This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Anthony Fauci, Joe Biden's health adviser who was at a salary just short of half a million dollars a year before retiring on a pension estimated at $350,000 per annum, had collected some $15 million in special security benefits since he left government.
But no more.
Reports confirm that in addition to his salary he made millions selling his behind-the-scenes stories, and was handed a free presidential pardon from Biden.
But now President Donald Trump has ended Secret Service protection for the retired American citizen.
"When you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off. You can't have them forever, so I think it's very standard," Trump explained.
The president pointed out he dropped special protections for some others as well.
"You can't have security detail for the rest of your life because you work for the government," he explained.
A reported asked if he would feel responsible if "something were to happen" to Fauci and Trump said 'no."
"They all made a lot of money. They can hire their own security, too."
Part of the history of the two is that Fauci claimed in a book that Trump screamed at him when both were in office and the COVID-19 China virus arrived in America.
Fox News reported the National Institutes of Health had asked for security for Fauci in 2020 to protect him from threats he received during COVID.
Fauci had been given the special security detail and a limousine service even after he left government, based on the claims there still were threats.
In fact, Trump said he'd provide contacts for private security if Fauci felt he wanted to set that up himself.
Fauci was head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022.
He was accused by members of Congress of funding the "gain-of-function" research in Wuhan, China, that likely unleashed the COVID-19 virus. In fact, there were federal grants that went to a private organization that in turn supported the Wuhan work.
Earlier this week, just days after taking back the White House and working through the night to fulfill a long list of promises to his supporters, President Donald Trump wished his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, a happy 20th anniversary.
As many would understandably have thought 20 years ago, Donald and Melania's marriage could have flamed out just as quickly as any Hollywood marriage, but it didn't.
According to the Daily Mail, in the wake of his 20th wedding anniversary, several "wild" photos emerged from their $2.5 million wedding that the outlet said had a "very surprising guest list."
The two were married on January 22, 2005, at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea. Of course, the reception was held at Mar-a-Lago.
Aside from the imagery, the guest list for Donald Trump's wedding to Melania, his third at the time, included guests like former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton.
Former Trump lawyer and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was also one of the guests at their wedding.
Fox News star "Judge" Jeanine Pirro was a guest at the wedding, too. Pirro, a strong Trump ally, attended his inauguration festivities, "including dancing onstage to a live Village People performance at Turning Point USA's pre-inauguration gala."
Happy 20th Anniversary President Trump and First Lady, Melania!❤️🥂🎉 pic.twitter.com/fyJHISpIcU
— Lisa (@Miamirealtygirl) January 22, 2025
The Daily Mail noted:
The late Barbara Walters attended Trump's wedding, as did disgraced anchor Matt Lauer, who suffered a 2017 sex scandal, removing him from the air.
Other media stars in attendance included Katie Couric, Chris Matthews, Kelly Ripa, with husband, actor and co-anchor Mark Consuelos, Kathie Lee Gifford, with her late husband Frank, as well as Star Jones.
Several top music stars and producers were also present at the wedding, including Billy Joel and the late Tony Bennet.
Users across social media joined the president in wishing his wife a happy anniversary.
"This is the definition of a good, wholesome, Christian family," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "Beautiful couple may God bless you both with lots of love, strength and good health."
"This is beautiful. The love here is genuine. Best President and First Lady ever. Happy anniversary! Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness, good health, and blessings," another user wrote.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A federal agency has been accused of thumbing its nose at President Donald Trump's instructions to shut down the racist DEI programs that Joe Biden installed throughout the federal government.
It is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms that is accused of changing an employee's title from "chief diversity officer" to "senior executive" in order to get around Trump's orders to shut down the race-based programs and put those workers on leave.
Fox News reported that Rep. Eric Burlison said on social media, "The ATF defied @realDonaldTrump's order to place DEI workers on leave, instead giving their DEI officer a new title. They attack citizens' rights, ignore leadership, and act as though they're above the law. Enough is enough. Time to abolish the ATF!"
The report explained it was Lisa T. Boykin who was the ATF's "chief diversity officer." Then, suddenly, her title online became "senior executive."
"An archived link of the ATF's website reviewed by Fox Digital shows Boykin was listed as the chief diversity officer as recently as Tuesday — Trump's second day in the Oval Office — and now shows her as working as the agency's 'senior executive,'" the report charged.
Trump's executive order, issued when he took office Monday, terminated "illegal DEI and 'diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility' (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.'"
The Office of Personnel Management shortly later instructed, "Send a notification to all employees of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) offices that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the agency takes steps to close/end all DEIA initiatives, offices and program."
An ATF official said, according to the report, that the organization followed directives from the Trump administration.
RedState explained, "We know what the left does when they don't get their way, and entrenched government bureaucrats who were all in on the Biden agenda are not going quietly. The message says the agency knows government employees are trying to disguise DEI by using new names and vague language. (This is documented.) It tells staff to report those violations for investigation."
The report noted under the Customs and Border Patrol, "the 'Diversity and Inclusion' webpage was mysteriously changed to 'Special Emphasis Programs.' Even more curious is the fact that CBP has now taken the entire webpage down."
Congress will question several of President Donald Trump's nominees next week before giving the final okay on his picks, Fox News reported. Some of those have faced the most opposition to their appointments, including Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The president's appointments fall under the preview of the Senate's "advice and consent" powers. In order for Trump's nominees to be confirmed, they need a majority in the Senate.
The current balance is 53-47 in favor of Republicans, but Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for defense secretary, faced opposition from three Republicans. Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to come to his rescue last minute, as commentator Benny Johnson shared, which could conceivably spell trouble for the rest of Trump's picks.
🚨BREAKING: Vice President JD Vance casts the decisive vote, confirming Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, 51-50
pic.twitter.com/RGmKfQHVb7— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 25, 2025
Trump hasn't even been in office a week, but he is already making enemies in Washington, D.C. by shaking up the status quo. He has chosen Patel to be the net FBI director, Gabbard for National Intelligence director, and Robert F. Kennedy for Department of Health and Human Services director.
Each faces opposition because they're not the usual choices for such positions. Patel is in the crosshairs because he has promised a shakeup at the FBI and has railed against the phony Russiagate scandal pushed during the first Trump administration.
As part of a congressional probe into the scandal, Patel helped craft the 2018 memo outlining abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that allowed the government to spy on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Patel agrees with Trump about the problem of the "deep state," or unelected government employees who actively worked against Trump.
Gabbard similarly ruffled feathers as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Hawaii as a Democrat. She has since become a Republican and has faced harsh criticism for her reluctance to send Americans to die in more foreign wars.
While opponents insist that Gabbard is a threat to national security, a letter signed by at least 250 veterans heartily endorsed her. The signors included former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller and retired General Michael Flynn.
Patel and Gabbard will both face questioning on Thursday. Patel will go before the Senate Judiciary Committee for review, while Gabbard will answer to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Kennedy, arguably Trump's most controversial pick, will be questioned Wednesday by the Senate Finance Committee, as it holds jurisdiction over the department. On Thursday, Kennedy will go before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee for a less grueling courtesy hearing.
As a pro-abortion form Democrat, Kennedy could face opposition from Republicans. He'll also have difficulty with Democrats by virtue of being associated with Trump, but also because of his unconventional views on health and vaccine safety.
Moreover, Kennedy became a pariah among Democrats last year after he dared to challenge then-President Joe Biden in the 2024 race, The Hill reported. He likely compounded those troubles by defecting as an independent, which Democrats frown upon.
Trump's picks will face several hurdles, but there's a decent chance he'll get all of his picks confirmed. Thankfully, the GOP has a majority, and Trump has a mandate with the American people.
Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has publicly announced that her mother was secretly battling cancer during her time in the Biden administration.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Jean-Pierre said the burden of caring for her mother was like working a "second full-time job" but she kept it private because society does not allow black women to be "vulnerable."
Jean-Pierre said she would drive from Washington D.C. to New York "every weekend I could to see my mom" and would often return to work on a few hours of sleep.
"I have been silently working a second full-time job, which is navigating my mother's care," she said.
The child of Haitian immigrants claimed that she was held to a higher standard because of her race and sexuality - and did not want to be perceived as offering "excuses" for her performance.
"Society doesn't allow women of color to be vulnerable at work. When you're a first, you don't get the benefit of the doubt," she said.
"I'm the first black press secretary. The first person of color press secretary. The first openly queer press secretary. The first Haitian American immigrant press secretary. The first press secretary to be all of the above," she said.
"Being a first meant that my responsibilities were beyond those in the job description, the load heavier. I bear a certain responsibility to the communities I represent."
During her time at the briefing room podium, Jean-Pierre was often criticized for her ungainly, by-the-book approach to her job.
She was a stalwart defender of the president and some of his most controversial decisions, including the pardon of his son Hunter Biden.
"Two things could be true," she said. "The president does believe in the justice system and Department of Justice, and he also believes that his son was singled out politically."
Before Biden's cognitive decline was publicly exposed last year, Jean-Pierre repeatedly claimed that the president was mentally sharp - notoriously suggesting she could not "keep up" with him.
Jean-Pierre said her mother was diagnosed with stage two colon cancer months after they attended Biden's first state dinner in December 2022. Her mother wanted to keep the illness a secret, but Jean-Pierre confided in President Biden, who was supportive.
The cancer is now in remission, she said.
The House of Representatives passed a bill that would force doctors to save newborns who survive abortions.
The bill passed along party lines, with only one Democrat, Henry Cuellar (Tx.), voting in favor.
The vote was largely a messaging exercise, as Republicans have little chance of passing the bill through the Senate, where it was blocked Wednesday by Democrats.
Democrats claim the bill is redundant because it is already illegal under federal law for doctors to kill or neglect newborns. The bill, however, adds new criminal penalties making it clear that doctors who fail to perform their duty could face serious consequences: up to five years of prison and fines.
"Requiring medical care for babies born alive after a failed abortion isn’t controversial, it’s common sense," House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Mn.) said.
"The fact that Democrats would rather support infanticide than vote in favor of this bill shows how extreme and out-of-touch their party has become," Emmer said.
Democrats condemned the bill, warning it would intimidate doctors providing emergency care to women with dangerous or non-viable pregnancies.
Arguing against the bill, Democrats repeated familiar claims that late-term abortions are rare and performed exclusively for medical reasons.
"No one goes through pregnancy and all that comes with it…and then after eight or nine months of that is like ‘nah, I don’t want to do this,’" Rep. Sara Jacobs, (D-Ca.) said during debate on the bill. "It is because of a serious fetal abnormality or the health of the mother."
Despite this sweeping generalization, about 1% of the roughly 1 million abortions performed every year in the U.S. are in the third trimester. In other words, thousands of late-term abortions occur annually - which is hardly a "rare" or morally inconsequential figure. While it is difficult to know how many are elective, the number is certainly higher than zero.
Abortion has proven a difficult issue for Republicans politically since the Supreme Court's repeal of Roe v. Wade in 2022, which was credited with the party's underperformance in midterm elections that year. President Trump downplayed abortion during his successful re-election bid, but he has not forgotten his pro-life supporters.
A day before the annual March For Life rally in Washington D.C., Trump pardoned over 20 individuals who were prosecuted by the Biden administration for protesting at abortion clinics.
As President Trump begins his promised crackdown on illegal immigration, his administration is sending a stark warning to public officials who refuse to enforce federal law.
Local officials who harbor illegal aliens could face prosecution, Trump adviser Stephen Miller warned.
"The law is clear that harboring an illegal alien, smuggling an illegal alien, obstructing law enforcement, obstructing an official proceeding and a conspiracy to violate the rights of Americans, all of these and many more are criminal statutes," Miller told Fox News' Jesse Watters on Wednesday.
Hundreds of aliens have already been arrested, including sex offenders and other violent criminals.
"The initial immigration raids have already arrested and removed some of the most vicious criminals in this country, including child pornography cases, homicide cases, sexual assault attacks on children," Miller said.
"This is just the very beginning in the effort to liberate this country from the migrant criminal threat. In the coming days, you're going to see a massive scale-up in enforcement activities all across the country to dismantle this criminal network."
Within hours of returning to the White House on Monday, President Trump issued a series of sweeping orders restricting mass immigration - from declaring a national emergency at the border to suspending asylum.
The Trump administration has also lifted restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), empowering agents to make arrests at schools, churches, and other locations forbidden by past administrations.
Democratic states and localities have pledged to shield aliens from deportation, but the Trump administration is warning that such obstruction won't be tolerated.
The Justice Department issued a memo instructing federal prosecutors to target state and local officials in so-called "sanctuary" jurisdictions who interfere with federal immigration enforcement.
“Indeed, it is the responsibility of the Justice Department to defend the Constitution, and accordingly, to lawfully execute the policies that the American people elected President Trump to implement,” acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said.
Miller warned that "no one is above the law, not illegal aliens, and not anyone who may choose to illegally harbor those aliens."
"With respect to sanctuary cities overall, they are going to be flooded by federal law enforcement to find and remove these criminal threats," Miller said.
"The law of this nation is being restored by President Trump. The sovereignty of this nation is being restored by President Trump, and the cartels are being designated as terrorists, and they are going to be sent packing."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Watch President Donald Trump's recorded message to March for Life marchers who assembled in Washington on Friday:
President Trump to @March_for_Life: "I know your hearts are warm and your spirits are strong because your mission is just, very, very pure: to forge a society that welcomes and protects every child as a beautiful gift from the hand of our Creator."
He described how their "mission is just."
He thanked the crowds, thousands participating, for turning out to show compassion for the unborn.
And he cited the collapse of the "disastrous" Roe v. Wade decision from more than 50 years ago that was unconstitutional, and "took power away from the states and voters."
The Supreme Court, three years ago, returned the issue to the states "where it belongs."
He said during his second term in office he will continue work to stop the "radical push" for unlimited abortion "even after birth."
He also said he would end the weaponization of law enforcement against people of faith.
The goal, he said, is a society that "welcomes and protects every child … as a beautiful gift from the hand of our Creator."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump has started his second term with a flurry of actions: Getting rid of DEI, pardons for J6ers and pro-lifers, plans to revamp multiple federal agencies, plans to cut government spending and much more.
Of course the opposition from Democrats, who are not in power in the White House, Senate or House, is as high as when they were orchestrating the multiple lawfare court cases they hoped would keep him from running for president again.
But Trump also has vast support.
A report from the Washington Examiner confirms Trump's approval during his "rollicking start" to his new term is at 57%, "his highest-ever approval rating."
"As the 45th president, Trump's average approval never popped above 47%, according to RealClearPolitics President Tom Bevan in an X post uploaded before the Napolitan survey was released," the report said.
The Real Clear Politics average now has him at 53% approval.
The report cited two key points, including that 95% of Republicans approve, along with 39% of independents and even 20% of Democrats.
Further, "Seventy-three percent of evangelical or Bible-believing voters approve. So do 59% of Catholic voters and 51% of other Protestants. Among Jewish voters, 38% approve and 59% disapprove. The president's lowest ratings come from atheists, only 29% of whom approve."
The results confirm Trump's oft-repeated assertions that he has a public "mandate" for the swift and complete implementation of his agenda.
"What's more, since his election, pollster Scott Rasmussen of RMG Research, which is behind Napolitan, said that the mood of the nation has been improving," the report said.
On social media, Rasmussen explained, "Since @realDonaldTrump victory on Election Day, perceptions of the economy have improved. In the last @NapolitanNews pre-election survey, 41% of voters said their personal finances were getting worse. That's down to 31% today. That's ten-point improvement is part of an ongoing trend noticed in six surveys conducted since Election Day."
Rasmussen told the Examiner, "These results confirm the positive response we've measured to the president's flurry of executive orders. Voters strongly approve of his efforts to improve border security and to require the federal government to recognize only two sexes. Most also approve of his decision to remove national security clearance from the 51 former intelligence officials who signed a misleading statement concerning Hunter Biden's laptop."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Those of us celebrating the New Year at home – some perhaps choosing to watch another country's earlier celebration on television, wistfully resigned to the fact our older bodies would not enable us to stay up to see the New York City Times Square ball drop – were shocked to awaken to reports the next morning about two deadly vehicular attacks. The first occurred in New Orleans; the second soon thereafter in Las Vegas. For those of us with military service, we were further shocked to learn both involved fellow veterans.
News about both attacks shared similarities but overlooked a key last-second difference distinguishing the two. Observable to both attackers in the last seconds of their lives, it was a telling sign as to why entirely different motivations were responsible.
The first attack, occurring early on New Year's morning in New Orleans, was committed by Staff Sgt. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, who was no longer on active duty; a few hours later, Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger, 37 – still on active duty serving as a U.S. Army Green Beret who had taken leave from his base in Germany – committed the Las Vegas attack. Sadly, this veteran involvement triggered liberal press members, such as MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell, to ridiculously suggest the demographic about which to be most worried now concerning domestic terrorism is the veteran community.
Both veterans served at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, and also in Afghanistan, with a likely overlap, although no evidence emerged they knew each other.
Both decided to use the timing of the New Year's celebration to commit their attacks, most likely to leave a deeper footprint upon the American psyche by acting on the first day of 2025.
Both used the car-sharing platform Turo – an online app marketing privately owned vehicles for rent directly from their owners. The timing of the attacks as well as the mutual use of Turo initially caused investigators to examine whether there might be some connection between the two; however, further investigation proved none existed.
Both rented trucks for their attacks: Jabbar's was a Ford F-150, undoubtedly selected for its 6,000 pound weight to help propel it through the heavy crowd of holiday celebrants he intended to target; meanwhile, Livelsberger rented a Tesla Cybertruck, which, although a slight bit heavier, may have been considered for an entirely different reason, as discussed below.
So what is the distinguishing difference between the attacks?
Jabbar's motivation for the New Orleans attack is clearly supported by ample evidence. Seeing the jam-packed Bourbon Street crowd in the city's French Quarter and physically driving around a police car serving as a barrier, he plowedforward with murderous intent. Two blocks from the first point of crowd impact, he crashed into a crane and began shooting at police. Returning fire, the police killed him but not before Jabbar claimed 14 lives and injured more than 30 others. For those killed, the last vision they probably had was of the Islamic extremist group ISIS flag flying from the bed of Jabbar's truck.
A review of Jabbar's Facebook postings indicated he joined ISIS before the summer. The newly converted Islamic radical's initial plan was to attack family and friends; however, he then decided such would not convey the right message to the American public. He feared a family attack "would not focus on the war between the believers and disbelievers," simply being dismissed as a domestic dispute. There is no doubt Jabbar wanted to leave this world as a terrorist responsible for killing as many non-Muslims as he could, dying in a blaze of Islamist glory.
Turning to Livelsberger's Las Vegas attack, two intriguing points emerge.
First, he was an experienced Special Forces operative with 19 years service. Therefore, he clearly had knowledge about explosives and what they were capable, or not capable, of doing. He had packed his Cybertruck with firework mortars and gas cans, which caused the vehicle to explode and burst into flames just after he had pulled in front of the Trump International Hotel and shot himself. But as a video of the explosion shows, while the Cybertruck burst into flames, it remained fairly much intact, obviously attributable to the less-explosive nature of the materials he chose to use combined with the vehicle's weight.
Second is what Livelsberger saw in the seconds before the explosion. He pulled behind a truck whose driver appears to have already entered the hotel, perhaps to register. But, unlike Jabbar – to whom hundreds of pedestrians were visible as targets – video shows there was no one visible in the front entrance to the Trump hotel. While seven people received injuries, all were minor, with virtually no damage to the hotel itself. This appeared to reinforce what investigators later discovered in writings Livelsberger left behind.
Although fearing he would be labeled a terrorist, Livelsberger wrote his action was only intended as a "wake up call" for the nation's troubles with no intention to kill anyone else. There was no animosity expressed toward President Donald Trump or Elon Musk despite selecting the Trump hotel as the explosion site and using a Tesla Cybertruck as the delivery vehicle.
Evidence suggests Livelsberger, after several combat tours, was suffering from PTSD – contrary to Jabbar who suffered from hatred of non-Muslims, triggered by his conversion to Islamism. Livelsberger left a cellphone note explaining he had to "cleanse" his mind "of the brothers I've lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took."
In a recent interview, Livelsberger's wife emphasized her husband's dedication to his country and love for his family. Looking for answers herself, she said, "I just want to make sure that people understand who my husband was. None of this makes sense. I hope at some point we will receive answers."
What motivated both Jabbar and Livelsberger to act as they did on New Year's morning was different as night and day. Jabbar saw a target-rich environment of victims; Livelsberger saw a target-poor one. Thus, the former was the violent act of a committed terrorist; the latter the unfortunate act of a veteran suffering from battle fatigue and the political division of the country for which he had made great personal sacrifices.
One loved America; one did not.