Trump Makes Stunning Announcement About Pam Bondi - No One Saw This Coming
New York City – May 28, 2026
Trump Appoints Former Attorney General Pam Bondi to Presidential AI Advisory Council as She Recovers from Thyroid Cancer
New York City, New York — President Donald J. Trump has named former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to a prominent position on the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, where she will focus on the administration’s artificial intelligence strategy.
The appointment was confirmed following a social media post on Tuesday in which Bondi’s recovery from thyroid cancer was highlighted. According to the details shared, Bondi has undergone treatment and is recovering successfully from the highly curable form of cancer, which carries a 98 percent five-year survival rate.
Katie Miller, a former official in the first Trump administration and wife of senior adviser Stephen Miller, publicly praised Bondi’s resilience.
“[Pam] has a heart of gold,” she wrote on X.
Miller noted that Bondi approached her health battle with the same determination she has shown in public service. She also shared a screenshot of an Axios report confirming the health update and the new role.
Bondi served as Attorney General of Florida and later as a key ally during Trump’s first term. Her return to the administration comes at a time when the White House is accelerating efforts to maintain United States leadership in artificial intelligence, particularly in competition with China.
In the new position, Bondi will help coordinate discussions between the White House and leading technology executives serving on the panel, including Jensen Huang of NVIDIA, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, and Larry Ellison of Oracle.
The council forms part of a broader initiative to steer AI development toward national security and economic competitiveness. Administration officials have repeatedly stated that the United States must avoid politically driven priorities that could hinder technological progress.
President Trump addressed the importance of AI dominance during remarks to reporters last week.
“We’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead.”
Vice President JD Vance welcomed Bondi’s involvement in a statement provided to Axios.
“Pam has been an enormously valuable asset to the president’s team, and I’m thrilled for her and for all of us that she’s going to remain involved in confronting some of the most important issues the administration faces.”
The announcement has drawn attention both for Bondi’s health recovery and for the strategic placement of a longtime Trump ally at the center of the administration’s rapidly expanding AI agenda. Officials describe the council as a mechanism to ensure that American innovation remains at the forefront of global competition while prioritizing security and economic strength.
No additional medical details were released beyond the confirmation of successful treatment and ongoing recovery. Bondi’s supporters have described the development as a positive sign of her return to active public service.
The move aligns with the administration’s stated goal of assembling experienced voices to guide policy on emerging technologies. As the United States continues to invest heavily in AI infrastructure, the inclusion of Bondi is expected to strengthen coordination between government and the private sector.
Nearly 150,000 California Mail Ballots Rejected In Primary
California election officials are examining why nearly 150,000 mail-in ballots were rejected during the state’s June primary, with late-arriving ballots accounting for most of the increase.
The higher rejection rate comes despite years of election law changes designed to make voting more accessible and ensure more ballots are ultimately counted.
According to data compiled by the California Secretary of State’s office, 148,241 mail-in ballots were rejected during the June primary, representing 1.73% of all mail ballots returned.
That marks an increase from the 2024 primary, when 108,982 ballots were rejected, or 1.56% of all mail ballots cast.
The largest reason for rejection was ballots arriving too late to qualify under California law.
State data shows that 93,479 ballots were rejected because they failed to meet the state’s deadline requirements.
California allows mail ballots to arrive up to seven days after Election Day, provided they are postmarked on or before Election Day.
Voting experts believe many of the rejected ballots received postmarks dated after Election Day, making them ineligible to be counted even if they arrived within the seven-day grace period.
Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, said the timing of postal processing appears to be a significant concern.
“Ballots rejected due to lateness are caused primarily to being postmarked too late to count, not because they arrived too late to count,” Alexander said.
Election experts have questioned whether recent operational changes within the U.S. Postal Service may be contributing to delayed postmarks.
Earlier this year, a group of mostly Democratic U.S. senators wrote to the Postal Service expressing concern that mail-processing changes could affect ballot handling during federal elections.
Updated Postal Service procedures mean postmarks may reflect when mail is processed at regional facilities rather than when it first enters the mail system.
Because processing centers have been consolidated in some areas, election officials have warned that postmark timing could be affected.
Before the June primary, California election officials encouraged voters to mail ballots as early as possible because of potential postal delays.
The June election also featured a highly competitive race for governor, which some experts believe encouraged many voters to wait until the final days before casting ballots.
In addition to late-arriving ballots, approximately 44,000 ballots were rejected because election officials determined the voter’s signature did not match the signature on file.
Another 8,300 ballots were rejected because the return envelope did not contain a signature.
State records also show that 743 ballots were rejected because those voters had already cast another ballot.
Other rejected ballots involved missing ballots inside return envelopes or multiple ballots submitted in a single envelope.
The highest rejection rate in the state occurred in Tulare County, where 3.52% of returned mail ballots were rejected.
Alpine County and Merced County followed closely, each recording rejection rates of 3.36%.
California has frequently faced criticism for taking weeks to complete vote counting after major elections, largely because state law permits ballots meeting certain requirements to continue arriving after Election Day.
Following the June primary, President Donald Trump again criticized California’s election system, while the Department of Justice opened an investigation into election administration in Los Angeles County.
Election experts emphasize that the increase in rejected ballots should not be interpreted as evidence of widespread voter fraud.
A 2025 report by the Brookings Institution found documented cases of mail ballot fraud remained extremely rare, estimating roughly four cases for every 10 million mail ballots cast, The Associated Press reported.
State officials have not identified evidence of widespread fraud connected to the June primary, but the increase in rejected ballots is expected to receive additional scrutiny as election administrators evaluate whether changes in postal operations, voter behavior or election procedures contributed to the higher rejection rate.
