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President-elect continues criticism of California’s Democratic leadership as blazes continue to rage in Los Angeles and MAGA civil war threatens to intensify
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Donald Trump has reposted a bad taste meme on his Truth Social platform making light of the Los Angeles wildfires.
The image circulated by the president-elect replaces the city’s famous Hollywood sign with the phrase “Trump Was Right” as the hills around it burn, his latest criticism of California’s Democratic leadership as the blazes continue to rage, having already torched more than 40,000 acres and claimed at least 24 lives.
Prior to that, Trump blamed “California pols” for failing to control the wildfires, reviving his long-standing feud with state governor Gavin Newsom.
“The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out,” the president-elect wrote 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?”
Meanwhile, Trump ally Steve Bannon has escalated his feud with billionaire Elon Musk, calling the latter “racist” and a “truly evil guy”, also pledging to “take this guy down” and remove him from the MAGA movement.
Also speaking to Fox News yesterday, Keith Kellogg, the president-elect’s nominee as envoy to Ukraine rowed back on his boss’s repeated promises on the campaign trail to end the war in the region “on day one”, giving himself a much more generous timeframe.
Here’s a handy montage of all the times Trump promised an instant resolution on the conflict.
The incoming VP also had some unkind words for Joe Biden during the same interview.
He also suggested that those convicted of violent crimes during the Capitol riot might be excluded from Trump’s mass pardoning effort once he enters the White House.
Here’s more from John Bowden.
Incoming vice president claims ‘we need to rectify’ prosecution of January 6 rioters who did not commit violence
The president-elect himself blamed “California pols” for failing to control the wildfires on Truth Social yesterday, reviving his long-standing feud with the state’s governor Gavin Newsom at the worst possible time.
“The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out,” Trump wrote 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?”
His vice president-elect was also at it, claiming a “serious lack of competent governance” was behind it in conversation with Shannon Bream on Fox News Sunday.
Here’s John Bowden with more.
California governor slams ‘delusional’ Trump while incoming VP highlights fire hydrants failing on firefighters
Trump’s former White House chief strategist turned War Room podcaster Steve Bannon has escalated his feud with billionaire Elon Musk, calling the latter “racist” and a “truly evil guy”, also pledging to “take this guy down” and remove him from the MAGA movement.
Speaking to Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, the former Breitbart editor said of Musk: “He is a truly evil guy, a very bad guy. I made it my personal thing to take this guy down.
“Before, because he put money in, I was prepared to tolerate it – I’m not prepared to tolerate it any more.”
He added: “I will have Elon Musk run out of here by inauguration day.
“He will not have full access to the White House. He will be like any other person.”
Good morning!
Here’s how the incoming Leader of the Free World, 78, spent his Sunday evening – sharing some incredibly unpresidential and morbidly self-glorifying memes on social media as the residents of one of America’s most celebrated cities remain trapped in a state of waking nightmare.
The below are perhaps more run-of-the-mill for Trump but provide an equally telling insight into his current mindset.
The Trump family is in talks to reacquire their Washington D.C. hotel, which could reveal how the president-elect is set to handle issues related to possible conflicts of interest.
This week, Eric Trump met at Mar-a-Lago with a bank executive from BDT & MSD, which is in control of the lease on the building, people familiar with the meeting told The Wall Street Journal.
Eric Trump is an executive vice president at the president-elect’s real estate company, and he discussed possibly buying the lease. What was the Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office building is now the Waldorf Astoria. The building is owned by the federal government and was leased to the Trump family.
The family company is now looking to operate a hotel in the nation’s capital as Trump once again prepares to enter the White House. The family is still interested in the Old Post Office Building, according to The Journal.
Getting the rights to the hotel back could cost more than $300 million, the paper noted.
A federal appeals court ruled last week that the Justice Department can release a report on Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
But an order from a Trump-appointed temporarily blocks Jack Smith report. Trump and his co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago case are asking the judge to continue to block the report.
Alex Woodward reports:
The special counsel handed in his final report days before Trump returns to the White House
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated on Sunday that his country would not give up sovereignty and join the United States, the latest surreal example of a world leader being forced to respond seriously to the unserious stated aspirations of the incoming president and his allies.
“That’s not going to happen. It’s just a non-starter,” he told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki on Sunday. “Canadians are incredibly proud of being Canadian.”
John Bowden reports:
The president-elect’s suggestion to expand U.S. power ‘definitely’ should be taken seriously, Canada’s PM says
With a little more than a week until his inauguration, Donald Trump and his team are trying to plan the executive orders that will fulfill his campaign promise of closing the U.S.–Mexico border and implementing mass deportation “on day one” — a task that comes with complications.
For months, Trump and his team have been looking for ways to bypass the traditional immigration legislative process to close the border and deport millions of undocumented immigrants. But as January 20 draws closer, it’s unclear if they can succeed.
Trump has pledged to close the border and begin deportations on ‘day one’ — but it’s unclear how
Trump remains furious that special counsel Jack Smith, who resigned from the DoJ on Friday, is “allowed” to release his reports on the classified documents case and federal election interference case.
In a rant posted to Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said Smith should not be permitted to issue a report because he was “thrown off the case” and “ultimately dismissed” by the DoJ.
Smith resigned from the DoJ ahead of Trump taking office. He was not “thrown off” either case, though Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed to investigate Trump in the classified documents case – something the government disputed.
“Why would Deranged Jack Smith be allowed to issue a “report” on a complete and total Witch Hunt against me, strictly for political purposes, when he was thrown off the case and ultimately dismissed by the DOJ.,” Trump wrote.
“Therefore, to put it nicely, he was illegitimately involved in this political persecution, and all of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by our hapless government were, simply put, wasted! He has already filled thousands of rejected statements and documents against me, which were a “joke,” and the public just voted for me, in a landslide, to be their President!”
Trump has been trying to prevent Smiths reports from being released.
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