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Trump targets Greenland and Panama as international students urged back to campus before inauguration: Live

Danish defense minister says country will spend $1.5 billion to ensire ‘stronger presence’ in Arctic

Alex Woodward,Oliver O'Connell,Gustaf Kilander
Thursday 26 December 2024 14:37 GMT
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Congress Narrowly Averts Government Shutdown — And Rejects Trump’s Debt Ceiling Commands

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Donald Trump has posted his traditional rambling Christmas message calling out various foes, taunting adversaries, and reiterating his desire for U.S. territorial expansionism — including retaking the Panama Canal, incorporating Canada into the union, and buying Greenland.

A Danish official said an announcement that the country is boosting defense spending for Greenland, was an “irony of fate.”

Troels Lund Poulsen, the Danish defense minister, told the paper Jyllands-Posten Tuesday that the country plans to spend a “double-digit billion amount” in krone — about $1.5 billion — to make sure they have a “stronger presence” in the Arctic.

Trump said the “ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity” for the U.S., which operates a base in the territory’s northwest.

After seemingly joking about Canada becoming the “51st” state, the incoming president fired off ominous messages in recent days alleging the Panama Canal and Greenland pose serious economic and national security threats to the United States and might be targeted for some kind of annexation or purchase.

Meanwhile, college campuses across the country are calling the nation’s more than 1 million international students back to school before Trump’s inauguration, warning that the possibility of an imminent travel ban targeting certain countries could impact their return.

Trump posts rambling long form Christmas greeting

Just in case you thought Donald Trump was going to deliver a simple “Merry Christmas” as his holiday greeting, here’s what we’ve really been waiting for — a bizarre, rambling message to [checks notes] China’s soldiers, Justin Trudeau, the people of Greenland, and Radical Left Lunatics.

The president-elect also refuses to wish Merry Christmas to the “37 most violent criminals” pardoned by Joe Biden, instead telling them to “GO TO HELL.”

Here’s the two-part Truth Social post in full:

Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal (where we lost 38,000 people in its building 110 years ago), always making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in “repair” money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about “anything.” Also, to Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose Citizens’ Taxes are far too high, but if Canada was to become our 51st State, their Taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World. Likewise, to the people of Greenland, which is needed by the United States for National Security purposes and, who want the U.S. to be there, and we will!…

…Page 2: Merry Christmas to the Radical Left Lunatics, who are constantly trying to obstruct our Court System and our Elections, and are always going after the Great Citizens and Patriots of the United States but, in particular, their Political Opponent, ME. They know that their only chance of survival is getting pardons from a man who has absolutely no idea what he is doing. Also, to the 37 most violent criminals, who killed, raped, and plundered like virtually no one before them, but were just given, incredibly, a pardon by Sleepy Joe Biden. I refuse to wish a Merry Christmas to those lucky “souls” but, instead, will say, GO TO HELL! We had the Greatest Election in the History of our Country, a bright light is now shining over the U.S.A. and, in 26 days, we will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Oliver O'Connell25 December 2024 20:32

Biden signs 50 bills into law on Christmas Eve - including legislation supported by Paris Hilton

President Joe Biden spent Christmas Eve signing 50 bills into law, including one piece of legislation supported by Paris Hilton and another designating the bald eagle as the U.S. national bird.

The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, backed by Hilton, a socialite and activist, is designed to hold teenage treatment centers and care facilities accountable. Hilton spent time on Capitol Hill promoting the measure.

This month, the Senate voted unanimously to support the bill, and it passed the House by a vote of 367 to 33. Biden signed the law Tuesday. Hilton, meanwhile, has expressed interest in possibly becoming an elected official.

Read more:

Biden signs 50 bills into law - including and Paris Hilton-backed legislation

The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act is designed to hold teenage treatment centers and care facilities accountable

Gustaf Kilander25 December 2024 20:16

Trump wants to purchase Greenland. How would that actually work?

The re-emergence of Donald Trump’s territorial ambitions related to Greenland has added another strange new wrinkle to the presidential transition process.

And while it’s highly unlikely that the president-elect will have any success in convincing the governments of either Greenland or Denmark to sever the ties between the European country and its autonomous North American territory, it’s worth looking into the process of how the U.S. acquires new territories — and how that territory could be classified.

Greenland has been tied to Denmark politically and culturally for more than a century. Perhaps not recognizing the strength of those ties, the United States has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring the land and its people; the first push by U.S. politicians to purchase Greenland began in 1867, led by then-Secretary of State William Seward.

Read more:

Trump wants to purchase Greenland. How would that actually work?

President-elect has indicated the U.S. will make Greenland purchase a priority in post about new ambassador to Denmark

John Bowden25 December 2024 20:00

Trump’s FCC chair sends ominous letter to Disney CEO: ‘Americans no longer trust the national news media’

After Donald Trump threatened to strip ABC’s broadcast license and forced the network into a $15 million settlement, the president-elect’s pick to lead the Federal Communications Commission warned its parent company that Americans “no longer trust the national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly.”

In a letter to Disney’s CEO Bob Iger, Brendan Carr lamented the “erosion in public trust” in news media, and suggested ABC was partially to blame.

Carr — who wrote Project 2025’s chapter on the FCC — said the agency would be “monitoring” ABC’s negotiations with local television stations that carry its programming.

Read more:

Trump’s FCC chair sends ominous letter to Disney CEO

Brendan Carr laments ‘erosion of public trust’ in media while Trump sues newspapers and media companies

Alex Woodward25 December 2024 19:15

President and First Lady speak to service members ‘to share just how grateful we are for their courage and sacrifice'

Gustaf Kilander25 December 2024 19:07

Trump’s Ukraine-Russia envoy slams Kremlin’s Christmas Day attack

Trump’s chosen Ukraine-Russia envoy, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, slammed Russia’s Christmas Day attack on Ukraine in a post on X.

“Christmas should be a time of peace, yet Ukraine was brutally attacked on Christmas Day,” he said. “Launching large-scale missile and drone attacks on the day of the Lord’s birth is wrong. The world is closely watching actions on both sides. The U.S. is more resolved than ever to bring peace to the region.”

Gustaf Kilander25 December 2024 18:47

John Bolton warns: I’m ‘very worried’ about how Trump would handle ‘much more likely’ international crisis

John Bolton, President-elect Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, said that an international crisis is “much more likely” during the Republican’s second term.

Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser from 2018 to 2019, told The Guardian the president-elect has an “inability to focus” and bases his decisions on personal relationships and “neuron flashes.”

“It’s typical Trump: it’s all braggadocio,” Bolton told the outlet. “The world is more dangerous than when he was president before. The only real crisis we had was COVID, which is a long-term crisis and not against a particular foreign power but against a pandemic.”

Read more:

John Bolton warns of ‘much more likely’ international crisis under Trump

Bolton once said he doesn’t think Trump is ‘fit for office’

Katie Hawkinson25 December 2024 18:30

Matt Gaetz sends fundraising message after bombshell House Ethics report: ‘I need your help’

Hours after the publication of a bombshell report revealing “substantial evidence” that Matt Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, the former congressman issued a fundraising plea through his recently launched political action committee.

Gaetz — who was Donald Trump’s first pick for U.S. attorney general — is accused of violating federal and state laws against statutory rape, prostitution, illicit drug use and abusing the power of his office.

The results of a years-long House Ethics Committee investigation is a “sham witch hunt — just like the ones they conducted against President Trump,” Gaetz said in an email through his Florida Firebrand PAC Monday.

Read more:

Matt Gaetz sends fundraising message after bombshell ethics report

The former congressman used the publication of a damning report to raise money for his PAC

Alex Woodward25 December 2024 17:45

Aspiring MAGA congresswoman performs mock ‘execution’ of migrant in disturbing campaign video

Aspiring congresswoman and controversial MAGA cheerleader Valentina Gomez has sparked outrage once again after posting a video in which she appears to simulate executing an immigrant.

The 25-year-old, who tried and failed to be elected as the Missouri Secretary of State earlier this year, said in the disturbing clip that undocumented persons who committed violent crimes “deserve to be ended.”

In the video, posted to X on Monday, Gomez is seen firing a handgun into the back of the head of a dummy tied to a chair with a black bag over its head.

Read more:

Aspiring MAGA congresswoman performs mock ‘execution’ of migrant in disturbing video

Valentina Gomez, who lost the race to become Missouri Secretary of State earlier this year, that undocumented persons who committed violent crimes ‘deserve to be ended’

Mike Bedigan25 December 2024 17:00

From halibut and hot dogs to unlikely friendships: This is what happens inside the Senate lunch room

During President Joe Biden’s final major address on the economy, he did what he does best: wax poetic about the old days of the United States Senate, the institution that defined him. He told an especially instructive story about when he returned to the Senate as vice president and went into the Senate dining hall, where a central dining room table used to stand. That’s were Democrats and Republicans would once meet and talk.

“You walk in — a long table sitting, I guess, 16, 18 people on the right, parallel with the table,” he said. “And you walk through an archway, and there was a table going the other way. One was the Democratic table. One was Republican table. And when there weren’t enough to sit at any one table, then they all sit together.”

Read more:

Inside the Senate lunchroom: From Mormon hot dogs to Alaskan halibut

Senators might lose their ‘French working week’ under Trump. That could be a very good thing, writes Eric Garcia

Eric Garcia25 December 2024 14:45

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