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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 on Friday said he would demand that California overhaul its’ election laws and reverse environmental policies as a condition of signing any legislation providing federal funds to help recover from the wildfires that have devastated the Los Angeles area in recent weeks.
He also claimed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had mishandled efforts to help North Carolinians recover from Hurricane Helene and suggested that the White House and Republican National Committee would somehow take over distribution of any relief funds authorized by Congress for the Tar Heel State as he arrived there to view hurricane damage before he travels to California to see damage from the wildfires.
Andrew Feinberg reports for The Independent.
Trump says he’ll have Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley working on hurricane relief matters instead of using the Federal Emergency Management Agency
With the Trump administration determined to strike a “death blow” to affirmative action and diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Daily Wire podcaster Matt Walsh demanded this week that women be barred from serving as police officers, calling the idea of female cops “absurd” and “DEI in action.”
Walsh — a far-right provocateur who has risen to prominence on the back of his transphobic and misogynistic punditry — used the example of an accidental shooting to make the case on Thursday that women have no business serving in law enforcement.
Justin Baragona reports.
‘If we’re being honest, female cops are absurd. It’s an absurdity. I’m sorry. It’s just ridiculous. It’s cartoonish,’ Matt Walsh ranted on his podcast this week
Republican congressman Andy Ogles has proposed a long-shot amendment to the Constitution that would allow President Donald Trump to seek a third term.
The Tennessee representative said he introduced the amendment to “ensure that we can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.”
Rhian Lubin reports.
Republican congressman Andy Ogles says he introduced the amendment to ‘ensure that we can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs’
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has spoken with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a readout from China’s foreign ministry.
Wang told Rubio that Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, who spoke a week ago, had pointed the direction for bilateral relations and set the tone for the incoming administration, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement. Wang said the two sides should push for the steady, healthy, and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations and find the correct way for the two countries to cope with each other.
Wang also told Rubio that China had no intention to overtake or replace any other country but would defend its legitimate development rights. Wang urged the U.S. to handle the Taiwan issue with caution. China considers the self-governed island as part of Chinese territory and vows to annex it by force if necessary to achieve unification.
Rubio, according to the Chinese foreign ministry, told Wang the U.S. doesn’t support Taiwan independence but hopes the issue can be peacefully solved in a way acceptable to both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
With reporting from the Associated Press
President Trump speaking after his arrival in North Carolina doubles down on his proposal for states to handle disaster response rather than FEMA.
He says it will be a lot less expensive, predicting it will be “about half the cost,” and says a recommendation will be made soon.
“We’re looking at the whole concept of FEMA,” the president said. “I like, frankly, the concept when North Carolina gets hit, the governor takes care of it. When Florida gets hit, the governor takes care of it. Meaning the state takes care of it … I’d like to see the states take care of disasters.”
Further the president says any additional aid to North Carolina and California will go through his administration.
On the Senate floor, New York Senator Chuck Schumer reiterates his opposition to Pete Hegseth as Donald Trump’s defense secretary ahead of tonight’s confirmation vote.
“Is this man with a history of excessive drinking really the guy you want on the other end of the phone at 2 a.m. in a crisis in control of the nuclear codes?” said Schumer.
“I refuse to believe that Pete Hegseth is the best the Republicans came up with for Secretary of Defense… I can think of some Republican Senators who would certainly make a much stronger candidate than Mr. Hegseth.”
He added: “I think the credibility of the Republican majority is on the line with today’s vote.”
John F. Kennedy’s grandson has fired out at Donald Trump’s decision to release highly classified JFK assassination files that have been kept from the public for over half a century.
Jack Schlossberg took to X Thursday in response to Trump’s executive order to declassify records in 1963, Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the same year – three deaths that have sparked countless conspiracy theories.
Madeline Sherratt has the story.
‘Declassification is using JFK as a political prop, when he’s not here to punch back. There’s nothing heroic about it’, Jack Schlossberg said
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