President Donald Trump is in the fifth day of his second term in office, striving to remake the traditional boundaries of Washington by asserting unprecedented executive power.
The president also took his first trip of his second administration on Friday, touring areas where politics has clouded the response to deadly disasters. He first traveled to hurricane-battered western North Carolina, where he described FEMA as “a very big disappointment.” Later Friday, Trump arrived in wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles, and he greeted political rival California Gov. Gavin Newsom with a handshake.
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Hegseth awaits Senate vote outcome in the Capitol
As the vote began for his nomination, Hegseth was in a waiting room in the Capitol with his family as Republican senators visited with him.
It is unusual for a nominee to be present while his confirmation is being voted on and adds to the drama that has circled Hegseth’s nomination from the beginning.
C-Span shares a historical fact:
If Vice President Vance is forced to be the tie breaker on the Hegseth nomination, it would be only the second time in U.S. history a vice president would have to break a tie for a nominee.
First time? For Trump’s education nominee in his first term, Betsy DeVos.
Hegseth confirmation vote is underway
Trump’s pick for defense secretary can lose three Republican votes and still be confirmed on Friday with Vice President JD Vance’s tiebreaking vote.
Two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, have already signaled they will vote no.
Hegseth works the phones to shore up support before vote
His confirmation at stake, Pete Hegseth worked the phones ahead of a Senate vote to shore up support to become the nation’s defense secretary amid new questions and mounting allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behavior toward women.
The Republican-led Senate was determined to confirm Hegseth to round out Trump’s top national security Cabinet officials, prioritizing his commitment to bring a “warrior culture” to the Pentagon.
But last-minute questions among senators raised fresh uncertainty hours before the vote.
Vice President JD Vance was expected in the Senate in the likely event he would be needed to break a tie, and Hegseth himself was at the Capitol with his family to watch the vote.
Read more about Hegseth’s confirmation prospects
Trump says LA residents who lost homes should be allowed back on their properties immediately
He says many homeowners want to bring dumpsters to take care of waste themselves.
Mayor Karen Bass says residents should be able to return home within the week, but that keeping people safe is a top priority.
Experts have warned that the burning of things like paint, furniture, electronics and cars can release toxic ash and other chemicals that may require safety gear to handle.
Resettlement agencies directed to ‘suspend all work’ under the foreign aid they were receiving
The Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration sent guidance late Friday to resettlement agencies that it works with saying they had to immediately “suspend all work” under the foreign assistance they were receiving.
The new guidance is another implication of the Trump administration’s decision to halt foreign aid while it conducts a review.
While there was little clarity, the notification suggests resettlement agencies that work with refugees, including Afghans who arrived on special immigrant visas, might have to at least temporarily halt their work.
Trump picks chairman of Australian venture capital firm to be ambassador to New Zealand
Trump has named Jared Novelly as his pick for ambassador to New Zealand and the Pacific nation of Samoa.
Novelly is “a highly respected philanthropist” and chairman of Crest Sports & Entertainment and Crest Management, Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Crest Sports & Entertainment is a Sydney-based venture capital firm and the parent company of the Australian professional men’s basketball team the Illawarra Hawks, according to online companies listings.
Priorities for the relationship between the U.S. and New Zealand include advancing Pacific priorities, growing bilateral trade and increasing collaboration in important sectors for New Zealand, such as space, New Zealand’s foreign minister Winston Peters said.
Rubio speaks to New Zealand foreign minister
New Zealand’s foreign minister Winston Peters says he has spoken to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and was “confident that the New Zealand-United States relationship can go from strength to strength in the years ahead.”
While New Zealand is geographically remote from the U.S., it is a significant regional player in the South Pacific Ocean, where Washington has increasingly sought to counter the growing influence of China among small island nations. The country is also a member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partnership, along with the U.S., Britain, Canada and Australia.“
Our strategic partnership matters a great deal to the security and prosperity of New Zealand and the Indo-Pacific region,” Peters wrote on X.
Trump says the federal government is behind California ’100%′
Trump also says he had a “very positive talk” with California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Trump’s comments came after he took an aerial and walking tour of Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood destroyed by one of the recent fires.
He says it’s impossible to understand the scale of devastation from images.
“I don’t think you can realize how rough it is, how devastating it is, until you see it,” Trump said.
He hasn’t yet mentioned putting conditions on federal aid, as he’s previously indicated he would do.
Trump pulls back on aid to foreign groups involved in abortion
Trump has signed an order reinstating a policy that requires foreign nongovernmental agencies to certify that they don’t provide or promote abortion if they receive U.S. federal funds for family planning assistance.
The position, sometimes called the “Mexico City Policy” and referred to by opponents as the “global gag rule,” was introduced more than 40 years ago. Every GOP president has put it in effect, and every Democrat has rescinded it.
Eight years ago, Trump’s administration not only brought back the prohibition but also broadened it.
Advocates say the policy, coupled with a law that bars U.S. money from paying for abortion around the globe, has a major impact on abortion availability worldwide — and blocks aid money from flowing to groups for purposes other than abortion.
Trump also signed an executive order Friday requiring the enforcement of the Hyde Amendment, which restricts government funding for most abortions. The amendment was already the law of the land under President Joe Biden’s administration, but the Trump administration argued “the previous administration disregarded this established, commonsense policy.”
LA resident who lost her home says it’s important for leaders to see the wildfires’ aftermath
Leah Berman and her best friend had spent all day sifting through the rubble of their childhood home when Trump arrived for his visit to the Palisades.
Berman said it was important for political leaders to come see the aftermath of the disaster in person.
“Just having more people who make decisions see the reality of things that happen, and literally just driving through the wreckage is all it takes to say, ‘Oh wow, this was a big deal,’” Berman said.
Her friend, Alexandra Zornizer, said it was “deplorable” for Trump to attach conditions to the aid.
“I think it was wonderful that Biden wanted to cover 100% of the cost,” Zornizer said. “I think that’s what victims of this fire deserve. Unconditionally.”
White House weighs in on ‘The Apprentice’ Oscar nominations
The Trump White House has weighed in on the pair of Oscar nominations for “The Apprentice,” the film that dramatizes the formative years of Trump under the tutelage of attorney Roy Cohn.
Let’s just say the review was not kind.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked whether Trump had seen the film and told reporters aboard Air Force One: “That movie is trash and it wouldn’t be worth the president’s time to watch it. It belongs in a dumpster fire. It does not deserve Oscars. Lots of fake news in that movie.”
A look at false and misleading claims made by Trump during his first week
Trump has wasted no time setting a new agenda, relying on false and misleading information to support several of his initiatives.
He told attendees at the World Economic in Davos he had a massive mandate from the American people because he had millions of votes. While the electoral vote was 312 for Trump and 226 for former Vice President Kamala Harris, he won the popular vote by only about 2.3 million votes, 49.9% to 48.4%.
Pardoning Jan. 6 rioters, he falsely claimed there were only a few minor incidents with police.
He has also continued to greatly inflate the number of people who entered the country illegally during President Joe Biden’s administration, and has misrepresented water issues in California while discussing recent wildfires.
Read more about false or misleading claims made by Trump this week
Newsom and Trump exchange kind words before touring Los Angeles wildfire damage
Newsom says California will need the federal government’s help and support.
“I have all the expectations we’re going to be able to work together,” Newsom said.
Trump responded: “We’re going to get it fixed.”
It might seem like odd messaging for the two rivals. But it’s similar to the approach Newsom took toward Trump during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic
Newsom and Trump greet each other with a handshake
Trump says he appreciates the California governor greeting him on the tarmac in Los Angeles.
It’s not clear if the Democratic governor will join Trump to tour a fire-ravaged neighborhood or for a fire-related briefing. He’s not listed as a participant in those events.
Newsom’s office says the governor is “committed to advocating for the needs of Californians in partnership with the federal administration.”
Newsom has a fine political tightrope to walk. He’s pushed back against some of Trump’s criticism of the state’s handling of the wildfires but also needs the federal government to approve wildfire assistance.
One Pacific Palisades resident who lost homes in LA fires says he is unfazed by Trump’s threat to withhold federal aid
Ron Flury, who has lived in the Pacific Palisades for 25 years, said he was glad Trump was in office because “at least something will happen now.”
Flury was driving through the neighborhood Friday and surveying the remnants of the four homes he lost, two of which were occupied by him and his daughter. His only surviving property is a partially built home that recently resumed construction.
“I’m hoping he will help us build back, and I think it will be better than ever but will take awhile,” Flury said.
He’s unfazed by Trump’s threat to withhold federal aid unless California changes its water policy — in fact, he supports it.
“Someone needs to force (Newsom) to actually follow through and do the things he should be doing,” Flury said. “And that’s what Trump is doing, it’s a negotiation point.”
Supreme Court will weigh approval for US’ 1st publicly funded religious charter school, in Oklahoma
The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take on a new culture war dispute: whether the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school should be allowed to open in Oklahoma.
The justices said they would review an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision that invalidated a state board’s approval of an application by the Catholic Church in Oklahoma to open a charter school.
The conservative-dominated high court has issued several decisions in recent years signaling a willingness to allow public funds to flow to religious entities. At the same time, conservative-led states have sought to insert religion into public schools, including Louisiana’s requirement that the Ten Commandments be posted in classrooms.
Rubio tells Chinese FM the US will put America first in relations with China
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told China’s foreign minister that the Trump administration will put U.S. interests and the American people first in its relationship and competition with China.
It was the first phone call Rubio has had with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi since Rubio took office.
In the call, Rubio also expressed “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan and in the South China Sea.”
Earlier Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry had issued its own description of the call, saying that Wang had told Rubio the two sides should push for the steady, healthy and sustainable development of the China-U.S. relations and find the correct way for the two countries to cope with each other.
Rubio, according to the Chinese foreign ministry, told Wang the U.S. doesn’t support Taiwan independence but hopes the issue can be peacefully solved in a way acceptable to both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The U.S. statement made no mention of Rubio saying that.
Indiana man arrested on charges he threatened Trump on TikTok
An Indiana man accused of using TikTok to urge attacks on the government and death to Trump has been arrested.
The FBI said 23-year-old Douglas Thrams of Goshen made a series of threats in videos posted to the social media site this week.
In one TikTok video, Thrams said Trump needed to be killed “and this time don’t … miss,” an FBI agent wrote in a court filing.
He is charged with using interstate commerce to make threats.
Thrams is in custody awaiting an appearance Monday in federal court in South Bend. He does not have an attorney yet.
Read more about the charges
Five economic forces that could shape the first year of Trump’s presidency
Like most presidents, Trump faces an economy that seldom bends to political ambitions.
The Republican has promised strong growth, high tariffs, income tax cuts and booming oilfields. But despite the solid job market and low 4.1% unemployment rate, he has to contend with headwinds like inflation, a budget deficit, increased tensions over trade, the fallout from his plans to curtail immigration and a persistent wealth gap.
Each of these issues could help to shape how voters feel about a president they returned to the White House with the specific goal of fixing the economy.
Read more about the economic headwinds
Senate confirmation vote for Hegseth set for Friday night
The Senate is muscling Pete Hegseth’s nomination as defense secretary toward confirmation.
The Republican senators are prioritizing the former Fox News host and combat veteran’s vow to create a “warrior culture” at the Pentagon over allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behavior toward women.
Votes are expected by Friday evening.
Read more about the Hegseth vote
Justice Department curtails prosecutions for blocking reproductive health care facilities
President Donald Trump’s new Justice Department leadership is curtailing prosecutions against people accused of blocking reproductive health care facilities, calling the cases an example of the “weaponization” of law enforcement.
Justice Department chief of staff Chad Mizelle said in a memo obtained Friday by The Associated Press that prosecutions and civil actions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act or “FACE Act” will now be permitted only in “extraordinary circumstances” or in cases presenting ”significant aggravating factors.”
Mizelle also ordered the immediate dismissal of three FACE Act cases related to 2021 blockades of clinics in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Ohio. One man was accused of obtaining “illegal access to a secure patient space at a Planned Parenthood facility in Philadelphia without staff permission or knowledge” and barricading himself in a restroom, according to court papers.
Putin echoes Trump’s claim that conflict in Ukraine could have been avoided had he been in office
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday echoed U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim the conflict in Ukraine could have been prevented had he been in the White House in 2022. He also said Moscow is ready for talks with the U.S. on a broad range of issues.
In an interview with Russian state television, Putin praised Trump as a “clever and pragmatic man” who is focused on U.S. interests.
“We always had a business-like, pragmatic but also trusting relationship with the current U.S. president,” Putin said. “I couldn’t disagree with him that if he had been president, if they hadn’t stolen victory from him in 2020, the crisis that emerged in Ukraine in 2022 could have been avoided.”
Putin’s statement was his bluntest endorsement yet of Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat in the 2020 election.
Trump also has said repeatedly he wouldn’t have allowed the conflict to start if he’d been in office, even though he was president as fighting grew in the east of the country between Kyiv’s forces and separatists aligned with Moscow, ahead of Putin sending in tens of thousands of troops in 2022.
Read more about Russia and Trump
Trump administration has withdrawn a federal rule which would have phased out menthol cigarettes
The cigarettes are disproportionately used by young and minority smokers.
The action was widely expected by anti-smoking advocates, who’ve spent years pushing for a ban on menthol, the only flavor still allowed in cigarettes. Tobacco companies have typically faced lighter regulation under Republican administrations.
The Food and Drug Administration spent years studying the issue and concluded menthol’s cooling sensation makes it easier to start and harder to quit cigarettes.
The FDA was widely expected to finalize the regulation last year, but President Joe Biden’s White House delayed its release, kicking a potential political controversy out past the election. At the time, both Biden and Trump were aggressively courting Black voters in swing states.
The persistence of menthol has long infuriated health experts, who’ve been pushing for a ban since the FDA gained authority over tobacco products in 2009.
Vice President JD Vance celebrated Trump’s previous actions on abortion
Speaking at the March for Life in Washington, Vance said the president “delivered on his promise of ending Roe,” appointed hundreds of anti-abortion judges and pardoned anti-abortion activists he says were “unjustly imprisoned.”
“Our country faces the return of the most pro-family, most pro-life American president of our lifetimes,” Vance told the crowd of protesters who cheered and chanted “JD” as he took the stage.
President Trump speaks to March for Life crowd in a video address
In the video address to March for Life crowds, Trump vowed “we will again stand proudly for families and for life” in his second term and once again boasted about nominating three Supreme Court justices who helped strike down Roe v. Wade.
“I was so proud to be a participant,” he said. “Six courageous justices of the Supreme Court of the United States returned the issue to the state legislatures and to the people where it belongs.”
Crowds cheered as Trump celebrated pardoning anti-abortion activists convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances and thanked protesters for gathering at March for Life to “stand up for precious little babies who can’t stand up for themselves.”
“Thank you for turning out once again to show your extraordinary love and compassion for the unborn,” he said.
Target is ending its DEI goals as workplace inclusion gets a strong opponent in the White House
Discount store chain Target said Friday it would join rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that have come under attack from conservative activists and, as of this week, the White House.
The Minneapolis-based retailer said the changes to its “Belonging at the Bulleye” strategy would include ending a program it established to help Black employees build meaningful careers, improve the experience of Black shoppers and to promote Black-owned businesses following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.
Target, which operates nearly 2,000 stores nationwide and employs more than 400,000 people, said it also would conclude the diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, goals it previously set in three-year cycles.
The goals included hiring and promoting more women and members of racial minority groups, and recruiting more diverse suppliers, including businesses owned by people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, veterans and people with disabilities.
Read more about Target ending its DEI goals
Ontario leader will call election to fight Trump’s threatened tariffs
The leader of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, said Friday that he would call an early election, because he says he needs a mandate to fight President Trump’s threatened tariffs.
Premier Doug Ford of the Progressive Conservative Party said that he planned to make the announcement on Wednesday. The move would send Ontarians to the polls on Feb. 27, more than a year before the June 2026 fixed election date. Ford already has a large majority government.
Ford, who is the equivalent of a U.S. state governor, said that Ontario could lose upwards of 500,000 jobs should Trump follow through on his 25% tariff threat.
Read more about how Ontario is responding to Trump’s proposed tariffs
Defense Department is expected to put out its own temporary social media ban Friday, U.S. officials say
The 10-day ban, however, carves out exceptions for military bases around the world that rely on social media posts to inform them of security incidents, school matters and normal base activities.
Other federal agencies are doing the same thing, with guidance from the Trump administration suggesting that federal agencies shouldn’t put out information unless it’s been approved by the new leadership. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.
— Lolita C. Baldor
‘You can’t have a security detail for the rest of your life because you worked for government’
President Donald Trump says he won’t feel partially responsible if harm befalls former government officials whose security details were cut by his administration after he took office this week.
Trump revoked the security detail of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who advised Trump on the COVID-19 pandemic but turned critical of Trump once he tried to undermine public health guidance. He faced regular threats to his life and has received federal protection for years, but it was ended this week according to a person familiar with the matter.
“They all made a lot of money, they can hire their own security too,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina.
Trump earlier this week revoked protection details for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his top aide, Brian Hook, as well his own former national security adviser John Bolton, who have faced threats from Iran since they took hardline stances on the Islamic Republic during Trump’s first administration. All three have fallen out with Trump in the years since he left office.
Their security details had been repeatedly renewed by the Biden administration because of credible and ongoing threats from Iran.
“You can’t have a security detail for the rest of your life because you worked for government,” Trump said.
Asheville artist, who lost business in Hurricane Helene, wary about Trump’s visit
Sarah Wells Rolland, co-owner of The Village Potters Clay Center in Asheville’s now-destroyed River Arts District, said she’s “seriously concerned” about her city’s future recovery from Hurricane Helene under President Donald Trump’s administration. Rolland noted Asheville’s Democratic lean as a reason Trump may not prioritize its rebuilding process.
“I’m not overly optimistic that the Trump administration is going to do anything long-term,” Rolland said Friday ahead of Trump’s visit to the area. “Frankly, I’ll tell you, I think him coming today is to look presidential.”
Rolland lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment when her ceramics center’s roofing caved and water rose 26 feet inside her facility during Helene. She’s operated a temporary clay supply site for the past few months, and Rolland said she’s hoping to reopen the full center — which had classes and galleries — at a new location this summer.
Rolland’s interactions with Federal Emergency Management Agency workers in the storm’s aftermath were “wonderful,” she said. Criticism against the agency has been largely unwarranted, she said, because workers were in the region “almost on day one.”
Anti-abortion protesters gather for the annual March for Life in Washington
Despite frigid weather, thousands of anti-abortion protesters gathered to celebrate a new Republican trifecta in the presidency and both chambers of Congress as they returned to the nation’s capital Friday for the annual March for Life.
A festive atmosphere marked the early part of the march, as activists gathered with multicolored hats and signs declaring “Life is our revolution.”
President Donald Trump is expected to address the crowd in a pre-recorded video as the gathering marks the first time that participants have been to the nation’s capital with him as the sitting president since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade, that declared there was a constitutional right to an abortion.
Vice President JD Vance is slated to speak in person.
Kristen Cooper, 21, was among several thousand Students for Life America members attending. She said she was especially excited to be at the march with “pro-life Republicans” in the White House. She said this march was her fourth but the first with a Republican administration.
“It’s surreal actually,” she said.
Federal agencies begin removing DEI guidance from websites in Trump crackdown
Several federal agencies have begun removing resources for underrepresented Americans from their webpages following President Trump’s executive order cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Agencies also have been cancelling training and service contacts to comply with the order from Trump, who vowed to dismantle diversity programs across the federal government. He has called for all DEI staff to be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off.
Documents on DEI have been removed from websites at agencies including the Office of Personnel Management, State Department and Department of Homeland Security. Web addresses that once led to DEI pages now display “Page Not Found — 404” messages or notes above archived material explaining the change.
Read more about the impact of Trump’s DEI executive order
Trump expands use of fast-track deportation, which critics say is prone to mistakes
The Trump administration announced Friday that it is expanding a fast-track deportation authority nationwide, allowing immigration officers to deport migrants without appearing before a judge.
The administration said in a notice in the Federal Register on Friday that it is expanding the use of “expedited removal” authority so it can be used across the country. “The effect of this change will be to enhance national security and public safety — while reducing government costs — by facilitating prompt immigration determinations,” the administration said.
Read more about ‘expedited removal’ authority
Trump says he’s considering ‘getting rid of FEMA’ as he visits hurricane-damaged North Carolina
Speaking to reporters Friday at Asheville Regional Airport where he was meeting with supporters and local officials about the recovery from last year’s Hurricane Helene, Trump says FEMA “has been a very big disappointment.”
Trump said of the agency: “It’s very bureaucratic. And it’s very slow. Other than that, we’re very happy with them.”
He did not offer clear details on what he would replace it with, indicated he wants to move more of the disaster management responsibility to the states. That was a key priority of the conservative ’Project 2025” written by Trump’s supporters, including some who’ve since joined his administration.
“A governor can handle something very quickly,” Trump said.
Trump says OPEC+ can end the bloodshed in Ukraine by cutting oil prices
The president continued to make the case that reducing oil revenue is the key finding an endgame in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Trump in his first days in office has centered his focus on the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries, making the case that it has kept the price of oil too high for much of the nearly three-year war. Oil revenue is the engine driving the Russian economy.
“One way to stop it quickly is for OPEC to stop making so much money. And they drop the price of oil because they have it nice and high,” Trump told reporters during a visit to Western North Carolina on Friday. “And if you have it high, then that war is not going to end so easily. So, OPEC ought to get on the ball and drop the price of oil. And that war will stop right away.”
Trump continues to criticize FEMA
President Trump landed in North Carolina to tour lingering damage from Hurricane Helene and said he would like to see states “take care of disasters” and that he was reviewing “the whole concept of “FEMA” the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which he’s criticized.
Trump, speaking to reporters after he landed near Asheville, North Carolina, said it would be faster to let states respond to disasters.
“Let the state take care of the tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen,” Trump told reporters.
As Trump surveyed the destruction left by the wildfires, he expressed his sympathy for the victims and praised the bravery of the firefighters battling the blazes. The President vowed to provide all necessary resources to aid in the recovery efforts and rebuild the affected communities.
Meanwhile, Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Trump loyalist, awaited a Senate vote on his nomination to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Hegseth’s nomination has been met with controversy and criticism, with many questioning his lack of experience in healthcare administration and concerns about his support for privatizing veterans’ healthcare.
The Senate vote on Hegseth’s nomination is expected to be close, with several key senators still undecided. The outcome of the vote could have significant implications for the future of the VA and the care of our nation’s veterans.
Stay tuned for updates on both President Trump’s wildfire response efforts and Pete Hegseth’s Senate confirmation vote.
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