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Donald Trump says he won’t ‘commit’ to ruling out using military force to reclaim the Panama Canal

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Donald Trump has lashed out at President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom over the wildfires currently rampaging through Los Angeles, which have already killed five people, destroyed more than 1,000 structures and forced 150,000 residents to evacuate.

“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground,” the president-elect fumed on Truth Social.

“It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!”

In an earlier post on his social media platform, Trump wrote: “The fires in Los Angeles may go down, in dollar amount, as the worst in the History of our Country.

“In many circles, they’re doubting whether insurance companies will even have enough money to pay for this catastrophe.”

Meanwhile, the incoming commander-in-chief’s dreams of using military force to annex Greenland have been denied by the US embassy in Copenhagen and met with ridicule by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has also mocked his plan to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

Trump will be in Washington DC on Thursday for the state funeral of former president Jimmy Carter.

British Foreign Secretary gives Trump’s Arctic threats the cold shoulder

David Lammy has also been dismissing the president-elect’s posturing over Greenland.

“Let’s get serious, it’s not going happen,” he told the BBC on Thursday. “No NATO allies have gone to war since the birth of NATO [in 1949].”

Lammy continued: “We know from [Trump’s] first term that the intensity of his rhetoric and unpredictability sometimes of what he says can be destabilising.

“I suspect on Greenland he is targeting his concerns about Russia and China in the Arctic and his concerns about national economic security.

“He recognises, I am sure, that Greenland is a kingdom of Denmark.”

Joe Sommerlad9 January 2025 11:55

Watch: Hakeem Jeffries lambasts Trump’s Greenland takeover plans

“We are not sent to Washington to invade Greenland, rename the Gulf of Mexico or seize the Panama Canal by force,” the incredulous House Minority Leader told a press conference in DC on Wednesday.

“We were sent to Washington to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America.”

Hakeem Jeffries lambasts Donald Trump’s Greenland takeover plans

Hakeem Jeffries has lambasted Donald Trump for his threats to seize Greenland. The president-elect will be back on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, 8 January, to meet with Senate Republicans about legislative priorities. It comes after his speech at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his wish to make Canada a state, occupy Greenland, and seize the Panama Canal, not ruling out the use of the military in the latter two instances. “We are not sent to Washington to invade Greenland, rename the Gulf of Mexico or seize the Panama Canal by force. We were sent to Washington to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America,” the House Minority Leader told a press conference.

Joe Sommerlad9 January 2025 11:25

Trump and Justice Alito spoke just hours before urging Supreme Court to block hush money sentencing

The president-elect spoke with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito hours before the former urged the nation’s high court to block his imminent sentencing date in his hush money trial, it emerged yesterday.

The conservative justice told ABC News he agreed to take a call from the incoming president to recommend a law clerk for a position in his administration.

“I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon,” Alito confirmed to ABC.

“We did not discuss the emergency application he filed today, and indeed, I was not even aware at the time of our conversation that such an application would be filed,” according to the justice.

“We also did not discuss any other matter that is pending or might in the future come before the Supreme Court or any past Supreme Court decisions involving the president-elect.”

Here’s more from Alex Woodward.

Joe Sommerlad9 January 2025 10:55

No plan to expand US military presence in Greenland, says Copenhagen embassy

The incoming commander-in-chief’s dreams of using military force to annex Greenland have been rejected by the US embassy in the Danish capital.

“There are no plans to increase the United States’s current military footprint in Greenland,” a spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday.

That hasn’t stopped Trump posting memes about his fantasies of world domination, however.

While his refusal to rule out military action to take the strategically-useful (and mineral-rich) Arctic island earlier this week drew an angry response from Denmark, France and Germany, Republicans on Capitol Hill are backing their Dear Leader.

Here’s more from Eric Garcia.

Joe Sommerlad9 January 2025 10:25

Donald Trump attacks Joe Biden and Gavin Newsom over LA fires

Donald Trump has lashed out at President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom over the wildfires currently rampaging through Los Angeles, which have already killed five people, destroyed more than 1,000 structures and forced 150,000 residents to evacuate.

“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground,” the president-elect fumed on Truth Social.

“It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!”

In an earlier post on his social media platform, Trump wrote: “The fires in Los Angeles may go down, in dollar amount, as the worst in the History of our Country.

“In many circles, they’re doubting whether insurance companies will even have enough money to pay for this catastrophe.”

Here’s Rhian Lubin on some further unhelpful interventions from Elon Musk and friends.

Joe Sommerlad9 January 2025 10:05

Why is Trump ‘obsessed’ with Greenland? It might stem from his friendship with a cosmetics billionaire…

But where did this idea come from?

Oliver O’Connell9 January 2025 09:50

Was Maria Bartiromo almost a heartbeat from the presidency?

The symbiotic relationship between Fox News and President-elect Donald Trump nearly reached new levels during the most recent presidential campaign, according to a new book by Politico political reporter Alex Isenstadt.

While the president-elect has already appointed or nominated at least a dozen Fox News personalities to his upcoming administration, Isenstadt reports in his forthcoming book Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power that Trump seriously considered making one his favorite hosts his running mate.

Oliver O’Connell9 January 2025 09:20

‘Why don’t we call it Mexican America?’: Mexican president hits back at ‘misinformed’ Trump

“Obviously, the Gulf of Mexico is a name recognized by the United Nations,” Sheinbaum, speaking in Spanish, said during her daily press conference, according to Politico.

She then pointed to a historic map of North America, on which parts of what is now the U.S. the map said, “America Mexicana.”

“Why don’t we call it Mexican America?” she said with a heavy tinge of sarcasm. “It sounds nice, no?”

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Oliver O’Connell9 January 2025 08:50

Schumer says renaming Gulf of Mexico ‘isn’t going to help people save money at the grocery store’

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is on the same page as Hakeem Jeffries his counterpart in the House of Representatives.

Speaking about Donald Trump’s agenda, he said: “Donald Trump is in over his head. So he’s doing what he always does in times like this, distract America with crazy ideas. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico may be a zany new idea, but it isn’t going to help people save money at the grocery store.”

“If Donald Trump wants to rename a gulf to sound more patriotic, I’d say we will help him on one condition and only one condition: let’s come up w/a real plan first — not a concept of a plan — to lower prices for Americans,” Schumer continued.

“Let’s do that first. Then, Donald Trump can have his fun.”

Oliver O’Connell9 January 2025 08:20

Ex-cop and Proud Boys member gets 14 months for joining Jan 6 Capitol riot

A former police officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol with fellow members of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced on Wednesday to 14 months in prison for joining the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Donald Trump supporters, court records show.

Nathaniel Tuck and other Proud Boys, including his father, were among the first wave of rioters who entered Capitol grounds after the mob broke through police lines, according to prosecutors.



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