Tag: donald trump

President Trump Fires Head of National Archives – A Biden Holdover Who Oversees Agency That Targeted Trump For Storing ‘Classified Documents’ at Mar-a-Lago

President Donald Trump fired Colleen Joy Shogan, the head of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

This is the same agency that targeted Trump over so-called “classified documents” lawfully stored at Mar-a-Lago.

“At the direction of President Trump the Archivist of the United States has been dismissed tonight. We thank Colleen Shogan for her service,” Sergio Gor, director of the Presidential Personnel Office said on Friday evening.

Joe Biden weaponized every agency.

NARA actually raided Mar-a-Lago months before Biden sent dozens of FBI agents to Trump’s Florida estate to seize presidential records.

In Early 2022, the National Archives, led by Debra Steidel at the time, asked the Justice Department to investigate Trump’s handling of White House records after it raided Mar-a-Lago.

The National Archives raided Mar-a-Lago in January 2022 and retrieved 15 Trump White House record boxes, according to the Washington Post.

NARA claimed classified records were found in Trump’s boxes at Mar-a-Lago.

“NARA has identified items marked as classified national security information within the boxes,” Ferriero wrote, responding to a question from the House, according to CNN. “Because NARA identified classified information in the boxes, NARA staff has been in communication with the Department of Justice.”

Trump routinely brought classified material to Mar-a-Lago, a place he dubbed his ‘Winter White House.’

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Trump Dismantles Biden’s Gun Control Actions, Signs Executive Order to Protect Gun Owners

President Trump on Friday signed an Executive Order dismantling Joe Biden’s gun control actions.

“The Second Amendment is an indispensable safeguard of security and liberty. It has preserved the right of the American people to protect ourselves, our families, and our freedoms since the founding of our great Nation. Because it is foundational to maintaining all other rights held by Americans, the right to keep and bear arms must not be infringed,” President Trump’s Executive Order said.

Trump ordered US Attorney General Pam Bondi to review all of Joe Biden’s unconstitutional gun control Executive Orders to assess ongoing infringements of the Second Amendment.

“Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General shall examine all orders, regulations, guidance, plans, international agreements, and other actions of executive departments and agencies (agencies) to assess any ongoing infringements of the Second Amendment rights of our citizens, and present a proposed plan of action to the President, through the Domestic Policy Advisor, to protect the Second Amendment rights of all Americans,” Trump’s EO said.

Pam Bondi will review “All Presidential and agencies’ actions from January 2021 through January 2025 that purport to promote safety but may have impinged on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,” the EO said.

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Trump Directs Elon Musk’s DOGE Team to Conduct Comprehensive Audit of Pentagon

President Donald Trump revealed that he has directed Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to conduct a comprehensive audit of the Pentagon’s funding.

During a press conference with Japan’s prime minister, when asked by a reporter about directives related to Pentagon budget reviews, Trump confirmed his decision.

“Yes, I have [directed Musk to review] Pentagon, Education, just about everything,” Trump said.

Trump continued, “We’re going to go through everything, just as it was so bad with what we just went through with this horrible situation [with USAID]. I guess 97% of the people have been dismissed. It was very, very unfortunate. You’re not going to find anything like that, but you’re going to find a lot.”

It can be recalled that acting USAID Director and Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly downsizing the bureaucratic agency, retaining only 294 of the agency’s 14,000 employees worldwide. This move cuts 97% of USAID’s staff.

“I’ve instructed him to go check the Pentagon, which is the military. Sadly, you’ll find some things that are pretty bad. But I don’t think, proportionately, you’re going to see anything like we just saw,” Trump said.

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The Constitution Vindicates Trump’s Firing Of 17 Inspectors General

When President Donald Trump fired 17 inspectors general at the end of his first week in office, he exercised executive power that the Constitution vests in him alone. His opponents squawked predictably, and legal challenges to the firings are inevitable, but the Trump administration no doubt welcomes those challenges. It should, because they are challenges the president is likely to win, and for the sake of our republic, it is essential that he does.

Inspectors general, like so many other well-intentioned but bad ideas, originated in the Carter administration. The idea sounded good enough: stop government mismanagement and waste by creating an inspector general in each of 12 major agencies, charged with ferreting out government fraud and abuse. The inspectors general would be appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and they would have the authority to operate independently from their agency heads while reporting legal violations directly to the attorney general. 

The first problem, however, is that the inspectors general did not turn out to be very good at accomplishing their intended purpose. The so-called “watchdogs” of the federal government missed everything from the National Security Agency’s unlawful bulk domestic phone records collection program to Operation Fast and Furious’ illegal arms sales to Mexican cartels. Yet despite having too little to show for their efforts, the sounds-good idea of an inspector general proved irresistible, and over time, inspectors general proliferated throughout the federal government. In 2008, Congress even created a new agency just to coordinate the IGs (who numbered more than 70 by that time). 

The second problem is that in 2022 Congress tried to enforce the “independence” of the inspectors general by making them independent from the president himself — and there, the Constitution draws the line. Congress purported to require the president to provide notice to Congress 30 days before firing an inspector general and to provide “the substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for the firing in the notice. President Trump did not do this, but that is because he did not have to.

Requiring notice and a rationale — which is essentially a requirement that the firing be for some cause — goes beyond Congress’s power under the Constitution, and so President Trump could not actually be required to do it.

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REPORT: Trump’s Peace Plan for Russia and Ukraine Allegedly Leaked – Talks Between Putin and Zelensky – Ceasefire by Easter – No NATO for Kiev

Remember when any talk of peace negotiations was strictly forbidden, and anyone talking about that would be branded a ‘Putin puppet’?

Well, now, hardly a day passes by without some relevant development and statement by the central players about the peace process between the US and Russia that will end the war in Ukraine.

Today, a rather sensational report emerged from the Ukrainian press, alleging to be a ‘leak’ of US President Donald J. Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine.

According to the unverified ‘plans’, Trump will force Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky into a ceasefire with Russia by Easter.

Daily Mail reported:

“The unconfirmed plans, reported by Ukrainian outlet Strana, have been doing the rounds in ‘political and diplomatic circles’ in Ukraine, and will include a ceasefire by April 20 that would freeze Russia’s steady advance, a ban on Ukraine from joining NATO, and a demand for Kyiv to accept Russian sovereignty on annexed land. On top of this, Ukrainian troops will be made to leave Russia’s Kursk region, where it launched a counteroffensive in August, while a contingent of European soldiers, which could include British troops, would be asked to police a demilitarized zone. American troops will not be involved in this contingent.”

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Treasury Targets Iran’s Oil Network In New Sanctions As Trump Stuns By Talking Deal

President Donald Trump has been notoriously hawkish on Iran, as have some of his top national security officials, which is why it was surprising and refreshing for his rhetoric to take a different track in Wednesday statements. Responding to reports that the US and Israel are preparing scenarios to attack Iran and its nuclear sites, Trump stated Wednesday that these reports are “greatly exaggerated” and said that making a deal would be preferable instead.

“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper. We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!” Trump added.

During his first administration, Trump unilaterally pulled the United States out of the JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran in 2018, which had been implemented during the Obama administration, and involved the other P5+1 countries of China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, as well as the European Union.

He also dropped a surprise bombshell upon signing the new executive order to reimpose “maximum pressure” on the Islamic Republic, though it’s been woefully underreported in the media: 

“There are many people at the top ranks of Iran that do not want to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

Still, Trump claimed when he signed it that he was “unhappy” to do it – perhaps revealing it as leverage and part of his big stick approach which can induce a better deal down the road.

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Trump Takes the Gloves Off, Orders GSA to Cancel “Every Single Media Contract”

President Trump is on a roll!

Trump on Thursday ordered the General Services Administration (GSA) to cancel “every single media contract” funded by the agency.

Contracts for Politico, BBC, Bloomberg and Politico Pro were canceled. Politico Pro costs $10,000 per year!

Axios reported:

The White House has directed the General Services Administration to terminate “every single media contract” expensed by the agency, according to an email obtained by Axios.

What they’re saying: “GSA team, please do two things,” a Trump administration official wrote:

Pull all contracts for Politico, BBC, E&E (Politico sub) and Bloomberg

Pull all media contracts for just GSA – cancel every single media contract today for GSA only.

Why it matters: President Trump is targeting the federal government’s media contracts after Elon Musk and his allies discovered millions of dollars in agency subscriptions to Politico Pro, a policy tracking service widely used in Washington.

The fake news media took a hit this week.

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‘Non-Negotiable’: Saudi Arabia Blasts Trump’s Gaza Takeover Plan

The international reaction to President Trump’s Tuesday declaration that the US will “take over” the Gaza Strip and that Palestinians would “love to leave” the largely destroyed enclave which has suffered in the midst of the Hamas-Israel war (though a fragile truce has held for a couple week) has been as expected. Various countries have issued condemnation, including predictably from the United Nations chief, given it smacks of ethnic cleansing of a historic territory, though few actual details have been defined in terms of how such a plan involving US troops would be executed.

Saudi Arabia has been one major US regional ally to react swiftly in condemnation. The Saudis have said Wednesday that Trump’s desired ‘normalization’ with Israel based on the Abraham Accords would definitely be off.

Riyadh said the Palestinians must be guaranteed an independent state if were to ever implement diplomatic relations with Israel. “The establishment of the Palestinian state is a firm, unwavering position,” the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said said on X.

“His Highness [Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman] has affirmed this position in a clear and explicit manner that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances.”

“His Highness stressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not stop its tireless work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the Kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” the statement continued. 

Needless to say, a permanent removal of Palestinians from Gaza would thwart such a possibility, and other Arab states which have already made peace with Israel might reverse their position, for example the UAE. The Saudis are making clear that this stance is ‘non-negotiable’ – and the reality is that mass displacement of Palestinians to neighboring states would likely collapse the Hamas truce, and halt the ongoing hostage/prisoner exchange.

Russia too is another major power condemning Trump’s Tuesday remarks, with top diplomat Sergei Lavrov arguing that this “culture of cancellation” is at work, suggesting that the US is seeking to ‘cancel’ Palestinian identity.

Lavrov said that UN National Security Council decisions were “were recognized by everyone without exception a month and a half ago as a necessary basis for actions to create a Palestinian state” and have “simply been canceled.”

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Trump Warns He Left Instructions To Destroy Iran If He Is Assassinated

It’s been a longtime conservative media and Republican talking point that Tehran is looking for opportunities to take out President Donald Trump, in retaliation for his ordering the drone killing of IRGC Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani on January 3, 2020 outside Baghdad International Airport during his first administration.

President Trump has this week warned that he has left instructions ordering the destruction of the Islamic Republic in the event he is assassinated by Iranian agents.

The unexpected and somewhat unprecedented contingency, which we would expect at the very least would require the approval of Congress, was issued Tuesday while Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office restoring “maximum pressure” to Iran. Trump hailed the action as “very tough on Iran”.

That’s when he was questioned by reporters over Iran and its proxies threatening to assassinate him, to which the commander-in-chief responded:

“They haven’t done that and that would be a terrible thing for them to do. Not because of me— if they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. I’ve left instructions, if they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left. And, they shouldn’t be able to do it.”

He laid blame in part on the prior Biden administration for being weak on Iran, and allowing alleged plots to fester without taking firm action. He soon after received Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

“Biden should have said that but he never did, I don’t know why. Lack of intelligence perhaps but he never said it. If that happens to a leader or close to a leader— frankly, if you had other people involved also—you would call for total obliteration of a state that did it. That would include Iran,” Trump said.

Back in September of last year, Trump said at an event in North Carolina: “As you know, there have been two assassination attempts on my life that we know of, and they may or may not involve – but possibly do – Iran.”

He also wrote on X at the time, “Big threats on my life by Iran. The entire US Military is watching and waiting. Moves were already made by Iran that didn’t work out, but they will try again. Not a good situation for anyone. I am surrounded by more men, guns, and weapons than I have ever seen before.”

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Ethnic Cleansing for ‘Gaza’s Riviera’?

During a press conference with PM Netanyahu on Tuesday evening, President Trump said the United States “will take over” the Gaza Strip. Around the world, observers were shocked. But the statement didn’t come out of the blue.

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said during the conference. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings.”

Asked to elaborate on his “takeover” comment and whether he was willing to send US troops to fill a security vacuum in Gaza, Trump did not rule it out. “We’re going to take over [Gaza] we’re going to develop it.” Even though Trump willing to bury the refugee agency UNRWA, he added: “I do see a long-term ownership position, and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East, and maybe the entire Middle East.”

Trump, a real estate tycoon himself, said he had studied the matter “closely, over a lot of months.” Gaza, he suggested, could become a “Riviera of the Middle East.”

In effect, the idea goes back to his son-in-law, a secret plan of an Israeli ministry, and a long-term effort at ethnic cleansing.

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