government as he has resumed his role as a top foreign policy aide in the Trump administration. Nearly all major media coverage of the nuclear agreement ignored Kushner’s financial conflicts.
The best of the rest
Crypto investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and their crypto company donated over $10 million to MAGA Inc. The donations were made “less than a month after the Trump administration moved to vacate a Biden-era enforcement action against the brothers’ crypto exchange, Gemini.” (The Lever)
Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds (R) has received large donations from multiple companies seeking to build data centers in the state. According to Politico, “[a]t least four developers that are actively pursuing or had previously proposed data centers… have offered five- and six-figure donations to Donalds’ political action committee.” (Politico)
Afraid to leave the house during ICE’s crackdown in Minneapolis, many undocumented single mothers lost months of work, putting them and their children in precarious financial situations. Now, some who are authorized to work under their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status are being forced to pay upwards of $1,000 to renew it. (The 19th)
Shortly after Trump’s reelection, his son Donald Trump Jr. announced that he was joining an investment firm founded in 2023, 1789 Capital. Since then, the firm has invested in multiple companies that either have government contracts or have benefited from decisions by the Trump administration. 1789 Capital has generated 200% returns, far higher than the 21% average returns of other firms started the same year. (The New York Times)
Numerical information
$4.09: The average price of a gallon of gas nationwide as of Thursday, according to AAA. Gas prices crossed the $4 a gallon threshold again this week after the war with Iran resumed.
$37.5 billion: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate committee this week that the war with Iran has cost $37.5 billion so far. A Popular Information analysis, however, found that the U.S. spent over $103 billion on the war in the first 120 days.
2,295: The number of measles cases reported so far in the U.S. in 2026. Just over halfway through the year, the number of cases has already exceeded all of 2025.
Quote of the week
“It comes down to one simple fact: these people failed to comply with law enforcement… If they did, they’d be alive today.”
– White House Border Czar Tom Homan on the two people fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Texas and Maine.
Photo of the week
