January 21, 2025 at 9:28 PM EST
'Three big factors' that make Trump's second presidency different from the first: report

Only one day into Donald Trump's second term, The Atlantic's David A. Graham is able to pinpoint the biggest factors that make this time around so "different" from the MAGA leader's first presidency. Noting that, in 24 hours, the 47th president of the United States has already "pardoned more than 1,500 January 6 rioters, including some involved in violence," moved "to end birthright citizenship," removed the US from the "World Health Organization, attempted to turn large portions of the civil service into patronage jobs, and issued an executive order defining gender as a binary," Graham submits these actions "would have caused widespread outrage and mass demonstrations if he had taken them during his first day, week, or year as president, in 2017."

January 21, 2025 at 8:43 PM EST
Doug Emhoff had words for senator's husband who refused to shake Harris' hand: report

Former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff "refused" to shake the hand of the man who recently blew of his wife, former Vice President Kamala Harris -- by refusing to shake her hand. CNN's Edward-Isaac Dovere shared via X that ahead of the inauguration, Senator Deb Fischer's (R-NE) husband, Bruce Fischer, "who went viral for his interaction w/Harris a few weeks ago""went to shake Doug Emhoff's hand Emhoff refused."

January 21, 2025 at 7:34 PM EST
'Was it a pardon?' Reporter approaches Trump on letting Jan 6 rioters off the hook

President Donald Trump did not clearly answer a question from a reporter who asked him Tuesday why he pardoned someone who confessed to assaulting a police officer, according to Mediaite. During a press conference about AI infrastructure, NBC News' Peter Alexander asked the president, "You would agree that it's never acceptable to assault a police officer?"

January 21, 2025 at 6:45 PM EST
'Won't work': Expert reveals why Trump pardoning 'army of thugs' won't help achieve key goal

President Donald Trump didn't waste any time pardoning nearly all of those charged and convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 insurrection. Now, one legal expert is arguing that despite the pardons, the newly minted president isn't any closer to achieving the central goal of the pardons. In a statement posted to the official White House website, Trump wrote that he intended to correct "a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years" and that he hoped to begin "a process of national reconciliation." But Lawfare editor-in-chief Benjamin Wittes -- also a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution -- countered that for all of Trump's bluster about "injustice," Trump's pardons won't do anything to change the national narrative about the attack that's already been cemented into American consciousness.

January 21, 2025 at 6:36 PM EST
'Fake Christian is mad': Trump mocked over his national prayer service criticism

Critics are blasting President Donald Trump following his reaction to the inaugural national prayer service in Washington Tuesday. C-SPAN shared a video of the MAGA leader leaving the service -- which took place at the Washington National Cathedral -- writing: "President Trump following National Prayer Service: 'Not too exciting, was it. I didn't think it was a good service. No...They can do much better.'"

January 21, 2025 at 6:04 PM EST
'Hunting grounds': Trump cancels Biden ban on ICE arrests at schools, churches, hospitals

The Trump administration has canceled President Joe Biden's ban on federal immigration agents arresting suspects inside schools, churches, houses of worship, hospitals, shelters, and at events such as weddings, funerals, and public demonstrations and protests. "This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens-- including murders [sic] and rapists""who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America's schools and churches to avoid arrest," an unnamed DHS spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday, posted by CBS News's Camilo Montoya-Galvez. "The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense."

January 21, 2025 at 5:17 PM EST
'One small problem': Lauren Boebert tried to 'ingratiate herself' with wrong person

During President Donald Trump's inauguration festivities, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) reportedly tried to build goodwill with a top member of the administration. But she apparently identified the wrong person. The American Spectator's "Cockburn" (a pseudonymous personality named after British Admiral Sir George Cockburn) wrote Tuesday that they personally witnessed Boebert attempt for several hours to woo Trump's White House Chief of Staff. Cockburn dryly referred to the Colorado Republican as the "socialite of the weekend," saying she "spent a decent chunk of Saturday's America First Policy Institute ball trying to ingratiate herself with Susie Wiles."

January 21, 2025 at 5:16 PM EST
'God have mercy on us': GOP rep slammed over 'dangerous' response to bishop's plea to Trump

The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington -- who led the inaugural prayer service Washington, DC Tuesday received fierce backlash from a Republican congressman after asking President Donald Trump to "have mercy" on LGBTQ people and immigrants. "In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now," said Budde, as Trump, Vice President Vance, and their families looked on.

January 21, 2025 at 4:15 PM EST
'The gesture speaks for itself': German newspaper blasts Elon Musk's 'Hitler salute'

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk - who is one of President Donald Trump's top advisors -- went viral on Monday for throwing up a gesture described by a fascism expert as a "Nazi salute." Now, a leading German newspaper is criticizing both the gesture itself and the American press for trivializing it. In an op-ed published in Tuesday's edition of Berlin's Die Zeit newspaper, journalist Lenz Jacobsen said it was clear that anyone "who raises their right arm in a sweeping and diagonal manner several times during a political speech in front of a partly right-wing extremist audience is doing the Hitler salute," and that there was "no need to make this unnecessarily complicated." He added that terms like "allegedly" or "similar" or "controversial" were also unnecessary in describing what happened.

January 21, 2025 at 3:57 PM EST
Rubio sidesteps J6 pardons by declaring 'I work for Donald J. Trump'

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio refused to comment on President Donald Trump's pardons and commutations of more than 1500 people convicted of crimes surrounding the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, including the insurrection -- despite having denounced the attack in strong terms four years ago. In three separate interviews on Tuesday -- on ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News -- when presented with his comments about the 2021 attack, Rubio declared that he would not discuss domestic issues because he is now Secretary of State.

January 21, 2025 at 11:57 AM EST
'The defendant you testified against is being released': Ex-Capitol cop shares DOJ alerts

One former U.S. Capitol Police Department officer is sharing automated alerts he recently received from the Department of Justice (DOJ) letting him know that participants in the January 6 insurrection who personally attacked him had been released from prison. Aquilino Gonell, who was a Capitol police sergeant during the January 6 attack, recently shared a screenshot of his call log with his former colleague Harry Dunn, who posted the screenshot to Bluesky. The call log shows nearly a dozen automated calls from the DOJ, which tell the recipient: "The defendant you testified against is being released from the department of corrections."

January 21, 2025 at 11:44 AM EST
Cannon blocks classified docs report as Trump targets ex-officials over 'sensitive' info

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has denied the Department of Justice's request to share Special Counsel Jack Smith's report on his investigation into Donald Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents with Congress. Her order came just hours after now-President Trump signed an executive order to hold former government officials accountable for "unauthorized disclosure" of "sensitive" information, and "for election interference."