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President is highly critical of FEMA response in North Carolina arguing states are best placed to deal with disaster response, not federal government
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President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are visiting hurricane-battered Asheville, North Carolina, before heading west to assess the damage in wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles.
The visits come amid a debate about the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with the president doubling down on the idea that states are better equipt to deal with disaster response.
Back on Capitol Hill, the confirmation vote for Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, is expected this evening and could go down to the wire, with at least two no votes already expected from Republican senators.
During the second part of his interview with Sean Hannity, which aired on Fox News last night, Trump blamed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky for Russia’s invasion of his homeland.
The president said Zelensky was “no angel” and had allowed the war to rumble on but added he would be prepared to impose massive tariffs on Moscow if Vladimir Putin refuses to enter talks on ending the conflict.
Trump also said he “would rather not” place tariffs on China but insisted it was a “tremendous power” at his disposal in dealing with Beijing.
President Donald Trump’s pre-recorded message to participants in the anti-abortion “March for Life” has been played to the crowd.
Trump said that the “historic wrong” from Roe v Wade “was set right three years ago,” adding, “I was so proud to be a participant.”
“We will again stand proud for families and for life.”
He says his administration will block Democratic efforts for the “federal right for unlimited abortion on demand for abortion up to birth and after birth” and direct the Department of Justice to “investigate the radical left attacks on churches and crisis pregnancy centers” and “end the weaponization of law enforcement against Americans of faith.”
There is no such thing as abortion after birth.
John Bowden writes:
Pete Hegseth’s nomination to serve as Defense Secretary appears on track for a narrow passage in the Senate, with all Democrats in opposition – and two Republicans joining them.
Those two Republicans? Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski: the GOP’s pair of centrists who’ve been a thorn in Donald Trump’s side for a decade.
Voting against Hegesth in a procedural motion on Thursday, the two released statements declaring their disapproval of the Fox News host and his long history of comments about women serving in combat. Collins, in her statement, insinuated that she didn’t believe Hegseth’s views had changed, despite his assurances.
Continue reading…
Analysis: Nomination for Defense Secretary puts a familiar pair of GOP senators in a predictable spot, writes John Bowden
Rep Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic House minority leader, defends diversity, equity and inclusion as American values.
He told reporters: “Diversity, equity and inclusion are American values. Perhaps I can explain. The motto of the United States of America is e pluribus unum. Out of many, one. That’s diversity. The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution—one of the most influential important amendments in our country—provides equal protection under the law. That’s equity. In this country, we pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. A flag that we just presented to the new President and Vice President. And in that pledge, we promise, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. A-L-L. That’s inclusion. Not complicated.”
Jeffries added: “Diversity, equity and inclusion are American values. It’s about economic opportunity. It’s about merit for everyone, based on what you know, not who you know.”
While President Donald Trump took aim at the electric vehicle industry this week, there is still optimism about the industry’s future in Michigan, a state retooling from America’s most recognizable auto hub to its number one destination for electric vehicle investment.
More than $27 billion is being poured into some 60 EV manufacturing and battery projects in the state, edging out even Georgia, with $26.6 billion, according to Atlas Public Policy, indicating that the birthplace of the modern auto industry continues to be central to its present and future.
Michigan is home to hundreds of supply companies in addition to the automakers.
Continue reading…
President Trump has slashed a slew of EV-related policies, which could affect many states that have received billions of dollars in investment for electrification, notably Michigan
New Department of Homeland Security guidance on ending humanitarian parole is now public.
Millions of immigrants who were allowed to legally enter the United States during the Biden administration can have their temporary stays revoked and be rapidly deported.
That includes thousands of people from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti who were granted permission to live and work in the country for two years.
They are now at risk of being deported into political and economic turmoil and violence.
Read the memorandum from Acting Secretary Benjamine Huffman
Despite frigid weather, thousands of anti-abortion protesters gathered to celebrate a new Republican trifecta in the presidency and both chambers of Congress as they returned to the nation’s capital Friday for the annual March for Life.
The early part of the march was marked by a festive atmosphere. Activists gathered with multicolored hats and signs proclaiming, “Life is our revolution.”
President Donald Trump is expected to address the crowd in a pre-recorded video as the gathering marks the first time that participants have been to the nation’s capital with him as the sitting president since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade, that declared there was a constitutional right to an abortion.
Vice President JD Vance is slated to speak in person.
Kristen Cooper, 21, was among several thousand Students for Life America members who attended. She said she was especially excited to be at the march with “pro-life Republicans” in the White House. This march was her fourth but the first with a Republican administration.
“It’s surreal actually,” she said.
AP
Fox News host and Donald Trump fanatic Jesse Watters slammed men who go shopping for food with their wives after former Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff were pictured returning to domestic normality Thursday.
Watters returned to the dark ages when he fired the blow during his Primetime show Thursday telling his captive audience: “What kind of husband goes grocery shopping with his wife?”
Madeline Sherratt has the story.
The Fox Host asked viewers, deadpan: ‘What kind of husband goes grocery shopping with his wife?’
Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington shared her concerns about Pete Hegseth on the Senate floor in her remarks about the upcoming confirmation vote for Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense.
“I have been trying for weeks to schedule a meeting with Mr. Hegseth prior to his confirmation vote. I genuinely want a chance to ask him directly about my concerns…If Mr. Hegseth is afraid of me, how is he going to stand up to China?”
She added: “As vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I help write the bill that funds the Defense Department every year, and that bill only passes with bipartisan support. I don’t think it’s asking a lot to be able to meet with the person nominated to lead that dept.”
Further, Murray said: “I don’t see how bankrupting a vets nonprofit thru wasteful spending qualifies you to manage a budget of nearly $900 billion. Absolutely no world where someone who has a history of running up debts at nonprofits should be responsible for overseeing half of discretionary spending.”
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