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Friday, January 31, 2025

Trump on Air Collision: “Our hearts our shattered along side yours”

Just the News: President Trump on Thursday morning spoke from the White House about the tragic air crash the previous night in which all of the passengers and crew members from the commercial passenger jet and military helicopter involved died, saying, “as a nation we grieve” (Just the News). Townhall: President Trump to the families of those killed in the horrific plane crash in DC Wednesday night: “On behalf of the First Lady, myself, and 340 million Americans, our hearts our shattered along side yours, and our prayers are with you now and in the days to come” (X).

CNN Analyst Quick to Blame Trump for Deadly Plane Crash Near Washington, D.C.

This is reprehensible. Free Beacon: CNN analyst Bakari Sellers wrote and later deleted an X post blaming President Donald Trump for Wednesday’s deadly midair collision between a commercial airplane and an Army helicopter near Washington, DC (Free Beacon). Reporter Peter Hasson: They are fishing corpses out of the Potomac, families are praying their loved ones miraculously survived, we haven’t the faintest clue yet what caused the crash, and Bakari is already frantically (and publicly!) looking for a way to blame it on Trump. What a broken human being (X).

Kash Patel Fields Questions During Confirmation Hearing for Director of FBI

National Review: Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to run the FBI, sat for a confirmation hearing Thursday where lawmakers focused on high profile instances of FBI misconduct and Patel’s inflammatory political commentary. Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) brought up an FBI memo listing Catholic parishes the bureau believed harbored extremists and could offer opportunities for recruiting informants (National Review). Townhall: Sen. Josh Hawley calls out the FBI for targeting Catholics during Kash Patel’s confirmation hearing: “Is it appropriate for the FBI to attempt to recruit spies or informants into religious institutions, particularly Catholic parishes (Townhall)? Just the News: FBI Director-designate Kash Patel flipped the script on Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., when pressed on President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons, highlighting President Joe Biden’s commutation of someone who shot FBI agents (Just the News). Collin Rugg: Durbin: “Is America safer after Trump pardoned 1600 J6ers?” Patel: “I believe America is not safer because President Biden’s commutation of a man who murdered two FBI agents… the families deserve better than to have the man that point blank range fired a shotgun into their heads and murdered them released from prison” (X).

Tulsi Gabbard Frightens the Government Because She is Not Afraid to Question the Government

Fox News: Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard slammed the Democratic narrative that she is a puppet for U.S. and world leaders, saying she is loyal to only God, the Constitution and her own conscience in her opening remarks before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. Gabbard appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday as part of her confirmation process to serve as director of national intelligence during President Donald Trump’s second term (Fox News). Collin Rugg: Tulsi Gabbard unleashes on the deep state, the 51 intelligence officials, Hillary Clinton, and the Democratic Party in her opening statement. One of the best opening statements I’ve seen. “Democrats have accused me of being Trump’s puppet, Putin’s puppet, Assad’s puppet, Modi’s puppet, but what truly unsettles them is I refuse to be their puppet” (X). Glenn Beck: The Deep State tried to destroy Tulsi Gabbard when she started asking questions and refused to fall in line. When she called out the war machine, they smeared her. When she questioned the political machine, she became a “traitor.” When she challenged the Intelligence Community’s narrative, she was labeled a “Russian asset.” And when she stood up to the establishment, she was quietly and without cause placed on a government terror watchlist. But despite everything they threw at her, she did not back down. She fought back and REFUSED to stop asking questions. That is EXACTLY why she needs to be confirmed as the Director of National Intelligence (X).

Senate Decisively Confirms Trump’s Pick for Interior Secretary

Fox News: The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. He secured confirmation with significant bipartisan support and a 79-18 vote… Burgum appeared before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in mid-January, where he told lawmakers that national security issues and the economy were his top two priorities for leading the agency (Fox News). Nick Sortor: The US Senate has CONFIRMED Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior. Burgum has repeatedly promised to unleash American energy, and DRILL BABY DRILL! Get ready for affordable gas again (X)!

Trump to Impose 25% Tariffs on Imports from Canada, Mexico

Associated Press: President Donald Trump said his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are coming on Saturday, but he’s still considering whether to include oil from those countries as part of his import taxes (Associated Press). Reuters: Trump has repeatedly warned Mexico and Canada – two of the United States’ top trading partners – he will impose tariffs if the two countries do not end shipments of fentanyl and the flow of migrants across U.S. borders (Reuters). Bloomberg: Trump also indicated that he would proceed with tariffs on China. He didn’t specify the levy, though he’s previously said it would be 10%. Trump has said Beijing failed to follow through on promises to prevent fentanyl and the chemicals used to make the deadly drugs from flowing into the US (Bloomberg).

Eight Hostages Freed From Hamas During Dangerous Handoff

Associated Press: Eight more hostages were freed from the Gaza Strip by Hamas-led militants on Thursday in a sometimes chaotic process that briefly delayed Israel’s release of 110 Palestinian prisoners and underscored the fragility of the ceasefire that began earlier this month. The exchange of hostages for prisoners is a key part of a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas. Fifteen hostages and hundreds of prisoners have been released so far, and militants still hold dozens more hostages abducted in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war (Associated Press). NEXTA: Netanyahu shocked by horrifying footage of hostage release. A crowd in the Gaza Strip literally besieges terrified captives and attacks a Red Cross vehicle. “This is further proof of the unfathomable brutality of the Hamas terrorist organization,” said the Israeli Prime Minister (X).

Trump Sides With Israel in Severing Ties With UNRWA

Times of Israel: Breaking with the previous Biden administration, the Trump administration came out on Tuesday in favor of Israeli legislation to sever Jerusalem’s ties with the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA and to severely restrict its operations in Gaza and the West Bank. “It is Israel’s sovereign decision to close UNRWA’s offices in Jerusalem on January 30. The United States supports the implementation of this decision,” US chargé d’affaires ad interim Dorothy Shea said in remarks during the UN Security Council’s monthly session on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Biden administration raised concerns over the extent to which Hamas has managed to infiltrate UNRWA and moved to freeze US funding to the agency following revelations that a number of its members actively participated in Hamas’s October 7 onslaught (Times of Israel). Ed Morrissey: It comes about 15 months late, but Donald Trump just told the United Nations to go pound sand… Not only did Hamas use UNRWA for logistics and command functions, but they also controlled the aid flow into Gaza — and not just food, either. They used that to exert control over the populace by withholding resources from opponents while converting other aid into military use. The extensive tunnel system represents a massive misdirection of “humanitarian” aid under UNRWA’s auspices to military/terror purposes, which means UNRWA is largely responsible for Hamas’ dug-in status in Gaza. The UN empowered Hamas in every imaginable sense of that term, and its hands are covered in blood (HotAir).

Radical Left-Wing Immigration Group Funded by $769 Million Tax Dollars: "no immigrant should be detained"

May just be the next department to be defunded by DOGE. Free Beacon: A left-wing group that serves as the lead contractor for a massive federal immigration contract claims the immigration system is “intentionally designed” to exploit “Black and brown people,” opposes the use of police officers for “immigration purposes,” and says “no immigrant should be detained.” Acacia Center for Justice, based in Washington, D.C., is one of the largest federal immigration contractors, overseeing a $769 million program that provides lawyers for unaccompanied alien children and adults in immigration court hearings and deportation proceedings. The group says its aim is to provide due process rights for illegal aliens. But it also calls for a radical upheaval of the immigration and deportation system—goals that are starkly at odds with the Trump administration’s objectives. Launched in 2022, Acacia Center argues that “no immigrant should be detained” and that electronic surveillance to track illegal aliens “must be abolished.” According to the center, “the use of local law enforcement for immigration purposes … must be dismantled” (Free Beacon).

10.

Federal Employees Upset With Trump’s Buyout Offer

HotAir: The response to this offer has been a combination of panic and disbelief. The panic seems to stem from the fact that those who stay have no guarantee their jobs won’t be cut a few months from now as part of a DOGE effort to reduce the size of government. So taking the deal could turn out to be a better offer than what they will get later. As one DOJ employee who spoke to Politico anonymously put it, the buyout offer may be the last lifeboat (HotAir). EE News: Trump’s offer incentivizing employees to leave a workforce he’s vowed to target over the next four years is enticing to some federal workers who are reluctant to serve under his administration or who fear losing their jobs anyway (EE News). Daily Caller: The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email to millions of government employees on Tuesday, offering eight months of pay if they resigned by Feb. 6. In response, federal employees and Democratic representatives have lodged anonymous complaints to media outlets… Federal employee buyouts are not new or exclusive to Republican leadership. Former President Bill Clinton signed a similar bill back in 1994, The New York Times reported. Its aim was to cut the government workforce back by 12%, to 1.88 million. There were 2.4 million federal employees at the start of 2025 (Daily Caller).

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