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Thursday: Below the Fold
Tragedy in DC, Trump signs Laken Riley Act and opens Gitmo for illegals, disgusted LA voters might just vote Republican, and more.
Tragedy in DC: Recovery efforts are ongoing after an Army Blackhawk helicopter crashed into an American Airlines passenger plane last night near Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC. The plane was coming from Wichita, Kansas, at around 9 p.m. ET and was just seconds from landing. Authorities say there are no survivors. There were 64 people on board American Airlines flight 5342, and the Army says that three soldiers were on the UH-60 helicopter, which was apparently on a training flight from Fort Belvoir, located about 14 miles south of DC. This tragic collision was the first crash involving a U.S. commercial flight since Colgan Air Flight 3407 in February 2009 (49 killed). We at The Patriot Post join our country in prayer.
Trump signs Laken Riley Act and opens Gitmo for illegals: President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law yesterday while also announcing that the worst of our nation’s illegal alien detainees will be housed at the American detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Laken Riley legislation, which directs ICE agents to detain illegals who’ve been arrested or charged with theft-related crimes, or accused of assaulting a police officer, thus becomes the first new law of his second term. Riley’s mom, Allyson Phillips, attended the signing ceremony and thanked those who worked to pass the legislation. As for Gitmo, Trump said he’d direct the Pentagon to prepare it for housing 30,000 illegals. “Some of them are so bad, we don’t even trust their countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back,” he said, adding, “It’s a tough place to get out of.”
Meta settles with Trump for $25 million: Yesterday saw yet another instance of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg trying to make amends with Donald Trump. This time, his company announced its agreement to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump shortly after he left office in 2021. At the time, Trump called it “illegal, shameful censorship of the American people.” Recall that not only was Facebook full-throttle banning free speech ahead of the 2020 presidential election, but Zuckerberg also suspended Trump’s accounts after the J6 Capitol riot. Trump has argued that banning TikTok would serve to strengthen Facebook, declaring, “I don’t want Facebook … doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!” Times have clearly changed, though, as Zuckerberg donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration committee and was prominently located at the event along with other Big Tech titans.
Menendez sentenced: Bob “Gold Bars” Menendez, the former longtime Democrat senator from New Jersey who was found guilty of multiple corruption charges for fraud and bribery, was handed an 11-year prison sentence on Wednesday. Menendez had served as a senator for nearly 18 years and was the chair of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee at the time of his conviction. “The public cannot be led to believe that you can get away with bribery and fraud and betraying the voters of New Jersey,” said U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein. Menendez’s case is the first time a U.S. senator in a leadership position has been convicted of abusing their position in service to a foreign agent. The foreign agent in question was Egypt, which sought to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid.
Trump orders crackdown on campus anti-Semitism: Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday targeting foreign nationals residing in the U.S. who promoted or were involved in anti-Semitic protests on college campuses across the country following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. According to the White House, the Justice Department will “aggressively prosecute terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews.” Regarding his order, Trump stated, “To all the resident aliens who joined the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: Come 2025 we will find you and we will deport you. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before." The order also directs the DOJ to investigate pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation on college campuses.
Leftist arrested near U.S. Capitol with knives and firebombs: Political violence tends to locate itself on the Left. As proof, we can list urban riots and presidential inauguration riots, as well as more deadly examples, such as assassination attempts on U.S. presidents, Supreme Court justices, and members of Congress. This week, we got yet another example of this when U.S. Capitol Police arrested a Massachusetts man near the south door of the U.S. Capitol with knives and Molotov cocktails. The man allegedly planned to kill not only House Speaker Mike Johnson but also two Trump cabinet members: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. In this case, however — as was the case with the would-be assassin of Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022 — the lunatic wound up turning himself in to law enforcement.
USDA IG escorted out of office after resisting being fired: Last Friday, Donald Trump issued orders to fire the heads of 17 federal inspectors general. The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) challenged Trump’s dismissals as running afoul of federal law. In that vein, Phyllis Fong, a 22-year veteran in the IG office of the Department of Agriculture who chaired CIGIE from 2008 through 2014, refused to comply, which resulted in security agents escorting her out of the USDA on Monday. The White House defended Trump’s firings, stating, "These rogue, partisan bureaucrats … have been relieved of their duties in order to make room for qualified individuals who will uphold the rule of law and protect Democracy.”
Disgusted LA voters might just vote Republican: Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that a new survey shows Los Angeles voters are upset with Mayor Karen Bass for her incompetent handling of the calamitous wildfires there. Residents have clearly been mugged by reality. Indeed, Bass gets a woeful 37% approval rating on this question, with 54% disapproving and 9% somehow unsure. This makes us wonder: What on earth is that 37% smoking? The survey also asked LA residents a couple of questions that should be of even greater concern to politicians in the Democrat-dominated Golden State: first, whether they’d vote for Bass or Republican Rick Caruso, whom Bass defeated easily in 2022. If a hypothetical rematch of that election were held today, Caruso beats Bass 43% to 36%, with 21% undecided. Secondly, the poll asked residents if they’d consider voting for Republican leadership in LA. To this question, 43% said yes, while 46% said no, and 11% were unsure.
Western state lawmakers want grizzlies delisted from ESA: The Yellowstone grizzly bear population is no longer endangered, having long since passed the recovery goal of 500 bears established in 1975. As of 2023, the population topped 1,030; nonetheless, the Biden administration refused to delist grizzlies from the Endangered Species Act, angering western state Republican lawmakers. The refusal showed that the “Endangered Species Act is broken beyond repair,” noted Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis. “Western states have proven track records of effectively managing their wildlife populations, and returning grizzly responsibility back to the local level ensures ignorant Washington bureaucrats keep their paws off of state matters.” Lummis, supported by senators from Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, introduced the Grizzly Bear State Management Act on Thursday, which will remove grizzlies from the threatened status and shift population management to the states while preserving federal oversight.
Headlines
At least 14 members of U.S. Figure Skating team were on American Airlines flight (NY Post)
Hamas releases eight more Gaza hostages (USA Today)
GDP grew at a 2.3% pace in the fourth quarter, less than expected (CNBC) | Fed holds rates steady, takes less confident view on inflation (CNBC)
Trump signs executive orders stripping federal funding from schools that teach CRT, supporting school choice (Fox News)
Trump pardon recipients are being charged with new crimes (Newsweek)
Trump creates task force for huge celebration of America’s 250th birthday (Daily Signal)
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