President Donald Trump is once again defending his plan to have 600,000 Chinese students attend American universities, saying it is the “right thing to do” and that it would be “insulting” to think he is doing it improve trade negotiations with Xi Jinping, the head of China’s communist government.
The president tripled down on the move during an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese that was published on Sunday.
“I think what we’re doing is the right thing to do,” the president said. “It’s good to get along with countries, not bad, especially, you know, nuclear-powered countries. I think it’s good to get along with countries. The [Ukraine-Russia war] would have never started if I were president, all those kids would have been alive right now.”
A moment earlier, Trump said “I don’t want anything in return” for allowing the 600,00 students to come to the U.S. The president told TDC those students would be spread out over a two-year period.
U.S. District Judge Richard Berman has denied the Justice Department (DOJ)’s third request to release grand jury transcripts in the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell case, citing safety concerns and unmet legal criteria. President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi have expressed frustration over the perceived lack of transparency. The DOJ is withholding roughly 100,000 pages of evidence on Epstein.
Release them, all 100,000 pages of them!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/clinton-appointed-judge-rejects-epstein-motion/ss-AA1Lz7CM
President Donald Trump’s counterterrorism czar got into a fiery clash with a CNN anchor after he was accused of fixating on the trans identity of the Minnesota school shooter.
Sebastian Gorka made an appearance on the network Sunday, during which he discussed this week’s deadly church shooting, carried out by 23-year-old Robin Westman, who is reported to have been born male but identified as a woman.
“Just as with the transgender attack on the Nashville Christian School, in which more children were killed, there is an ideological connection to multiple of these attacks where innocent children, especially Christians and Catholics, are targeted,” Gorka put it to CNN, referencing a separate 2023 shooting in Tennessee, also carried out by a transgender individual.
“It is very, very disturbing,” the anti-terrorism adviser added.
But network anchor Brianna Keilar said he “missing the bigger picture,” pointing out that of the 32 school mass shootings that have occurred in the country since 2020, only two others were carried out by perpetrators who identified as transgender or gender-diverse.
She appeared to be referencing figures from non-profit The Gun Violence Archive, which in 2023 found that of all mass shootings over the previous decade, only 0.11% had been carried out by transgender suspects.
Gorka was having none of it. “Forgive me if I don‘t go with CNN‘s stats, okay? CNN has proven itself to be wholly inaccurate in all kinds of things for the last ten years,” he shot back. “Perpetrators of the Russia Russia hoax, and that we didn‘t have an open border. So please, forgive me if I don‘t take your stats for granted.”
“It’s simple math. Two of 32,” Keilar responded, adding that the network “could not stick with your facts because they are not accurate.”
This appeared to particularly incense Gorka, who accused CNN of making up “fake news” on the spot in order to discredit his argument. After regaining his cool, he went on to explain that he thinks the solution to gun violence at schools is to look for “early warning signals” among potential perpetrators.
“And what about all the non-trans school shooters?” Keilar asked.
“What about all… the same thing happens!” Gorka replied. “They have multiple interactions with authorities, with their schools, with the principals. Why is something not being done instead of blaming an inanimate object, which is the weapon?”
In response to an emailed request for comment on this story, Gorka said, “The Daily Beast are gutter-press propagandist hacks.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/its-simple-math-cnn-anchor-shuts-down-trump-aides-wild-rant
At least one popular liberal influencer suggested that the new photos showing Trump “alive and well” were actually from 2023.
Donald Trump has been criticized for not being as visible lately, some say due to the large bruising he is suffering on his hands and swelling in his ankles, leading a #Trumpdead hashtag to trend on the popular right-wing hot spot X.
After the rumors spread online, the conservative New York Post over the weekend published a story called, “President Trump is alive and well after bizarre, false online speculation suggested he died,” in which the outlet published new photos of the president.
But the new pictures didn’t impress everyone, with critics noting his diminished appearance in the photos.
Ron Filipkowski said, “He may be alive, but he’s definitely not well,” in reference to the Post’s new pictures.
Conservative attorney George Conway on Saturday joked, “Has anyone checked in on President Vance,” to which political scientist Norman Ornstein responded, “George come on, the president is [Project 2025 architect] Russell Vought!”
Conservative Reed Galen asked, “Where’s Donald?”
Conservative analyst Brigitte Gabriel hit back against some of the comments on Saturday, saying, “It’s sickening to see so many leftists on social media spreading false rumors about President Trump and his health.”
“The Democrats have no class,” said Gabriel, who previously speculated about Joe Biden’s death when Biden was still the U.S. president. The comment section on Gabriel’s post was flooded with reminders of her asking if Biden was secretly deceased.
At least one popular liberal influencer suggested that the new photos showing Trump “alive and well” were actually from 2023.
President Donald Trump has published footage he said showed a “stupid” subcontractor damaging limestone in the White House’s newly reworked Rose Garden.
Why It Matters
Trump has remolded chunks of the White House to his taste since returning to office at the start of the year, decking out the Oval Office and announcing the construction of a new ballroom to the tune of $200 million.
Work finished on paving over the previously grassy lawn of the Rose Garden in recent weeks, and Trump was spotted surveying the progress of renovation work on the space from the White House roof as he shouted down to talk with journalists earlier this month.
Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham in March that the grass area “doesn’t work” for press conferences, but “gorgeous stone” would work better for one of the White House’s most iconic spots.
What To Know
Trump said on Saturday said he had noticed “a huge gash in the limestone” stretching more than 25 yards three days earlier while “admiring the stonework.”
“It was deep and nasty! I started yelling, ‘Who did this, and I want to find out now!’ —And I didn’t say this in a nice manner,” Trump said in a post to his Truth Social platform.
The president said security cameras had captured footage of a subcontractor using a broken steel cart that was “rubbing hard against the soft, beautiful stone.”
“We caught them, cold,” Trump said, adding he would replace the broken stone, charge the contractor for the damage and bar the construction worker from the White House.
The Rose Garden stretches back to Ellen Wilson, the wife of Woodrow Wilson, but was overhauled under President John F. Kennedy while he and his wife, Jackie Kennedy, resided in the White House. The roses that gave the space its name remain.
“I think that both Kennedys would be startled, and not in a good way, since they were apparently grass lovers and it is such a dramatic change,” Professor Katherine Jellison, a historian at Ohio University, told British newspaper The Telegraph.
Trump said he had opted for “the most beautiful marble and stone available anywhere” for the paving over of the Rose Garden.
The new design has for months drawn overt comparisons to Trump’s Florida gold club and resort, Mar-a-Lago. White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the yellow umbrellas on the Rose Garden patio were bought from the same vendor that provided those for Mar-a-Lago.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump said on Truth Social on Saturday: “The Rose Garden is completed, and far more beautiful than anyone ever had in mind when it was conceived of, decades ago.”
What Happens Next
It is not clear how quickly the crack in the stone will be repaired.
Things like that happen when a dumb-assed megalomaniac orders walkways & driveways constructed out of soft porous rock such as limestone. Suck it up & own it, Bubba!
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-rose-garden-renovation-patio-limestone-cracked-2122289
In an afternoon’s walk through ground zero of Americana — the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History — objects around every corner invite one question: What could possibly be more American than this?
There’s the enormous Star-Spangled Banner in all its timeworn glory, Dorothy’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” and totems of achievement throughout.
There are also testaments to pain and cruelty. What could be more American than a reckoning with the nation’s sins, as illustrated by shackles representing slavery and photos of Japanese Americans confined to detention camps in World War II?
In myriad ways, the museum explores “the complexity of our past,” in accord with its mission statement. President Donald Trump wants a simpler tale told. He wants this and the other Smithsonian museums to mirror American pride, power and accomplishment without all the darkness, and he threatens to hold back money if they don’t get with that program.
American genius and ugliness are on display
On social media, Trump complained that at the Smithsonian museums, which are free to visit and get most of their money from the government, “everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future.”
In fact, the history museum reflects bountiful successes, whether on the battlefield, from the kitchens and factories of food pioneers, on the musical stage, in the movies or on other fronts of creativity and industriousness. The American Enterprise exhibit, for one, has a wall filled with the stories of successful Americans.
On this wandering tour you can see navigational implements used by Blackbeard, the terrifying pirate, from his early 1700s raids on the Atlantic coast. You see the hat Abraham Lincoln wore to Ford’s Theatre the night of his assassination, George Washington’s ceremonial uniform, Warren Harding’s fine red silk pajamas from the early 1900s, the first car to travel across the country, and a $100,000 bill.
You can see the original light bulbs of the American genius, Thomas Edison. A much earlier genius, the founding father Benjamin Franklin, is presented both as a gifted inventor and a slave owner who publicly came to denounce slavery yet never freed his own.
Those nuances and ambiguities may not be long for this world. Still on display at the history museum are artifacts and documents of American ingenuity, subjugation, generosity, racism, grit, dishonor, verve, playfulness, corruption, heroism, and cultural appropriation.
Like most museums, the focus is not on the future.
There are many provocations
Even so, there is plenty to provoke the Republican president.
In the “Great Debate” of an American democracy exhibition, a wall is emblazoned with large words such as “Privilege” and “Slavery.” The museum presents fulsome tributes to the contributions of immigrants and narratives about the racist landscape that many encountered.
Exhibits address “food justice,” the exploitation of Filipinos after the United States annexed their land and the network of oppressive Native American boarding schools from which Jim Thorpe emerged and became one of the greatest athletes of all time.
Hawaii’s last sovereign before its annexation by the U..S. in the 1890s, Queen Lili‘uokalani, is quoted on a banner as asking: “Is the AMERICAN REPUBLIC of STATES to DEGENERATE and become a COLONIZER?”
A ukulele on display was made around 1890 by a sugar laborer who worked on the kingdom’s American plantations before a U.S.-backed coup overthrew the monarchy. Museum visitors are told the new instrument was held up by the monarchs as a symbol of anti-colonial independence.
“Ukuleles are both a product of U.S. imperialism and a potent symbol of Native Hawaiian resistance,” says the accompanying text.
At the Greek-godlike statue of George Washington, the text hints at his complexities and stops short of the total reverence that totalitarian leaders get.
Noting that “modern scholarship focuses on the fallible man rather than the marble hero,” the text says Washington’s image “is still used for inspiration, patriotism and commercial gain” and that “he continues to hold a place for many as a symbolic ‘father’ of the country.”
The American spirit is celebrated, too
On this visit, conservators behind a big window are seen sweeping tiny brushes on ancient wooden pieces. Their patriotic work proceeds at a snail’s pace.
The team is restoring the gunboat Philadelphia, part of a small fleet that engaged the British navy at the Battle of Valcour Island in Lake Champlain in 1776, delaying Britain’s effort to cut off the New England colonies and buying time for the Continental Army to prepare for its decisive victory at Saratoga.
The commander of the gunboats in the Valcour battle later became America’s greatest traitor, Benedict Arnold. The British damaged the Philadelphia so badly it sank an hour after the battle, then lay underwater for 160 years. It’s being restored for next year’s celebrations of America’s 250th year.
“The Philadelphia is a symbol of how citizens of a newly formed nation came together, despite overwhelming odds against their success,” said Jennifer Jones, the project’s director. “This boat’s fragile condition is symbolic of our democracy; it requires the nation’s attention and vigilance to preserve it for future generations.”
It’s not telling you what to think, but what to think about
Democracy’s fragility is considered in a section of the museum about the limits of presidential power. That’s where references to Trump’s two impeachments were removed in July for updating, and were restored this month.
“On December 18, 2019, the House impeached Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress,” one label now states. “On January 13, 2021, Donald Trump became the first president to be impeached twice,” says another. “The charge was incitement of insurrection based on his challenge of the 2020 election results and on his speech on January 6.” His Senate acquittals are duly noted.
It’s a just-the-facts take on a matter that has driven the country so deeply apart. The history museum doesn’t offer answers for that predicament. Instead, it asks questions throughout its halls on the fundamentals of Americanism.
“How should Americans remember their Revolution and the founding of the nation?”
“What does patriotism look like?”
“How diverse should the citizenry be?”
“Do we need to share a common national story?”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem fired two dozen employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency following a major cybersecurity breach.
The 24 employees include FEMA Chief Information Officer Charles Armstrong and Chief Information Security Officer Gregory Edwards.
According to Noem, the Department of Homeland Security’s [DHS] internal network was accessed by a “threat actor,” compromising sensitive information and putting department operations “at risk.”
“Fortunately, this problem was caught before any American citizens were directly impacted,” a DHS statement issued on Friday revealed. “Despite this failure and neglect, no sensitive data was extracted from any DHS networks.”
The statement went on to gush over Noem, claiming that she was the “only” reason that the security vulnerability was discovered because she ordered a review into FEMA’s operations and IT systems.
“The entrenched bureaucrats who led FEMA’s IT team for decades resisted any efforts to fix the problem,” DHS claimed. “Instead, they avoided scheduled inspections and lied to officials about the scope and scale of the cyber vulnerabilities.”
Taking to social media, Noem claimed that FEMA’s IT leadership had “failed on every level” and said that “their incompetence put the American people at risk.”
“When DHS stepped in to fix the problem, entrenched bureaucrats worked to prevent us from solving the problem and downplayed just how bad this breach was,” Noem raged on X.
“These deep-state individuals were more interested in covering up their failures than in protecting the Homeland and American citizens’ personal data, so I terminated them immediately.”