President Trump's ex-wife, Marla Maples, has joined his circle of supporters at Mar-A-Lago as First Lady Melania Trump appears to retreat from the spotlight.
Divorced since 1999, Trump and Maples remain tied through their daughter, Tiffany Trump, and by all appearances, Trump maintains an amicable friendship with his former spouse, who has become a strong advocate for his MAGA agenda.
The couple met in 1985 at a charity tennis match, while Trump was still married to his first wife, Ivana Trump.
Donald Trump and Maples, a former model, married in 1993 after bringing Tiffany into the world. They divorced six years later.
In 2022, they reconnected at the rehearsal dinner for Tiffany's marriage to Michael Boulos. A group picture at the time showed Trump, Maples, and Melania Trump all smiling together.
Maples became a vocal supporter of Trump's re-election campaign last year, defending him against charges of sexually assaulting a woman.
“I do know my daughter’s father well enough to know that he’s never had to push himself on another person. He’s always had women throw themselves on him instead,” Maples said. “I don’t believe there was a crime done.”
A faithful Christian, Maples shared a prayer after the assassination attempt on her ex-husband in Butler, Pennsylvania.
"Those who want to stop him are in fear of the power of God. May Christ create an opening in the hearts of those who want to stop the Light and the souls of humanity," she wrote at the time.
On January 20th, Maples joined her daughter Tiffany at President Trump's inauguration at the Capitol Rotunda, writing, “Here comes the light" in a celebratory post.
The president's amazing political comeback has been a personal victory for Maples, a passionate health activist and co-founder of the group Global Wellness Fund.
A strong supporter of Robert F. Kennedy and his Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement, Maples returned to the Capitol in February to support his nomination to join Trump's Cabinet.
Kennedy was grilled over his views on vaccines by the Senate but ultimately won confirmation to be President Trump's HHS Secretary.
“So grateful that our hearts and souls, and our prayers have come together for a time like this!” Maples wrote after his confirmation.
Compared to Maples, Trump's reclusive wife Melania has kept a relatively low profile since returning to the White House. Her official X account has just a handful of posts since January 20.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald's Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has re-installed science into the federal agency.
In new guidance that was released this week – his first in his new assignment after confirmation by the U.S. Senate – Kennedy made clear that human life begins at conception and that there are only two biological sexes – male and female.
Those statement simply were censored under the administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Mat Staver, chief of Liberty Counsel which often has fought in court on behalf of life and common sense on those disputes, said, "Reality and sound science have long confirmed that life begins at conception and that biological human sex is immutable. This commonsense guidance allows a return to sound governance based on fact, not fiction. Radical gender ideology must be completely rooted out from government to fully protect the health, safety, and fairness of women and children."
Two of Biden's biggest goals were to install abortion in all portions of society around the globe and promote the LGBT lifestyle choices, especially the unscientific transgender agenda, everywhere he could.
In one of the first actions RFK Jr. took, he implemented in part Trump's efforts to eliminate "false" gender ideology throughout the government's executive branch.
"The guidance informs all federal agencies, the government's external partners, and the public that the 'immutable' nature of human sex is genetically determined at conception. By recognizing binary sex as 'objective biology,' the government can then help protect the health and safety of women and children, the HHS stated," according to the report.
Kennedy explained that he, as part of the Trump administration, and others are working to bring back "common sense and restoring biological truth to the federal government."
He charged, "The prior administration's policy of trying to engineer gender ideology into every aspect of public life is over."
The HHS guidance followed Trump's executive order titled, "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government."
That tells the HHS to provide the public "clear guidance" on sex-based definitions stipulating that "sex" is strictly a "biological classification as either male or female" and "not a synonym" for the concept of gender identity.
The guidance states that sex is "a person's immutable biological classification as either male or female."
A female, the science confirms, "is a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova)," while a male is "is a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm."
Biden's administration wildly tried to install the transgender ideology throughout the nation by claiming it could redefine the word "sex" as it was used in nondiscrimination laws from 50 years ago to include "gender" ideologies. The Biden argument was that lawmakers in the 1960s and 1070s when many nondiscrimination laws were written actually meant "gender" when they wrote "sex."
"Restoring biological truth to the Federal government is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself," the HHS stated.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Joe Biden, while in the White House, attacked America's energy in multiple ways: Canceling pipelines, limiting exports, banning exploration and drilling.
The result wasn't hard to predict. Gasoline prices for consumers exploded to as high as $6 and $7 a gallon at times, contributing to the massive inflation Americans suffered under his Democratic regime.
President Donald Trump wants to change that.
And one of his plans is to work to cut taxes on domestic oil products, lowering their costs.
The Daily Mail reports there's still instability in the world market for energy, so Trump plans to work with Republicans in Congress to lower taxes for individuals and companies.
"The national average price for a regular gas in the U.S. Thursday morning sat at $3.165 per gallon, according to AAA. This is up from $3.160 last week and $3.125 a month prior. The most expensive state for gas in the country, California, has an average price of $4.849 per gallon," the report said.
But those prices ranged in the low to mid $2 range when Trump last was in the White House.
Trump has promised to work on the "largest tax cuts" in U.S. history, and some details already have been released, including that he wants to eliminate taxes on tips, Social Security and overtime.
He also said, for business, he wants to allow 100% expensing for new factory construction, and a reduction in prices for the production of domestic iol and gas.
He has not yet offered details on cuts to reduce the cost of domestic oil and gas, but he also said he wants to refill the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which Biden drained to try to lower fuel prices as the election approached.
"The world runs on low-cost energy, and energy-producing nations like us have nothing to apologize for," Trump said. "We have more energy than any other nation in the world, and we're going to use it."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
It seemed to take only seconds. And it probably was no more than minutes. But when the Senate on Thursday approved Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's nominee to head the FBI, one recurring message appeared on social media:
"Deep State is COOKED!"
Or another way, "Deep State's days are over."
Democrats long have expressed vigorous opposition to Patel's nomination to the point it bordered on what appeared to be fear.
After all, Patel already is on record criticizing the bureau. And he was a key investigator that uncovered the false claims of the Democrats' "Russiagate" scandal that involved the FBI during Trump's first term.
Ranking Member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., claimed Patel's confirmation would be "inviting a political disaster," and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., issued a kind of threat, telling his GOP colleagues, "Mark my words, this Patel guy will come back to haunt you."
Durbin had claimed he had been told that Patel already was directing a "purge of career civil servants" at the FBI.
Patel's spokeswoman pointed out that was sourced by the media with "anonymous" informers and "second-hand gossip."
Durbin also had argued, unsuccessfully, that Patel didn't' have "the temperament" for the position.
But Patel also declined to explicitly promise he would not investigate possible criminal activity among former officials who have been critical of Trump.
This after Democrats spent much of Trump's first term, and the four years he was out of office, creating a long list of lawfare cases against Trump, which now have fallen by the wayside.
Some of them obviously were pushed by politics, such as the armed FBI raid on Trump's home in a dispute over presidential records over which his team already was negotiating. Coincidentally, Joe Biden also was found to have government records in his possession, but prosecutors gave him a pass.
Patel did confirm he's dedicated to restoring the public's trust in an agency that harbored anti-Trump activists who claimed they had an insurance policy to prevent Trump from becoming president in 2017.
Patel, a lawyer, worked briefly served in the Justice Department during the Obama administration, then worked in the U.S. House. He was senior counsel to former Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., in the House Intelligence Committee in 2017 and 2018.
He is credited with work debunking the FBI's Russia investigation and writing a memo that explained missteps at the bureau.
He later held positions in Trump's first administration.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump's inspection of all of American government to root out wasteful spending, fraud and even criminal behavior has resulted in confirmation from the Department of Energy that its officials have eliminated $124 million in "wasteful" spending.
That was what was being spent on "ridiculously expensive" subscriptions and more.
A report from Fox News explained that department spokesman Ben Dietderich told the network in an interview that the total of $124 million included, "millions of dollars of DEI contracts to ridiculously expensive multi-million-dollar Politico news subscriptions" and other nonessential line items.
He pointed out, "We are just getting started."
Some identified expenditures already have been obligated, so there will be an "immediate" savings of about $65 million.
But there will be "more to come in the coming months and years," he said.
"President Trump and Secretary [Chris] Wright are fully committed to making government more accountable, efficient, and restoring proper stewardship of the American taxpayer's dollars."
He said the cuts so far come from "needless expenditures."
He charged that the corrections are coming after Joe Biden's failed leadership.
"The previous administration was not a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars: In just four years, the Biden administration expanded the Department of Energy's federal workforce by more than 20% – adding more than 3,000 federal employee positions," he said. "In the last year alone, the Biden administration increased the size of the Energy Department federal workforce with 1,000 new employees. Delivering on President Trump's mandate supported by more than 77 million Americans, the Energy Department began last week dismissing a portion of recently hired federal employees classified in the federal government as 'probationary employees.'"
Wright also said, according to the report, that the Biden administration's Green New Deal is in the process of being "killed off" as Trump's plan is to lower energy and oil costs for Americans.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A new executive order from President Donald Trump, among the latest in his long list of dozens of actions he's taken to protect America from illegal aliens and the transgender ideology and to cut government waste and fraud, puts a bull's-eye on the taxpayer money being used to "incentivize or support" illegal immigration.
The idea is to make certain "taxpayer resources are used to protect the interests of American citizens, not illegal aliens," said the order, which also cited statistics from the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
That group said American taxpayers are being forced to pay at least $182 billion a year to cover the expenses of 20 million illegal aliens and their children, including more than $66 billion in federal expenses and $115 billion paid by states and local governments.
Further, the Center for Immigration Studies reported 1 million illegal aliens could cost American taxpayers $3 billion a year through welfare programs to which they are not supposed to have access under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
But illegal aliens who are granted parole become "qualified aliens," allowing access to various benefits.
Further, the Congressional Budget Office reported federal and state taxpayers handed over more than $16.2 billion to give Medicaid-funded emergency services to illegal aliens.
A report from the Washington Examiner said the order directs all federal agencies and departments to identify benefits funded by taxpayers that illegal immigrants get and "take corrective action."
Eligibility verification also will be stepped up to block benefits being distributed to those in the nation illegally.
The U.S. House Homeland Security Committee reported earlier that illegal aliens have drained some $450 billion from public funds over the past four or five years, and FEMA has delivered more than $1 billion to illegals over the say time period.
"My administration will uphold the rule of law, defend against the waste of hard-earned taxpayer resources, and protect benefits for American citizens in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans," Trump said.
Hurricane, a beloved Secret Service dog who famously shielded President Obama and his family from an intruder, has died.
The distinguished Special Operations Belgian Malinois, considered the most decorated K-9 in U.S. history, was 16 years old.
“As much as we knew this time was coming there was no way to prepare. We miss him so much. A huge hole that can never be replaced,” his handler, Marshall Mirarchi said.
On October 22, 2014, Hurricane was patrolling the White House lawn when an intruder climbed the fence.
The suspect, Dominic Adesanya, came within 100 yards of President Obama and his wife as they watched a film in the White House movie theater, according to the New York Times.
Hurricane tackled the man, who was later hospitalized with multiple dog bites. Unfortunately, Hurricane and another dog, Jordan, were badly injured in the scuffle.
"He beat Hurricane really bad,” Mirarchi, a retired Secret Service agent, told the New York Times. “But Hurricane did not give up.”
As a result of his injuries, Hurricane went into medical retirement in 2016. He received numerous medals for his bravery, including the United States Secret Service Award for Merit, the Department of Homeland Security Award for Valor, the PDSA (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals) Order of Merit, and the American Medical Center Top Dog.
Hurricane entered the Guiness Book of World Records after becoming the first dog to receive the Animals in War and Peace Distinguished Service Medal.
Hurricane also became the namesake of Mirarchi's charity for retired K-9s, Hurricane’s Heroes. The organization has helped provide medical care for 150 retired military and government working dogs.
The White House called Hurricane a "true American hero" in a tribute.
Hurricane was a true American hero.
The most decorated K-9 in U.S. history, he bravely defended the White House and spent retirement helping other working dogs through @Hurricane_K9. His legacy of courage and loyalty will live on.
Rest easy, Hurricane. 🇺🇸🐾 pic.twitter.com/st5VxcOiAd
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 19, 2025
The Obama family has yet to issue a statement on the loyal pup's passing.
Last week, Hurricane was flown back to Washington D.C. to say goodbye to his Secret Service buddies, who honored him with a plaque and an American flag at the Secret Service K9 Training Center.
“His whole team came to say goodbye,” Mirarchi said. “We put him down together.”
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
An organization of Catholic bishops that for years has taken American taxpayer money and provided services and benefits to "refugees" now has filed a lawsuit against President Trump for cutting off that money spigot.
It is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that sued over Trump's agenda to cut spending, eliminate waste and fraud, and even target any criminal activities in spending plans for the federal government.
The lawsuit in Washington names the State Department, the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Trump's spending reductions are part of his agenda, on which he campaigned and for which voters voted, to protect the United States first rather than funding efforts "that facilitate unchecked migration," according to the Gateway Pundit.
The bishops claim the freeze on funding, which deprives the organization of huge amounts of tax money, violates congressional appropriations and the Refugee Act of 1980.
The organization claims it for 80 years as helped "refugees" entering the United States to locate housing, learn English and find employment, and that its work is "an expression of charity taken in fulfillment of Christ's commandment to serve those in need, regardless of their race, creed, or color."
It charges that Congress has, in fact, "recognized" the need for refugee help and that is "essential to this country's interests."
The case talks about those qualified to apply for refugee status and how they are "screened,"
But then it insists that its work providing "domestic assistance" is a huge part of the overall U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, with Congress making it the "policy of the United States" to use taxpayer money for "resettlement."
The report said, "The USCCB's lawsuit hinges on the claim that the suspension of federal funds for refugee resettlement leaves thousands of refugees in limbo. But what these bishops fail to acknowledge is the utter disaster that Joe Biden's reckless immigration policies have created."
Under Biden's open borders practices, millions of illegal aliens entered the U.S. to become part of the population that often depends on public assistance for housing, food, and more.
The report said, "Under his administration, the southern border became a lawless free-for-all, allowing millions of unvetted illegal immigrants to flood into American communities, overwhelming law enforcement, hospitals, and schools. Trump's decision to pause this funding is a necessary step to clean up Biden's mess and reassess where taxpayer dollars are actually going. Instead of prioritizing illegal migrants, Trump's administration is focused on helping struggling American families, veterans, and homeless citizens—a fact that the liberal media and activist organizations conveniently ignore."
Trump has, in fact, ordered a halt to the entry of refugees and suspended taxpayer funding, until "a determination was made that resuming the program aligned with U.S. interests."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
An investigation is being launched into those responsible for America's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan under Joe Biden's watch.
It cost the lives of 13 American soldiers. It involved the abandonment of hundreds of Americans and thousands of U.S. supporting nationals at the time. It involved the abandonment by Biden of billions of dollars of American war machinery that was taken over by the Taliban.
And it handed Afghanistan, only days later, back to the terror-linked Taliban.
It is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who said accountability to coming for those responsible.
A report at Breitbart explained Hegseth already has picked investigators.
"We've already identified folks that'll be in charge of that full investigation inside the Pentagon. … I don't have a timeframe on it. Sadly, we've already waited two-and-a-half years, three years since what occurred. I don't want to wait longer, but I always want to get it right."
When Biden ordered with abrupt withdrawal, a suicide bombing in response at Kabul's airport killed 13 American service members.
"In addition, hundreds of Americans were left behind, despite the administration touting the withdrawal as successful and bragging about conducing the largest withdrawal in history. On its way out, the U.S. military conducted a strike meant to target the suicide bomber, but ended up killing an aid worker and his family instead. Then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley touted it as a 'righteous strike,'" the report explained.
Hegseth said his goal is to reveal the "chains of events, information, what happened. Why did it happen? Who made the decision? What was the reason they made that decision? Why did they give advice or not give advice? Why did they execute an order a certain way? Did they speak up when they were supposed to or not? I don't think there's anybody that feels like there's been an honest accounting of what happened in Afghanistan."
A commentary at Twitchy pointed out that at that time, "Biden decided he needed a big win. In July, he began a chaotic, unorganized, and rushed withdrawal from Afghanistan to be able to celebrate 'ending the war' before the anniversary."
The result, it explained, "Thirteen American soldiers killed at Abbey Gate. Hundreds of Americans stranded in Afghanistan, abandoned by the Biden administration. Even more Afghanis who were American allies during the war left to the tender mercies of the Taliban. And almost $100 billion in cash and U.S. military hardware left behind for the Taliban to pick up and parade around for the world to see."
It pointed out that Biden's approval rating plunged, and "never recovered."
Infamously, Biden, when the American soldiers were brought home in caskets, stared at his watch.
The report said, "Justice is coming. Answers are coming. Coming for so many people, but mostly for Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Cpl. Daegan W. Page, Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, and Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss."
Afghanistan was one of the Democrat failures mentioned by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., during an interview. And he advised his Democrat colleagues on how to fix things:
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The transgender issue became a cause celebre for Joe Biden and his administration. He pushed the ideology, unscientific though it is, that men or boys can become women or girls. And vice versa.
His fight extended to the point he was trying to force doctors with ethical and religious objections to do body mutilating surgeries – and he was trying to force taxpayers to pay for it. And not just in the U.S., but around the globe.
President Donald Trump put a block on the agenda when he took office, stating that the government's official policy is that there are two genders, men and women.
But now a report reveals that over recent years, taxpayers have been billed for some $241 million – for transgender experiments on animals.
It is Fox News that reported Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., described such spending as "insane."
It was just weeks ago that the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, in a hearing called, "Transgender Lab Rats and Poisoned Puppies: Oversight of Taxpayer Funded Animal Cruelty," heard from Justin Goodman of the White Coat Waste Project about the spending.
Goodman said, "In a lot of these cases, they involve mice, rats, monkeys, who are being surgically mutilated and subjected to hormone therapies to mimic female-to-male or male-to-female gender transitions, gender-affirming hormone therapies, and then looking at the biological, psychological and physiological effects of the gender transitions, looking at the effects of taking vaccines after you've transitioned these animals from male to female or female to male, looking at the size of their genitals changing after you've put them on estrogen or testosterone therapies to transition them."
Goodman described one situation where a $1.1 million cash handout was delivered to give female lab rats testosterone, and then observe whether they were likely to overdose on a rape drug.
Crane explained, in a statement to Fox, "Anthony Fauci lied to the American people about masks, vaccines, social distancing, gain-of-function research, and the origins of COVID-19. On top of these egregious actions, he also authorized more than $200 million of taxpayer funds for 'transgender animal testing'."
Crane suggested it's now up to Congress to examine spending bills line by line and remove "these fraudulent programs."
Goodman cited that Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Joe Biden's chief operative to impose masks, shots, and lockdowns on Americans during COVID, funded 95% of the transgender animal experiments.
The taxpayer funds paid for "painful and deadly transgender experiments that forced lab animals to undergo invasive surgeries and hormone therapies," explained Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.