Tag Archives: North Carolina

Bloomberg: Unrestrained Trump Turns to Military in Second-Term Power Play

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President Donald Trump’s moves to deploy US troops to Los Angeles and hold a splashy parade on the Army’s 250th birthday fulfills his longtime goal of leaning on the military for a show of force and political power.

Stymied in his first term by cabinet members who resisted the use of soldiers on American soil, Trump has a more compliant team around him this time. After sending in the National Guard this weekend, he escalated his showdown with California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday by mobilizing 700 active-duty Marines, a decision that Newsom called a “provocation.”

Late Monday, Trump went even further, authorizing an additional 2,000 National Guard members to deploy there, bringing the total to 4,000, not including the Marines.

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David Leopold, a former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the presence of the National Guard and Marines was a “shocking” development meant to deliberately spread chaos, confusion and fear. “What we’ve seen is people exercising their First Amendment rights,” Leopold told Bloomberg Television. “That is what these troops are being sent out to suppress.”

Unrestrained Trump Turns to Military in Second-Term Power Play

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-10/unrestrained-trump-turns-to-military-in-second-term-power-play

Also here (no paywall):

Unrestrained Trump Turns to Military in Second-Term Power Play

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/unrestrained-trump-turns-to-military-in-second-term-power-play/ar-AA1Gq3xN

NBC News: Anti-ICE protests held coast to coast after L.A. unrest as national movement grows

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Activists plan more events Tuesday in New York, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta.

The protests that roiled Los Angeles over the weekend were set to spread Tuesday across the country, as activists planned demonstrations in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and elsewhere.

Rallies protesting ICE raids and the government’s immigration policies have spread across California and beyond this week. A series of so-called No Kings demonstrations are planned nationwide for Saturday.

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NBC News counted at least 25 rallies and demonstrations coast to coast. Some of them involved only a few dozen participants, while others attracted thousands to make a stand against the detention and removal of suspected undocumented migrants.

Many protesters across the country were trade unionists calling for the release of SEIU California President David Huerta, who was arrested on Friday.

Bimbo #2 is still too dense to get the message:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem signaled on Tuesday that she would continue the agency’s program of raids and deportations despite the widespread protests.

“ICE will continue to enforce the law,” [Bimbo #2] Noem said.

It’s only just begun! 🙂

Anti-ICE protests held coast to coast after L.A. unrest as national movement grows
Activists plan more events Tuesday in New York, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/anti-ice-protests-held-coast-coast-l-unrest-national-movement-grows-rcna211980

Associated Press: Immigration official defends tactics against criticism of a heavy hand as arrests rise nationwide

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Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, turned emotional when asked to explain why officials wear masks. He said some have received death threats and been harassed online.

“I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line, their family on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is,” he said at a news conference in Boston to announce nearly 1,500 arrests in the region as part of a month-long “surge operation.”

Lyons was leaving the room when a reporter asked him about the masks. He returned to the podium.

“Is that the issue here that we’re just upset about the masks?” he asked. “Or is anyone upset about the fact that ICE officers’ families were labeled terrorists?”

Lyons may have been referring to comments by San Diego Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera, who called ICE officers “terrorists” after Friday’s restaurant raid. “This isn’t safety. It’s state-sponsored terrorism,” Elo-Rivera wrote on Instagram.

Gestapo? Terrorists? Thugs? ICE is receiving the reputation it has earned. And I could care less if the poor bully boys are harassed, either online or in public — they’ve earned it.

Immigration official defends tactics against criticism of a heavy hand as arrests rise nationwide
The head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is defending himself against criticism that authorities are being too heavy-handed as they ramp up arrests toward President Donald Trump’s promises of mass deportations.

https://apnews.com/article/ice-agents-masked-boston-deportations-todd-lyons-4fa874908a64b12f1b1ee0be3825fb39

Atlanta Black Star News: ‘This Is So Targeted and Intentional’: New U.S. Military Grooming Policy Is ‘Racist,’ Singles Out Black Servicemembers, Critics Say

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Several branches of the United States military have changed their policies governing pseudofolliculitis barbae, or PFB, a painful skin condition more commonly known as razor bumps or ingrown hairs, which affects more Black men than any other group.

Now critics accuse the military of targeting Black men with the condition, even as past studies have shown those with medical waivers allowing them to have short beards were already lagging behind in promotions compared to their non-waivered counterparts.

In March, the U.S. Marine Corps issued new guidance on its shaving waivers that could result in the expulsion of service members with a recurring condition of PFB. The Air Force and Space Force also updated their guidance on grooming waivers in January.

Pete Hegseth’s military: Women and minorities need no apply. Screw ya!

‘This Is So Targeted and Intentional’: New U.S. Military Grooming Policy Is ‘Racist,’ Singles Out Black Servicemembers, Critics Say
Several branches of the United States military have changed their policies governing pseudofolliculitis barbae, or PFB, a painful skin condition more
‘This Is So Targeted and Intentional’: New U.S. Military Grooming Policy Is ‘Racist,’ Singles Out Black Servicemembers, Critics Say

Alternet: Trump to western North Carolina: ‘Drop dead’ | Opinion

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Sometimes, it’s hard to keep track of the wild policy swings that are the signatures of the second Trump administration. From tariffs and trade to Russia and Ukraine, it often takes just hours for supposedly strong policy stances to be contradicted or abandoned by the president or his aides.

And now, this chaotic pattern is directly impacting North Carolina.

Both last fall and this past January, Trump blasted the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene and made bold promises that he would rebuild storm-ravaged areas better than ever.

Unfortunately, that was then and this is now. This fact was made clear last week when the administration abruptly turned off the federal funding spigot by rejecting Gov. Josh Stein’ request to continue providing matching funds for the state’s Helene recovery appropriations.

The decision leaves the state on the hook for $200 million or more in additional expenses for debris cleanup and other emergency work.

The bottom line: Once again, the president has said one thing and done another, and sadly, North Carolinians will pay the price.

Trump to western North Carolina: ‘Drop dead’ | Opinion

https://www.alternet.org/trump-hurricane-relief-2672228371

Rolling Stone: Trump’s FEMA Denies North Carolina’s Request for Hurricane Helene Aid

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The president repeatedly bashed the Biden administration’s response to the disaster

Late in the 2024 campaign cycle, parts of western North Carolina were devastated by Hurricane Helene. Donald Trump accused former President Joe Biden of abandoning the region and mishandling the response to the crisis. The disaster in North Carolina became the jumping point for a myriad of conspiracies and attacks by Republicans against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FAMA). Trump vowed he would improve disaster responses as president. 

That was then.

This is now:

Now, four months into his administration North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, has become the latest lawmaker from a disaster-ravaged state who has been forced to beg the president to provide much-needed aid. 

On Friday, Stein published a video on social media informing the public that the Trump administration had denied the state’s request for FEMA to honor a Biden-era commitment to pay for 100 percent of debris removal costs. 

I guess King Donald changed his mind.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/fema-denies-north-carolina-request-hurricane-helene-aid-1235347521

Raw Story: Trump’s FEMA thumbs nose at state that backed him 3 times: ‘Gonna cost a lot’

Under President Donald Trump, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has turned down a request from a storm-ravaged state that narrowly voted for him three times.

Western North Carolina saw massive devastation last year from Hurricane Helene, which killed over 100 people and left the city of Asheville, along with a number of small communities in the Appalachian Mountains, struggling to pick up the pieces after flooding in areas that had hardly ever seen floods before. At the time, Trump supporters spread baseless conspiracy theories that the federal government was ignoring communities there, or only giving aid to Democratic areas, and Trump himself vowed to improve emergency management.

According to Rolling Stone, however, Trump’s administration is now denying an extension of a commitment to pay the full amount for a vital portion of the recovery process.

See above for the Rolling Stone article.

https://www.rawstory.com/fema-north-carolina

USA Today: ‘We have to try lifting ourselves’: USAID workers fired months ago are still scrambling for jobs

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They were among the first of the federal employees to lose their jobs, and months later, laid off workers for the U.S. Agency for International Development are still struggling to regain their footing.

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Roughly 95% said they had lost savings and retirement funds, 60% lost access to health care, and 37% have already lost their housing. Many said they will have trouble paying their bills in the coming months. 

‘We have to try lifting ourselves’: USAID workers fired months ago are still scrambling for jobs
USAID’s former workers are used to helping people and projects around the world – but now they’re turning inward to support each other.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/19/usaid-workers-next-job/83332416007

The Atlantic: Trump’s Inevitable Betrayal of His Supporters

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On Sunday, Donald Trump went on TV and told Americans that their children should make do with less. “They don’t need to have 30 dolls; they can have three,” the president said on Meet the Press. “They don’t need to have 250 pencils; they can have five.” Critics were quick to point out the irony of America’s avatar of excess telling others to tighten their belt. But the problem with Trump’s remark goes beyond the optics. It’s that his argument for austerity contradicts his campaign commitments—and exposes the limits of his transactional approach to politics.

Throughout his 2024 run, the president promised Americans a return to the prosperity of his pre-COVID first term. “Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods,” he told a Montana rally in August. “They’ll come down, and they’ll come down fast,” he declared days later in North Carolina. But at the same time, Trump also promised to impose steep tariffs on consumer goods—dubbing tariff one of “the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard”—even though the levies would effectively serve as a tax on everyday Americans.

These two pledges could not be reconciled, and once elected, Trump was forced to choose between them. The results have disillusioned many of those who voted for him. Trump’s approval on the economy has plunged since he announced his “Liberation Day.” A former strength has become a weakness. “If you look at his economic net approval rating in his first term, it was consistently above water,” the CNN analyst Harry Enten noted last month. “It was one of his best issues, and now it’s one of his worst issues.”

Trump’s Inevitable Betrayal of His Supporters
Trump never meant to keep his promises. His voters are starting to notice.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/trump-s-inevitable-betrayal-of-his-supporters/ar-AA1EosZ3

The Dispatch: Trump’s Team of Losers

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The president has hired lots of people who couldn’t win their own elections.

He’s not alone. Hegseth is only one member of the second Trump administration to have been plucked from the pantheon of electoral duds and given a second lease on political life. From the Cabinet all the way to high-profile White House aides, there are failed candidates for major office who might have otherwise toiled for years in obscurity or, even worse, local politics if not for Trump’s magnanimity. Contrary to the president’s boasted affection for winners, it’s loyalty to Trump, sometimes even in the face of defeat, that remains the most valuable characteristic for a Republican looking to get ahead these days. Even the losers.

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So the pathway for aspiring MAGA politicians is clear: in order to get the Trump administration imprimatur to win a future race for office, try losing one first.

Trump’s Team of Losers
The president has hired lots of people who couldn’t win their own elections.
Trump’s Team of Losers

Fox News: Army suspends commander after Trump, Vance, Hegseth vanish from command board

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Just another lame excuse to boot a woman from the officer ranks, as the glass ceiling spirals ever downward:

The commander of Fort McCoy was relieved of duty after the U.S. Army base failed to install photos of President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on a wall displaying their chain of command. 

Col.  Sheyla Baez Ramirez was suspended as garrison commander of Ft. McCoy in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. “This suspension is not related to any misconduct,” the U.S. Army Reserve Command said in a statement, “We have no further details to provide at this time while this matter is under review.”

Army suspends commander after Trump, Vance, Hegseth vanish from command board
Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez was suspended after photos showed missing portraits of President Trump, Vice President Vance and Sec. Hegseth on Ft. McCoy’s chain of command board.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/army-suspends-commander-after-trump-vance-hegseth-vanish-from-command-board/ar-AA1Dl31O