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President-elect claimed politicians in California were unable to put out raging fires – elevating his longstanding feud with Newsom
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President-elect Donald Trump blamed “California pols” for failing to control the outrageous wildfires that have burned more than 40,000 acres – renewing a longstanding feud with Governor Gavin Newsom.
“The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.
“Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost. There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” He added.
Newsom has already accused the incoming president of using the natural disaster to spread misinformation about California politics. He has invited the incoming president to tour California and assess the damage. Trump has not yet accepted that invitation.
Meanwhile, in another political feud, outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to Trump’s comments about making Canada a 51st state by saying he was not focused on something “that will never happen.”
“My focus has to be not on something he’s talking about that will not ever happen, but more on something that might well happen, that if he does choose to go forward with tariffs,” Trudeau said on Sunday.
Incoming vice president JD Vance said people should take a step back before expecting the incoming administration to implement sweeping change as soon as Donald Trump is sworn in, lowering expectations for the speed at which they can change things.
“If you step back a little bit, I do think it’s important to reiterate that not just on the border, but on a whole host of issues, President Biden has left us an absolute dumpster fire,” Vance told Fox News on Sunday after he was asked about Trump’s planned executive actions.
“We’re excited to get to work but we need to be open and honest about the fact that President Biden has not left the next administration in a good place,” Vance said before rattling off a list of problems that he expects Trump to tackle.
For months, Trump has promised supporters sweeping change to the economy, immigration, domestic policy and more “on day one” of being in office. However, big changes with tangible impact can take a long time to notice when it comes to the government.
JD Vance led the Republican assault against California’s state and local governments on Sunday as conservatives eagerly pile on Democratic leaders for insufficient water supplies and emergency efforts as firefighters continue to battle wildfires around Los Angeles.
On Sunday, the incoming vice president told Fox News Sunday’s Shannon Bream that California’s leaders were incompetent.
“We need to do a better job. We need competent, good governance,” Vance said. “There was a serious lack of competent governance in California, and I think it’s part of the reason why these fires have gotten so bad.”
Newsom, in his own interview airing this weekend, said the fires would amount to one of the worst natural disasters in the nation’s history. He also stressed that water shortages in the immediate few days after the fire began were localized and did not reflect regional preparation efforts, taking aim at Vance’s boss Donald Trump over the latter’s own comments about California’s wildfire preparedness.
Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming touted there would be “shock and awe” when Donald Trump enters office on January 20 – a sentiment he believes in after meeting with the incoming president this past week.
“When President Trump takes office next Monday, there is going to be shock and awe with executive orders. A blizzard of executive orders on the economy as well as on the border,” Barrasso told Face The Nation on Sunday.
Trump offered some support to his longtime friend and former lawyer Rudy Giuliani after he was held in contempt of court twice in one week.
”SAVE RUDY!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is determined to prevent current Trump adviser Elon Musk from becoming engrossed in the White House because he is “a truly evil guy.”
“I will have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day,” Bannon told the Italian news outlet Corriere della Sera this week. “He will not have a blue pass to the White House, he will not have full access to the White House, he will be like any other person.”
“He is a truly evil guy, a very bad guy. I made it my personal thing to take this guy down,” Bannon said. “Before, because he put money in, I was prepared to tolerate it; I’m not prepared to tolerate it anymore.”
Bannon strongly disagrees with Musk’s position on H-1B visas, which are visas given to skilled workers. Bannon believes this, and other positions, are a sign Musk is only interested in elevating his own businesses.
“He will do anything to make sure that any one of his companies is protected or has a better deal or he makes more money. His aggregation of wealth, and then — through wealth — power: that’s what he’s focused on,” Bannon said.
Vice President-elect JD Vance drew a line in the sand for the incoming Trump administration’s pardon strategy during an interview with Fox News on Sunday.
Vance was asked how Donald Trump would handle his promise to pardon some of those Americans convicted or charged with crimes resulting from the siege of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. During his bid for the White House, Trump pledged to grant clemency to his supporters who caused lawmakers and Capitol staff to hide in fear for their lives while a violent mob battled with police inside and outside the main building for hours.
John Bowden reports:
Incoming vice president claims ‘we need to rectify’ prosecution of January 6 rioters who did not commit violence
Some January 6 rioters who were prosecuted for storming the U.S. Capitol and unlawfully entering to interrupt Congress’s certification of the 2020 election can expect pardons, incoming vice president JD Vance said.
“Look, if you protested peacefully on January the sixth and you’ve had Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned,” Vance told Fox News on Sunday.
“If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned. And there’s a little bit of grey area there,” he added.
It is unclear how many of the more than 700 people convicted of crimes on January 6 will receive a pardon. But Donald Trump is expected to uphold his promise to pardon many of them.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau brushed off Trump’s comments about making Canada the “51st state” and downplayed them as nothing more than something that “will not ever happen”.
On Sunday, Trudeau told Jenn Pskai he was not paying attention to Trump’s taunts because they’re not part of reality.
“This isn’t out of the blue, that he’s doing this,” Trudeau said. But my focus has to be – not on something he’s talking about that will not ever happen – but more on something that might well happen, that if he does choose to go forward with tariffs.”
The incoming president’s very real threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods has created political chaos in Canada. With an already struggling economy, Canada could face economic hardships if Trump imposes the tariffs.
Disagreements over how to handle the possible tariffs pushed Trudeau to resign from his position as prime minister.
Trudeau on Trump’s annexation threat: “My focus has to be not on something he’s talking about that will not ever happen, but more on something that might well happen, that if he does choose to go forward with tariffs… we’re going to have a robust response.”
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Incoming vice president JD Vance claimed family separation policies at the border were only a “euphemism” despite admitting some families will likely be separated at the border.
“This term is something you’re gonna hear a lot in the next couple of months, the next couple of years, Shannon – family separation,” Vance told Fox News host Shannon Bream on Sunday.
“That’s a euphemism, that’s a dishonest term to hide behind the fact that Joe Biden has not done border enforcement,” Vance continued.
The vice president-elect said if an undocumented immigrant commits a crime they will be sent back to their country of origin and separated from their families.
Trump’s controversial family separation policy is expected to return in his new administration. He and his border czar, Tom Homan, have said that children of non-citizen parents will be detained and deported alongside their families but that it’s up to each family if they are deported together or separately.
In a Truth Social post early Sunday morning, President-elect Donald Trump blamed California politicians for failing to put out the wildfires that have burned more than 35,000 acres.
“The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out. Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost. There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?”
Several out-of-control factors have made the wildfires incredibly difficult to put out – like strong, dry winds, bone-dry vegetation and dwindling water supply.
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