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Tag Archives: Department of Defense
Daily Mail: Tom Hanks snubbed from West Point event after Trump’s order
A West Point alumni event honoring Tom Hanks was scrapped on the day President Donald Trump officially changed the name of the Department of Defense back to the Department of War.
Trump explained Friday that he instituted the rebrand because the Pentagon got ‘very politically correct or wokey’ and the U.S. was not winning wars.
That day, a West Point alumni group announced the cancelation of an awards ceremony that was meant to have taken place September 25 to garland Hanks, who is a veterans advocate but never served in the the military himself.
The prize he would have gotten was the Sylvanus Thayer Award, which the West Point Association of Graduates gives to non-alumni who ‘draw wholesome comparison’ to the military academy’s motto: ‘Duty, Honor, Country.’
Retired Army Col. Mark Bieger, the president and CEO of the organization, announced in an email to members that they were scuttling their tribute to Hanks – who was recently slammed on social media for portraying a Trump supporter as a dimwitted racist on Saturday Night Live.
‘This decision allows the Academy to continue its focus on its core mission of preparing cadets to lead, fight, and win as officers in the world’s most lethal force, the United States Army,’ he wrote, according to the Washington Post.
The president signed an executive order – his 200th – making the rebrand official on Friday afternoon, flanked by Pete Hegseth, now called the War Secretary, and the Chairman of Joint Chiefs, Gen. Dan ‘Razin’ Caine.
The name change had been floated for weeks.
‘It has to do with winning,’ Trump explained. ‘We should have won every war. We could have won every war. But we really chose to be very politically correct or wokey and we just fight forever.’
‘We just fight to sort of tie,’ the commander-in-chief continued. ‘We never wanted to win wars. Every one of them we could have won easily with just a couple of little changes.’
‘We just didn’t fight to win. We didn’t lose anything, but we didn’t fight to win,’ the president added.
The original War Department name lasted from 1789 to 1947, with President Harry S. Truman changing the name in the aftermath of World War II when he merged the Navy, Air Force and War Departments.
‘And you know we had it,’ he said of the name. ‘And we won World War I, we won World War II, we won everything before and as I said, we won everything in between.’
As Trump was making the announcement, the department’s social media pages changed – at one point with the Pentagon’s X account calling it both the Department of War and the Department of Defense.
The president was asked why bring back ‘war’ when he was publicly seeking a Nobel Peace Prize.
‘Well I think I’ve gotten peace because of the fact that we’re strong,’ the president answered.
Trump ran in 2024 on erasing ‘wokeness’ in the military.
He’s done that in some ways by changing naming conventions.
In December 2020, Trump vetoed a defense spending bill because it included provisions to change all the names of U.S. bases that were named after Confederate generals.
The renaming process took place during President Joe Biden’s four years in office, but once Trump returned he immediately tried to get the names changed back.
The base was originally named Fort Bragg in 1918 after Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg.
That Bragg was a slaveowner – but he was also so inept that he helped the Confederacy lose the Civil War to U.S. forces.
In a Pentagon release in February, Fort Bragg will now be named after Roland L. Bragg.
A Pentagon spokesperson described Bragg as a World War II fighter ‘who earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge.’
Slingshot News: ‘That’s Why They Lost It’: Trump Admits He Relocated Space Command To Punish Colorado Over Mail-In Voting During Oval Office Tirade
‘That’s Why They Lost It’: Trump Admits He Relocated Space Command To Punish Colorado Over Mail-In Voting During Oval Office Tirade
Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders days ago in the Oval Office, the most important of which is renaming the “Department of Defense” back to the “Department of War.” During his gaggle with the press, Trump brazenly admitted that he relocated the Space Command from Colorado to Alabama because of mail-in voting. Trump stated, “Colorado just went to all mail-in voting. That means they cheat… that’s a big reason why they just lost the whole Space Command situation that is going to Alabama.”
POLITICO: Duckworth says DHS ‘fled the base’ during visit by Democrats
Sen. Tammy Duckworth said Homeland Security officials “locked the doors” of the Great Lakes Naval Base.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said federal officials disappeared from a Navy base near Chicago on Friday after Democrats announced they would tour the facility ahead of the arrival of immigration officers.
In an interview with host Margaret Brennan on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Duckworth said when she joined fellow Illinois Democrats Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Brad Schneider for a tour of the Naval Station Great Lakes, Department of Homeland Security officials had given staff the day off, “locked the doors and left the base.”
“Basically, they fled the base,” Duckworth said. Naval Station Great Lakes, which opened in 1911, is the site for boot camp for Naval trainees.
Officials last week said that up to 300 ICE agents would be operating out of the Great Lakes Naval Base as President Donald Trump ramps up his efforts against Democratic-controlled sanctuary cities. Trump also said the administration will deploy the National Guard to the city, drawing outrage from Democrats including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Ahead of the lawmakers’ trip to the base, Duckworth said, she and her colleagues asked DHS if they could come tour the facility to have a “better understanding of what your operations are.”
DHS officials, she said, replied no.
“This is not the action of someone that’s doing something legal or that they’re- that they’re proud of,” said Duckworth.
“We certainly have sent the administration multiple inquiries about what they are planning on doing. Who are they bringing into Chicago? Are they planning to bring the National Guard in? They’ve none of that. They’ve not even reached out to local law enforcement to try to coordinate,” she added. “And we’ve not gotten any communications or feedback from the administration, whatsoever.”
Navy officials that were on the base during the Democrats’ tour told them that the assistance they’ve been requested to provide so far is only office space for ICE, Duckworth added.
While it is unclear when ICE officials or the National Guard will be sent to Chicago, Trump on Saturday said his administration will go to “WAR” with the city of Chicago.
“Chicago [is] about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, referring to the Department of Defense’s planned name change.
Illinois officials quickly responded to the post, calling the president a “tyrant” and a “declaration of war.”
“I take what the President of the United States says very seriously, because that is the respect you have to give to the office,” Duckworth said on Sunday. “And if that’s what he’s declaring, then let me make it clear, it would be an illegal order to declare war on a major city, any city within the United States, by the President of the United States.
Duckworth says DHS ‘fled the base’ during visit by Democrats
Sen. Tammy Duckworth said Homeland Security officials “locked the doors” of the Great Lakes Naval Base.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/07/duckworth-dhs-fled-naval-base-visit-00549536
News Nation: Report: 14K federal workers, including USCIS, assisting ICE
The Cato Institute says over 14,500 federal law enforcement officers from other agencies are working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to facilitate raids and make arrests nationwide, including new special agents from USCIS.
The Cato Institute this week reported that ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) is receiving assistance from nearly 17,000 non-ERO agents, according to data given to the nonprofit organization.
That includes diverting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees to help with ICE raids.
The Department of Homeland Security this week announced a new class of USCIS employees had been “newly minted” as special agents to work with ICE.
USCIS personnel will have the authority “to investigate and enforce civil and criminal violations of the immigration laws within the jurisdiction of USCIS. These authorities include, but are not limited to, the issuance and execution of warrants, the arrest of individuals, and carrying of firearms,” according to a notice posted Friday in the Federal Register.
This includes ordering expedited removals. USCIS says it plans to recruit and train special agents for these roles.
“As (Homeland Security) Secretary Noem delegated lawful authorities to expand the agency’s law enforcement capabilities, this rule allows us to fulfill our critical mission. This historic moment will better address immigration crimes, hold those that perpetrate immigration fraud accountable, and act as a force multiplier for DHS and our federal law enforcement partners, including the Joint Terrorism Task Force,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a statement.
Edlow says this will allow his agency to handle investigations from start to finish, instead of referring some cases to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ERO agents.
The Cato Institute reports that other federal employees diverted to ICE ERO include:
- ICE HSI: 6,198
- FBI: 2,840
- Drug Enforcement Administration: 2,181
- Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives: 1,778
- U.S. Marshals Service: 650
- Border Patrol: 335
- Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations: 288
- Department of State – Diplomatic Security: 93
- CBP Air and Marine Operations: 68
- Department of Defense: 35
- IRS: 20
- Bureau of Prisons: 11
- U.S. Secret Service: 1
In addition, state and local law enforcement agencies have teamed up with ICE part of the 287(g) program. Cato reports that over 8,500 officers are contributing to ICE operations.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) is opposed to arming USCIS personnel to become an arresting arm.
“The Trump Administration has transformed USCIS into an enforcement agency, weaponizing the immigration system against American families, asylum seekers, and businesses. What’s worse, this rule states they now plan to arm potentially hundreds of agents at USCIS,” AILA President Jeff Joseph said.
“Congress established USCIS after 9/11 to process legal immigration applications. Enforcement actions were left to other agencies to ensure that immigrants felt safe submitting their personal information and appearing for interviews. The administration’s continued attacks on those who are following the rules and going through legal channels will only serve to push people further into the shadows. Their aim of driving people out of the country shows a shocking disregard for the value and contributions that immigrants make to America,” Johnson said.
Time: Trump Provokes Anger After Threatening Chicago With ‘Department of War’
President Donald Trump threatened Chicago with his newly-renamed “Department of War” on Saturday, prompting anger from city and state officials who have been preparing for a looming deployment of National Guard troops to the city for weeks.
“‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning…’ Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of War,” Trump’s post on Truth Social said, accompanied by what appeared to be an AI-generated depiction of himself as Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore from the 1979 Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now. The words “Chicopolyse Now” were emblazoned on the image, a reference to Apocalypse Now, and the background showed a burning city and helicopters flying away.
The post prompted anger from state and city officials. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker called Trump a “wannabe dictator” and took the post as a threat to “go to war” with Chicago.
“The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city,” Pritzker wrote on X. “This is not a joke. This is not normal.”
“Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator,” he added.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson accused Trump of “authoritarianism.”
“The President’s threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution,” he wrote on X.
The post follows Trump’s Friday executive order that rebranded the Department of Defense as the Department of War, a move the president claimed sent “a message of strength.”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said during the press conference Friday that the name indicates the department is “going to go on offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct.”
Trump’s threats against Chicago follow his decision to federalize D.C.’s police department and deploy National Guard troops on the streets on Aug. 11, citing violent crime—even though data showed that violent crime in the nation’s capital had already been declining significantly. Since then, the President has threatened similar deployments in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore, and Oakland.
Johnson and Pritzker have both been staunchly opposed to Trump’s threats of federal intervention. Last weekend, Johnson signed an executive order directing the city’s police force not to cooperate with federal agents in a potential crackdown on crime and immigration.
“We will protect our constitution. We will protect our city. And we will protect our people. We do not want to see tanks in our streets. We do not want to see families ripped apart,” Johnson said as he announced his executive order.
Pritzker has said that he will “absolutely” sue Trump and the federal government if he actually does deploy troops, adding to the multiple lawsuits already filed by Chicago against the President since his return to office in January.
Slingshot News: ‘It’s The American Flag’: Trump’s Mental Decline Shows Up Again When He Mistakes The Flag For A Blanket During Oval Office Signing
‘It’s The American Flag’: Trump’s Mental Decline Shows Up Again When He Mistakes The Flag For A Blanket During Oval Office Signing
President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders yesterday in the Oval Office, the most important of which is renaming the “Department of Defense” back to the “Department of War.” Congressman John Rose (R-TN) had to tell Trump his gift is the American flag when Trump excitedly told him it’s something he could use at night.
Mirror US: Trump warned Pentagon name change makes US a ‘laughing stock’ to both allies and enemies
The President aims to lean into ‘warrior ethos’ after having campaigned on promises of ‘uniting forces to end the endless foreign wars’
The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War after President Donald Trump first floated the idea on Monday, according to a Fox News report. A White House official confirmed the plan to The Mirror US on Thursday.
The decision marks a stark U-turn from the president’s campaign promises in 2024 to pursue peace, and from his frequent criticisms of former President Joe Biden for driving the U.S. “closer to World War III than anybody can imagine.”
“As President Trump said, our military should be focused on offense – not just defense – which is why he has prioritized warfighters at the Pentagon instead of DEI and woke ideology. Stay tuned!” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Reuters this week, referring to programs aimed at increasing diversity, equity and inclusion. The Trump administration has not revealed the reasons it believes the department’s name constitutes “woke ideology.” It comes after a lip reader revealed the chilling 3-word promise that Donald Trump whispered into Vladimir Putin’s ear at their Alaska summit.
The move follows a string of similar name-changing decisions by the Trump administration as a measure of projecting the president’s stance on specific policy issues. In January, Trump issued an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”. He also referred to his controversial July domestic spending bill as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which in recent days his administration has attempted to rebrand as the “working families tax cut.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also ordered the renaming of certain military vessels that previously bore the names of civil rights leaders, such as the USNS Harvey Milk. Last month, he renamed his conference room the “W.A.R. Room.” Hegseth has often proven to be concerned with the outward appearance of elements of his department, having even ordered a makeup studio to be installed inside the Pentagon and dictated which colors of nail polish are acceptable to be worn by Army soldiers.
Though restoring the name would require congressional action, the White House is reportedly exploring alternative methods to enact the change, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The decision to rename the Pentagon comes amid a broader push by Trump, Hegseth and their coalition to restore a “warrior ethos” to the federal government and America as a whole. It has included a purge of top military leaders whose views do not align with the president’s agenda.
“As Department of War, we won everything. We won everything,” Trump said last month, referring to the War Department established by Congress in 1789 to oversee the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. “I think we’re going to have to go back to that.”
The administration has also sought to ban transgender individuals from voluntarily joining the military and remove those who are currently serving on the basis of a claim that they are medically unfit. The claim has been described by civil rights groups as false and a representation of illegal discrimination, according to Reuters.
“This is so stupid and it’s going to make us a laughing stock in front of both our allies and our enemies,” one user wrote on X on Thursday.
Posturing the top defense department in the nation in a more aggressive and offensive direction is at odds with promises and statements made by Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump lobbed frequent criticisms at Biden for the fact that, during his presidency, Russia invaded Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas was ignited. “(Biden) will drive us into World War III, and we’re closer to World War III than anybody can imagine,” Trump said, according to CNN.
Last August, while endorsing anti-war former Democratic Rep. Tusli Gabbard at a National Guard conference in Detroit, Trump claimed both Democrats and Independents would vote for him because of his plan to end wars. “We’re uniting forces to end the endless foreign wars,” he said of Gabbard’s endorsement. “When I’m back in the White House, we will expel the warmongers, the profiteers … and we will restore world peace.”
“I am confident that his first task will be to do the work to walk us back from the brink of war,” Gabbard said. “We cannot be prosperous unless we are at peace.”
His decision in June to launch a missile attack on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities threw several of his most ardent, right-wing supporters into opposition, urging the president and his allies not to engage in foreign conflicts.
Trump, who claimed that he would solve the Russia-Ukraine war before taking office on Jan. 20,” had made little headway by early September in brokering peace between the two nations. He has also dubiously claimed that he has personally ended a handful of global wars during his second term.
“We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into,” Trump said during his inaugural address. “My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be: a peacemaker and a unifier.”
It comes after Ukraine warned that Putin has a hit list of FIVE countries that he wants to invade next.
Trump warned Pentagon rename makes US a ‘laughing stock’ to allies and enemies
The President aims to lean into ‘warrior ethos’ after having campaigned on promises of ‘uniting forces to end the endless foreign wars’
https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/trump-warned-pentagon-name-change-1372151
CNN: Was fatal US strike on Venezuelan ‘drug boat’ legal?
A strike carried out by US forces on a boat in the Caribbean Sea – which the White House says killed 11 drug traffickers – may have violated international human rights and maritime law, legal experts have told BBC Verify.
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that US forces destroyed a vessel which he said had departed from Venezuela. He said the boat was operated by the Tren de Aragua cartel and was carrying drugs bound for the US.
US defence officials have so far declined to offer details on the strike, footage of which Trump shared on Truth Social, including what legal authority they relied upon to justify it.
BBC Verify reached out to a range of experts in international and maritime law, with several saying that US may have acted illegally in attacking the vessel.
The US is not a signatory to United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, but the US military’s legal advisors have previously said that the US should “act in a manner consistent with its provisions”.
Under the convention, countries agree not to interfere with vessels operating in international waters. There are limited exceptions to this which allow a state to seize a ship, such as a “hot pursuit” where a vessel is chased from a country’s waters into the high seas.
“Force can be used to stop a boat but generally this should be non-lethal measures,” Prof Luke Moffett of Queens University Belfast said.
But he added that the use of aggressive tactics must be “reasonable and necessary in self-defence where there is immediate threat of serious injury or loss of life to enforcement officials”, noting that the US moves were likely “unlawful under the law of the sea”.
Are US strikes on alleged cartel members legal?
Experts have also questioned whether the killing of the alleged members of the Tren de Aragua cartel could contravene international law on the use of force.
Under Article 2(4) of the UN charter, countries can resort to force when under attack and deploying their military in self-defence. Trump has previously accused the Tren de Aragua cartel of conducting irregular warfare against the US, and the state department has designated the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.
But Prof Michael Becker of Trinity College Dublin told BBC Verify that the US actions “stretches the meaning of the term beyond its breaking point”.
“The fact that US officials describe the individuals killed by the US strike as narco-terrorists does not transform them into lawful military targets,” he said. “The US is not engaged in an armed conflict with Venezuela or the Tren de Aragua criminal organization.”
“Not only does the strike appear to have violated the prohibition on the use of force, it also runs afoul of the right to life under international human rights law.”
Prof Moffett said that the use of force in this case could amount to an “extrajudicial arbitrary killing” and “a fundamental violation of human rights”.
“Labelling everyone a terrorist does not make them a lawful target and enables states to side-step international law,” he said.
Notre Dame Law School Professor Mary Ellen O’Connell told BBC Verify that the strike “violated fundamental principles of international law”, adding: “Intentional killing outside armed conflict hostilities is unlawful unless it is to save a life immediately.”
“Sometimes armed groups waging war against governments deal in drugs to pay for their participation in conflict. There is no evidence the gang President Trump targeted is such a group.”
But US officials have been quick to defend the strike. Republican Senator Lindsay Graham wrote on X that the strike was the “ultimate – and most welcome – sign that we have a new sheriff in town”.
His fellow Republican senator, Bernie Moreno from Ohio, wrote: “Sinking this boat saved American lives. To the narco traffickers and the narco dictators, you’ll eventually get the same treatment.”
A White House official told BBC Verify that Trump had authorised the strike on the boat, which they said was crewed by Tren de Aragua members, after it left Venezuela. The official added that the president was committed to using all means to prevent drugs reaching the US.
The Pentagon has declined to share the legal advice it obtained before carrying out the strike.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News: “we’ve got incredible assets and they are gathering in the region… those 11 drug traffickers are no longer with us, sending a very clear signal that this is an activity the United States is not going to tolerate in our hemisphere.”
Can Trump launch attacks without Congressional approval?
Questions have also been raised as to whether the White House complied with US law in authorising the strike. The US constitution says that only Congress has the power to declare war.
However, Article II – which lays out the president’s powers – says that “the president shall be Commander in Chief of the Army” and some constitutional experts have suggested that this grants the president the power to authorise strikes against military targets. Trump administration sources have previously cited this provision when defending US strikes on Iran.
But it is unclear whether that provision extends to the use of force against non-state actors such as drug cartels.
Rumen Cholakov, an expert in US constiutional law at King’s College London told BBC Verify that since 9/11, US presidents have relied on the 2001 Authorization of Use of Military Force Act (AUMF) when carrying out strikes against groups responsible for the attacks.
“Its scope has been expanded consistently in subsequent administrations,” he added. “It is not immediately obvious that drug cartels such as Tren de Aragua would be within the President’s AUMF powers, but that might be what “narco-terrorists” is hinting at.”
Questions also remain as to whether Trump complied with the War Powers Resolution, which demands that the president “in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities”.
How did the US conduct the strike?
It is unclear what method the US used to launch the attack. Trump did not offer details in his news conference in the Oval Office and the Department of Defense has failed to offer further information.
In Venezuela President Maduro has yet to respond to the US strikes, but his Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez has suggested that the footage released by the White House may have been generated using AI. In a post to X, he suggested that water in the video “looks very stylized and unnatural”.
BBC Verify has run the clip through SynthID – Google’s AI detection software – and found no evidence that the footage is fake.
The strikes come amid reports that the US has deployed several naval warships to the region in support of anti-narcotics operations against Venezuela.
We’ve not been able to track all of these vessels. But using information from publicly-available onboard trackers, and videos on social media, we’ve potentially identified four of them in the region.
A ship identifying itself as the USS Lake Erie – a guided missile cruiser – last transmitted its location in the Caribbean Sea on 30 August, east of the Panama Canal on 30 August.
Two others identifying themselves as the USS Gravely and USS Jason Dunham last transmitted their locations in mid-August, at the American base in Guantanamo Bay. A fourth, the USS Fort Lauderdale, transmitted its location north of the Dominican Republic on 28 August.
Trump – who has long sought to oust Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro – has authorised a US$50m reward for any information leading to his arrest. The Venezuelan leader claimed victory in last year’s elections, widely viewed as rigged by international observers.
The consensus seems to be that it was illegal. Only Trump’s merry band of misfits, suck-ups, and sycophants seems to think otherwise.
Newsweek: Donald Trump to make televised announcement at White House
President Donald Trump is scheduled to make an unspecified announcement on Tuesday afternoon following days of rumors about his health.
The president will make “an announcement” from the Oval Office at 2 p.m. ET, according to the daily guidance and press schedule issued by the White House on Monday night.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Newsweek: “The President will be making an exciting announcement related to the Department of Defense.”
Why It Matters
False rumors that Trump had died began circulating on social media on Friday, after some noted he had not been seen in public for several days after attending a Cabinet meeting on August 26. He also had no public events over the Labor Day weekend.
Thousands of posts were shared on X, featuring hashtags including #whereistrump and #TRUMPDIED. Posts speculating about Trump’s possible demise had acquired over 1.3 million user engagements as of Saturday morning, according to Grok, X’s AI-powered chatbot.
Some 158,000 X posts including the phrase ‘TRUMP IS DEAD’ and 42,000 stating ‘TRUMP DIED’ had been made as of 7:48 a.m. ET on Saturday, according to the platform’s analytics. Some continued posting about the rumor, though engagement dropped after Trump was pictured heading to his golf course in Virginia on Saturday. Photos of Trump departing the White House on Labor Day were also circulated by Getty Images.
What To Know
According to the schedule issued by the White House, the presidential press pool will be in attendance during the president’s announcement.
The pool on Tuesday includes television crews from Fox and Gray TV, meaning the announcement will likely be broadcast or streamed live.
But the lack of detail in the schedule prior to Leavitt’s statement had prompted speculation on social media. Despite Trump addressing rumors about his health on Sunday night, some continued to question the nature of the announcement, with some suggesting it could be related to a possible resignation.
“NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, in response to a post from a MAGA influencer who claimed the “media freaks out” if he disappears for 24 hours.
Questions about the president’s health were also spurred by new photos showing bruising on his hand. In July, the White House said Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), which his physician described as “benign and common.”
Days earlier, Vice President JD Vance said in an interview with USA Today that he was “very confident the President of the United States is in good shape, is going to serve out the remainder of his term and do great things for the American people.”
“And if, God forbid, there’s a terrible tragedy, I can’t think of better on-the-job training than what I’ve gotten over the last 200 days,” he added.
What People Are Saying
Political commentator Keith Olbermann wrote on X: “BREAKING: Oh nothing. Just a president who talks compulsively but has not spoken publicly in a week scheduling ‘an announcement’ at 2 PM tomorrow, per Trump official WH schedule.”
The Republicans against Trump account wrote on X: “Is he resigning?”
Spectrum News reporter Taylor Popielarz wrote on X that Tuesday’s announcement will be Trump’s “first open press event since last Tuesday’s cabinet meeting — the longest stretch of Trump’s second term without one. The president spoke with @reaganreese_ for nearly an hour last Friday for an off-camera interview with the @DailyCaller, but he otherwise has not interacted with the press in seven days.”
Charlotte Clymer, a writer and activist, wrote on Bluesky: The only important thing about tomorrow’s press conference is whether Trump can dispel the serious concerns over his health. Can he convince the public he’s not experiencing severe medical issues? Get up there, do announcement, take questions, and act normal. It shouldn’t be difficult, and yet…”
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-announcement-health-speculation-2122977