Donald Trump has pulled Elise Stefanik’s nomination to be his UN ambassador over fears that a special election in her upstate New York district might endanger the slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives — crucial to enacting the Trump agenda.
Stefanik appeared on Fox News shortly after where she said she was “proud to be a team player” and denied suggestions by Democrats that the move was a sign of failure by the Trump administration.
The administration, meanwhile, remains under fire over the alarming security breach that saw Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, added by mistake to a Signal group chat in which the president’s most senior security officials discussed upcoming military action.
The magazine published their text exchange in full on Wednesday in response to denials that classified information had been compromised. There have been calls for the resignations of both Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
Elsewhere, Elon Musk and members of his DOGE team appeared on Fox News to talk about their efforts to make drastic cuts to the federal government, including tens of thousands of layoffs.
The tech billionaire claimed that the department was “the biggest revolution since the original,” apparently referring to the American Revolution, and dismissed his detractors as “fraudsters.”
EDITORIAL: Under Trump, 80 years of collective security have been dismantled in as many days
There is a case for saying that no one has done so much for European unity as Donald J Trump. If assessed on purely objective grounds he would be a shoo-in for this year’s Charlemagne Prize, an award given to “individuals or institutions for work done in the service of European unification”.
Explained: Classified information and secure communications
The Trump administration’s use of a popular messaging app to discuss sensitive military plans — with a journalist on the text chain — is raising questions about security and the importance of safeguarding the nation’s secrets.
It’s also highlighting the differences between classified and public information, and demonstrating that even encrypted apps like Signal can lead to embarrassing leaks if the humans doing the texting don’t follow basic security tips.
Read on…
Push to dismantle Education Department will undue hard-won gains, say Civil rights groups
The rights of Americans to self-determine how to educate their children — a hotly contested matter that stretches back to at least the Civil War — have long been intertwined with the principle of equally and equitably educating children across racial lines.
When President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order to dismantle the U.S. Education Department, he declared that“the experiment of controlling American education through federal programs and dollars … has plainly failed our children, our teachers, and our families.” By doing so, he reopened a debate in the fight over the federal government’s role in education policy.
Civil rights advocates see Trump’s order to shutter the department as a broadside against hard-fought gains in educational access — an unfinished, but nonetheless central, part of the movement for racial equality and greater democracy.
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EPA offers industrial polluters a way to avoid rules on toxic chemicals
As part of a push to roll back dozens of environmental regulations, the Trump administration is offering coal-fired power plants and other industrial polluters a chance for exemptions from requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene.
The Environmental Protection Agency has set up an electronic mailbox to allow regulated companies to request a presidential exemption under the Clean Air Act to a host of Biden-era rules.
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NYC rapper who campaigned with Trump pleads guilty to attempted murder
A New York City rapper who joined President Donald Trump during a campaign rally last year has pleaded guilty to attempted murder and conspiracy charges after prosecutors say he used earnings from his music career to fuel gang violence in Brooklyn.
Sheff G, whose legal name is Michael Williams, agreed to serve five years in prison as part of the plea entered in a Brooklyn court Wednesday, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.
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Police: Man accused of setting fire to Tesla vehicles in Las Vegas arrested
A man who set fire to Tesla vehicles in Las Vegas and who painted the word “resist” for authorities to find at the scene has been arrested, police announced Tuesday.
Paul Hyon Kim, 36, faces charges of arson, possession of an explosive device and shooting into a vehicle in state court, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference.
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Trump pushes to control all of Ukraine’s mineral and energy assets in sweeping new demands
Donald Trump is seeking US control over all of Ukraine’s rare minerals and energy assets – including oil and gas – in extraordinary new proposals to Kyiv.
Trump’s latest proposals go far beyond the minerals deal that collapsed last month during Volodymyr Zelensky’s disastrous White House visit, multiple news outlets reported on Thursday.
Read more here:
ICE arrests University of Alabama doctoral student from Iran
Alireza Doroudi, who is studying mechanical engineering, was arrested at his home around 5 a.m. Tuesday, according to student newspaper The Crimson White.
Alex Woodward has the details.
Stefanik denies her withdrawn nomination is a sign of failing Trump agenda
Elise Stefanik hit back against suggestions that her withdrawn UN Ambassador nomination was a “sign that the Trump agenda isn’t working.”
Speaking to Fox News on Thursday night, she branded the claims as “desperate political posturing” from Democrats, who were polling “at a historic low point.”
“President Trump has historic approval ratings, as well as congressional Republicans [who] have historic approval ratings right now,” she said.
“So this is a Democrat party that is an absolute free fall. Democrats are failing to unify, versus Republicans who are defying all political odds.
“We are defying what the media is saying and continuing to pass these important agenda items, which we will do in the house, working through the Senate, and the President will be there to sign them.”
Stefanik says Americans will be hearing ‘a lot more from me’
Speaking to Fox News on Thursday night, Elise Stefanik vowed to be a vocal supporter of Donald Trump and his agenda – especially now that her confirmation for UN Ambassador was no longer pending.
Donald Trump withdrew her nomination just hours before so that she might help the Republican party maintain its Congressional seats in New York
“The Good News… is because I’m not pending confirmation, the American people will be hearing a lot more from me, because you’re limited in what you can say when you were pending confirmation,” Stefanik said.
“So I’m glad to have joined Fox today, as I will continue to do, and just look forward to sharing my voice, as I always have – being one of the top fighters and top allies on behalf of President Trump on behalf of the American people and on behalf of my district, standing up for our principles.”
Source: independent.co.uk
