This was a scary moment. On Tuesday night, a vehicle caught on fire and exploded in lower Manhattan. The vehicle exploded near the vicinity of the iconic Charging Bull statue, which is located on Wall Street. Take a look: A vehicle caught on fire and exploded near the iconic Charging Bull statue in New York City's Wall Street district pic.twitter.com/AAvmvtenu8 — Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) May 20, 2026 ABC 7 New York provided details on how emergency crews responded to the explosion. A car caught fire and exploded Tuesday evening in Lower Manhattan, sending thick black smoke into the air near the Charging Bull. Police and firefighters responded to reports of a car fire near Broadway and Stone Street around 5:42 p.m., according to the FDNY. Videos from the scene show the car, which appeared to be MTA-affiliated, parked on the side of the road before quickly being consumed by the fire as onlookers awaited for the fire department to arrive. Firefighters extinguished the flames shortly before 7 p.m. No injuries were reported. Here’s another angle: Story here ️ https://t.co/iAyKRfJO1I A car caught fire and exploded Tuesday evening in Lower Manhattan, sending thick black smoke into the air near the Charging Bull. Videos from the scene show the car, which appeared to be MTA-affiliated, parked on the side of the road before… pic.twitter.com/bGVe9JRg3l — Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) May 20, 2026 The aftermath: Check this out, quite a spectacular explosion caught on someones phone of an Infiniti SUV near NYC's Charging Bull statue. New York Fire Department extinguished it quickly, no injuries or suspicious circumstances it would seem. Quite likely a fuel tank rupture. pic.twitter.com/D5FwPt42PD — Tumbawumba (@_Tumbawumba) May 20, 2026 The explosion is currently under investigation, and authorities are still determining whether it was an accident or a criminal act. In the last year, fire deaths in New York City have skyrocketed. CBS News provided the data: Fire deaths in New York City are up more than 60% compared to this time last year, data shows. Forty-six people have died in fires so far this year, according to FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Daniel Flynn. “It’s very concerning,” he said. The numbers are about on par with 2022 and 2023, when e-bike battery fires ripped through buildings across the city. At this time in 2022, there were 47 fire deaths, and in 2023, there were 48. Fire deaths started to decrease in 2024, with 32 at this time that year. They dropped even lower in 2025. “This time last year, we were at 28,” Flynn said. Now, the numbers are climbing again, and Flynn says nearly a quarter of this year’s deaths were from fires set intentionally. How does that sound? This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

President Trump gave his thoughts on Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt before boarding Air Force One on Wednesday afternoon. The 47th President, while giving his thoughts on Pratt, also expressed his displeasure with how elections are run in California. While speaking to a Daily Wire reporter, President Trump shared he would like to see Pratt do “well” in his race. He later stated that California has a “rigged” voting system and added, “If we had Jesus Christ come down and count the votes, I would have won California.” The New York Post covered Trump’s full remarks: President Trump spoke about Spencer Pratt’s insurgent campaign for Los Angeles mayor — saying he’d like to see the former reality star “do well” in the race. “I’d like to see him do well — he’s a character,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday “I don’t know, I don’t know him. I assume he probably supports me. Does he support me?… I heard he does. I heard he’s a big MAGA person. He’s doing well.” Rumors had been swirling in conservative circles that an endorsement by Trump could be coming for Pratt, who has seen Republicans and others rally around him in the race against Democratic incumbent Karen Bass. Socialist-linked LA councilmember Nithya Raman, who has been trailing Pratt in the polls, said last week that “Trump is about to endorse Spencer.” While not explicitly endorsing Pratt on Wednesday, the president went on to claim that there’s “really rigged vote in California,” saying that “the elections are very dishonest.” Watch the moment Trump gave his thoughts on Pratt below: LET'S GO! President Trump is getting behind Spencer Pratt in California "I'd like to see him do well! He's a character!" "But you have a REALLY rigged vote in California You have all the mail-in ballots… very hard to win because the elections are very dishonest. If we… pic.twitter.com/OPXx7XTEIo — Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 20, 2026 Yahoo News reported Pratt’s Democrat opponents have been campaigning against him on the fact that Trump may publicly endorse him: After it was reported that President Donald Trump has “discussed” the idea of endorsing Spencer Pratt amid his run for Los Angeles mayor, the Hills alum has responded. On Saturday, May 16, Nithya Raman — who is running against the reality TV personality, 42, in the race — said in an X post, “Donald Trump is about to endorse Spencer. Tonight is the fundraising deadline, and we need to raise more to prove that LA doesn’t want a MAGA Republican mayor who lives in the Bel Air hotel.” Pratt, who shot down claims that he lives in the lavish Hotel Bel Air and instead said he considers a trailer his “temporary” home, quoted the post and added a GIF of him rolling his eyes. In an X post shared the following day, Heidi Montag‘s husband shared a photo of the front page of The California Post with a headline that read, “LA moms shaken by rise in crime rally around Pratt in Valley.” Pratt captioned the photo, “I have the only endorsement i need. Moms and animal lovers who want to feel safe.” https://t.co/wLVvasaMIl pic.twitter.com/5DTykzOt6l — Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) May 20, 2026 Recently, Pratt has seen a major boost in the polls thanks to his campaign’s flawless social media strategy. Recently, the mayoral candidate released a video of himself remixing the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” theme song: Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down pic.twitter.com/Zes4VRdZxX — Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) May 18, 2026 Pratt’s constant ability to go viral and his former background in television have led many people to compare the mayoral candidate to Trump. We break it down: SPENCER PRATT: A Star Is Born, As Reality TV Star Draws Strong Trump Comparisons In LA Race This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

Most Americans have long lost any delusion that the mainstream press, whether at home or abroad, can possibly remain unbiased … particularly in the era of President Donald Trump. But one reporter for The Independent took the journalistic browbeating a step further during a press conference with Vice President JD Vance, asking a verbose question dripping with animus.  To his credit, Vance didn’t take the bait and instead called out the disingenuous behavior. As Breitbart reported: The reporter, Andrew Feinberg of the Independent, spent nearly one and a half minutes and about 175 words to ask his question, alleging that President Donald Trump “seems to be talking up stocks that he owns, selling them, and enriching himself.” During Feinberg’s wind-up, Vance called it a “hell of a question.” “Let me answer your question here. That was a doozy,” Vance said. “Before I answer your question, I want to just observe there are different ways to ask a question, okay.” “You can just ask a question, try to get your answer, or you could do like a speech where you say, ‘You know Mr. Vice President… you know you’re a terrible human being and so is the president and so is the entire cabinet,’ and then I’m like ‘What’s your question,’ and then your question is ‘How dare you.’ Come on, man, have a little bit of objectivity in the way that you ask these questions because there were a lot of things in that speech masquerading as a question that didn’t actually get asked,” Vance added. Vance then answered Feinberg’s question. A White House-linked X account highlighted the exchange: Your periodic reminder that @AndrewFeinberg is a Democrat activist and talentless loser cosplaying as a reporter.@VP dismantles him with ease. pic.twitter.com/ZgBuBnalwJ — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 19, 2026   Other social media users expressed similar approval of the vice president’s response: MASTERCLASS: JD Vance systematically DISMANTLES a fake news propagandist from The White House podium for his monologue masquerading as a question. Perfect response pic.twitter.com/dSpeAvYzXl — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 19, 2026 Vance Hilariously DESTROYS Reporter After Biased Word Salad Question – “This Is a Hell of a Question… a Speech Masquerading as a Question” | Jordan Conradson, The Gateway Pundit Vice President JD Vance delivered an epic rebuke of the left-wing media while delivering a press… pic.twitter.com/tVi7afob2Q — Owen Gregorian (@OwenGregorian) May 20, 2026   Here’s a relevant segment from the post above: Feinberg: The President’s financial disclosures were released recently, and they showed a lot of stock trades in companies that he has talked up at events, official events at the White House, on his Truth Social account, sometimes even putting the stock ticker symbols in his posts and encouraging people to buy their stock. Americans, according to recent polling, are increasingly describing the president as corrupt and trading stocks— Vance: This is a hell of a question. Feinberg: Trading individual stocks is something that you have said that public officials should not be able to do when you ran for senate all those years ago, and yet the president, who arguably has access to more non-public information than your average senator, is not only buying and selling individual stocks, either through his, through his trust— Vance: Okay, what’s the question? Feinberg: The question is, the question, sir, is how can you and your administration argue to Americans that you’re cleaning up corruption, you’re preventing fraud, you’re fighting the sorts of things that harm people and people’s financial situations when the president seems to be talking up stocks that he owns, selling them and enriching himself? Vance: Okay, so here, let me, let me, let me answer your question here. That was a doozy. Before I answer your question, I want to just observe there are different ways to ask a question, okay? You can just ask a question and try to get your answer, or you could do like a speech, where you say, you know, “Mr. Vice President, you know, you’re a terrible human being, and so is the President, so is the entire cabinet.” And then I’m like, “What’s your question?” And then your question is, “How dare you?” Come on, man. Have a little bit of objectivity in the way that you ask these questions, because there were a lot of things in that speech masquerading as a question that didn’t actually get asked, okay? Number one, the president doesn’t sit at the Oval Office on his computer on his, like, Robinhood account, buying and selling stocks. That’s absurd. He has independent wealth advisors who manage his money. He is a wealthy person. He has had success in business. He’s not making these stock trades himself. And your question imputes that. It sort of, it doesn’t say it exactly, but a reasonable person listening to that question would assume the President is sitting around doing that. He’s not! Second of all, you’re right, I’m a big fan of banning members of Congress from trading stocks. So is the President of the United States. And all of us believe that nobody should be taking proprietary information gained from public service and buying and selling stocks. We want to ban— we want to ban that. We want to ban that process, and I think the way to lead by example is banning that process, banning that approach, and making it illegal, which is exactly what the President has proposed doing. Mediaite also covered the viral moment: The vice president then blasted reporters for giving political speeches rather than asking questions, accusing Feinberg of personally attacking him and the president before wrapping up his thoughts. Vance argued Trump’s stock trades are made by financial advisors and maintained that the administration still supports banning members of Congress from trading in individual stocks. And here’s some additional commentary: This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

Intense video footage showed the moment when a burning vehicle exploded in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday. The chaotic incident occurred just steps from Wall Street’s famous Charging Bull statue, sending people into a panic. Watch below: A vehicle caught fire and subsequently exploded near the iconic Charging Bull statue in New York City's Wall Street district pic.twitter.com/HmGaZ8J7Pv — Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 20, 2026 TMZ shared further: The fire department told ABC News firefighters responded around 5:42 PM and battled the blaze for more than an hour before finally getting it under control shortly before 7 PM. The explosion sent smoke billowing through the financial district … turning heads near one of New York City’s busiest tourist hotspots. So far, no injuries have been reported, and there’s been no word about what sparked the fire. Watch additional footage below: Story here https://t.co/iAyKRfJO1I A car caught fire and exploded Tuesday evening in Lower Manhattan, sending thick black smoke into the air near the Charging Bull. Videos from the scene show the car, which appeared to be MTA-affiliated, parked on the side of the road before… pic.twitter.com/bGVe9JRg3l — Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) May 20, 2026 FireVision: Car explosion in NYC’s financial district! What We Know: A vehicle caught fire and then exploded in a large fireball near NYC's Charging Bull statue in Lower Manhattan. There are no credible reports of terrorism, foul play, or anything suspicious at this time. pic.twitter.com/qSf9cLy1Sn — John Cremeans (@JohnCremeansX) May 20, 2026 More from the New York Post: There have been no reports suggesting it was suspicious, but the blaze remains under investigation. A further picture shared on social media shows the charred remains of the vehicle outside a Starbucks. The MTA confirmed the car was one of its own, but referred further inquiries about the blaze to the FDNY.