Vice President JD Vance is setting himself up as President Donald Trump's successor in 2028 by taking an active role in diplomacy, and his performance so far has delighted Trump supporters.
Vance has made it clear that he is a force to be reckoned with ever since the Vice President's debate against Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, which went so badly for Democrats that it ended Walz's short-lived time in national politics.
Vance's latest moment came during the meeting at the White House with President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
During that meeting, it was Vance who took the initiative to call out Zelensky for being disrespectful during talks about how much the U.S. has contributed to Ukraine's defense.
Zelensky implied that the U.S. hadn't done enough, and Vance immediately struck back, with Trump jumping in after. Vance sent Zelensky packing from the White House in shame and demonstrated to the American people that he has the guts to take on any international figure.
The meeting with Zelensky demonstrated that American Vice Presidents don't need to be seen and not heard at major diplomatic meetings.
Vance's calling out of Zelensky came as a shock for Americans who sat by watching Vice President Kamala Harris do nothing for years. Of course, ignoring the fact that anytime Harris opened her mouth, it was a word salad disaster.
Where Harris was a national embarrassment waiting to happen at any given moment, Vance has emerged as a capable right-hand man for Trump, who is flexing his might and smacking unruly allies around.
Vance didn't just bring Zelensky into line; he also singlehandedly went to Europe and called out European leaders for undermining liberty and pushing authoritarian rules.
At the Munich Security Conference last month, Vance spoke to a room of European leaders and blasted them for anti-free speech policies and other authoritarian laws. Vance correctly pointed out that our alliance with Europe is based on shared values, which are no longer shared.
Many European countries have become no better than totalitarian countries like Russia and China, and Vance made it clear that unless changes were made, these countries would not enjoy unrestricted friendship.
Vance's powerful showing on the international stage has made it abundantly clear that Trump hit it out of the park by selecting Vance as his running mate.
Vance has hit it out of the park, and people are already talking about Vance being the GOP nominee in 2028. President Trump is going to be term-limited in four years, but Vance is being set up as his successor, and some believe Vance could be even better than Trump.
While Trump has been coy about 2028, insiders have indicated that Trump is pleased with his Vice President and will happily push Vance heavily in four years.
In many ways, Vance possesses a certain clarity and refined nature that Trump lacks, which makes him even more immune to the attacks of the left. In four years, after Vance smacks every major world leader around, he will be more than ready to take over as #48.
Autopsies for actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were released confirming Hackman died from advanced Alzheimer's while Arakawa died from a rare rat-borne disease.
Dr. Heather Jarrell, Chief Medical Investigator for the state of New Mexico, confirmed that there was no external or internal trauma to either Hackman or Arakawa, confirming that rumors of foul play are firmly out of the picture.
When news of Hackman's passing first broke, police suggested that there were suspicious circumstances to the couple's death.
This immediately set off a flurry of speculation about foul play being the cause of death for the legendary actor and his wife, who was substantially younger, further decreasing the likelihood that both died of natural causes at the same time.
Now, thanks to the autopsies conducted by the state of Mexico, we know the truth about the terrible last days for Hackman and his wife.
According to the autopsy, Hackman passed away from advanced Alzheimer's and cardiovascular disease about one week after Arakawa died.
It's estimated that Arakawa passed away on February 11th from Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome in a room separate from Hackman. This is a rare disease that has flu-like symptoms and is carried by rats, although how she contracted this disease isn't known.
Hackman reportedly persisted for another week until he died on February 18, as he was dealing with advanced Alzheimer's and was possibly not even aware that his wife had passed away in another room.
The couple's dog also died and was found in a kennel as it had just had a procedure at the vet on February 9th, but Arakawa appears to have succumbed before she could take the dog out.
Arakawa appears to have succumbed quickly to the disease as she had communicated with a massage therapist on February 11th and attended a farmers market. As for Hackman, he was found lying on the ground after apparently falling.
Hackman was dealing with Alzheimer's and heart disease, which are being pinned as the cause of death. He was in no position to help himself and without Arakawa, it was only a matter of time before he passed away.
Hackman was a legend as he was a five-time Oscar nominee and starred in countless classic movies from the 1960s all the way up until the 2000s. Hackman was a household name for many Americans, but sadly, he was alone in the end.
The couple wasn't discovered until February 26th by two maintenance workers who saw them through windows at their secluded home. The couple was private and clearly weren't regularly checked on by either family or medical assistants.
It's surprising that Hackman wasn't regularly attended to by a travel nurse, but Hackman was known to be reclusive and private, and that carried through in his battle with Alzheimer's.
While the truth of Hackman's passing is finally settled, many fans and no doubt family are in shock at the circumstances of Hackman and Arakawa's deaths. This situation is a reminder of the importance of regularly checking on elderly family members.
President Donald Trump's general popularity may be reaching new heights, but the rise in approval is not reflected in the price of his or First Lady Melania Trump's meme coins, which have lost 81% and 92% respectively from their highs just before his inauguration.
Official Trump was trading at $72 and now sits at $13, while Official Melania reached $13.69 on January 20 and now sits at 77 cents.
The Trump coin still has a market cap of more than $3 billion, but it had more than $14 billion at its peak.
Cryptocurrency seemed to rally ahead of the White House Crypto Summit on Friday, with Bitcoin rising 5% to over $91,000 on Thursday.
The boost didn't last long, however.
Thursday afternoon, Trump signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in an attempt to “make America the crypto capital of the world.”
Bitcoin immediately dropped to around $84,000 on the news, eventually coming back up to around $87,000.
The reason crypto markets were not too thrilled with the order is because the reserve is being created with crypto already owned by the federal government, seized during drug busts and other criminal activities.
“The government will not acquire additional assets for the Stockpile beyond those obtained through forfeiture proceedings,” crypto czar David Sacks stated.
Many crypto investors thought taxpayer money might be used to create the reserve and that it might be as large as 1 million bitcoin, but that is not happening.
A strategic reserve is meant to provide more stability to the asset, and bitcoin has been extremely volatile since its beginning.
The order also created a US Digital Asset Stockpile, “consisting of digital assets other than Bitcoin forfeited in criminal or civil proceedings.”
With more than 37 million digital tokens in existence, there seems to be no end in sight to the exploding growth of this medium.
In her first public comments since her husband's inauguration, First Lady Melania Trump spoke out on Monday about the release of sexually explicit pictures created of minors.
She described the effects for victims as "heartbreaking" and referred to the climate on the internet as "toxic," as The Associated Press reported.
"It’s heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content, like deepfakes," said Melania Trump.
Trump was holding an event on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., where she was joined by lawmakers and victims of digital abuse in support of the Take it Down Act, which was unanimously passed by the Senate earlier this month.
"We must prioritize robust security measures and uphold strict ethical standards to protect individual privacy," added Trump,
The first lady announced Tuesday that she would be joining President Donald Trump for his first joint congressional address of his second term.
The bill was passed by the Senate and proposed in August by Senators Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota.
The legislation makes it illegal to publish "non-consensual, sexually exploitative images, including deepfakes, including AI-generated deepfakes."
This law encompasses "digital forgeries" that are generated using AI software and necessitates that technology platforms eliminate reported content within 48 hours of receiving a valid request.
On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., a fervent Trump supporter who was present at the first lady's roundtable discussion, expressed his desire to see legislation passed that would address the subject.
"As the dark side of technology advances, these unspeakable evils become part of the culture. The law has to keep up," Johnson said.
"We are anxious to put it on the floor in the House to get it to President Trump's desk for signature cause we've gotta do what we can to stop this.”
Elliston Berry, a 15-year-old who was seated next to the first lady, recounted her experience of being "violated" on social media.
At the age of 14, a classmate utilized an AI application to affix a nude body to an Instagram photo of her, which was subsequently shared on social media.
"Fear, shock and disgust were just some of the many emotions I felt," Berry said. "I felt responsible and began to blame myself and was ashamed to tell my parents despite doing nothing wrong."
Emails received by Reuters indicate that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services informed employees on Monday that they may apply for early retirement within 10 days and should provide details on their successes over the preceding week.
Republican President Donald Trump and entrepreneur Elon Musk, who runs the Department of Government Efficiency, are leading a historic federal bureaucracy reduction, including job cutbacks, as Reuters reported.
The HHS informed employees via email that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management authorized early retirement under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, affecting agencies undergoing significant restructuring, reshaping, downsizing, function transfers, or reorganization.
According to OMP's website, eligible personnel must be 50 years old with 20 years of federal service or any age with 25 years, among other qualifications. The email indicated the promotion ends March 14 at 5 pm EST.
The management sent a second set of emails last week requesting employees to list five weekly successes in bullet points.
HHS employees, including the FDA and CDC, were previously told there was "no impact to your employment with the agency if you choose not to respond."
FBI, State Department, and other U.S. agencies advised staff not to comply with DOGE's request.
HHS instructed staff to respond to DOGE's email by midnight without providing sensitive information, such as their medicine and device names, in a Monday email seen by Reuters.
Employees were previously warned by HHS that their responses to the Department of Defense's request could "be read by malign foreign actors."
Both versions of the department's email were sent out on Monday, with the second version removing the reference to the previous version.
In an email that reporters saw the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which is the union that represents workers at the Department of Health and Human Services, informed its members that they are required to cooperate with the agency's decision to proceed with the "ill-advised exercise."
In an email sent by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), employees were instructed to follow the guidelines provided by their supervisors for how to answer and respond in a manner that would not identify grants, grantees, contracts, or contractors, nor information that might distinguish the precise nature of scientific experiments, research, or evaluations.
"I feel I will spend the whole day writing these five bullets in a way that does not contain sensitive information while also providing information that my job is important. I don't know if this can be called efficiency," said an FDA source who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Nobody needs to answer if they're on leave, can't make it to the office because of work, or have signed a deferred resignation agreement, says the email.
Iranian Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif resigned from his office on Sunday, implying in his resignation letter that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni and other hardliners in the government forced him from power.
Zarif was considered a moderate or "reformist" in Iran's government, which only means he wasn't as hardline as Khameni and other officials.
He was instrumental in brokering the 2015 nuclear deal with the U.S., known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which then-President Barack Obama entered into and President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from during his first term in office.
Zarif and former moderate President Hassan Rouhani endorsed Masoud Pezeshkian, a fellow moderate, in the June 2024 special election to replace hardline President Ebrahim Raisi after he died in a helicopter crash, and Pezeshkian won.
Zarif was actually Vice President for Strategic Affairs, one of several vice presidential positions in the Iranian government, but he campaigned alongside Pezeshkian like the vice president does here in America.
He had already tried to resign once, only two weeks into his term, during a struggle over Pezeshkian's cabinet.
At the time, Pezeshkian refused to accept his resignation.
Zarif continued to be targeted by hardliners who thought he was too moderate.
His opponents have tried to invoke an Iranian law that they say prohibits anyone from holding office if they or their children have dual citizenship. Zarif's children were born in the United States during Iran's mission to the United Nations, of which Zarif was a part.
This means they are naturalized American citizens with passports.
Zarif said in a social media post that he had endured “the most ridiculous insults, slanders, and threats against my family in the past six months.”
It was “the most bitter” time of his 40 years in government service, he said.
He said the chief justice of Iran, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, advised him to go back to lecturing at university so the government would be under less pressure.
Zarif favored negotiating a new deal with President Donald Trump, but an edict by Khameni forbade the negotiations in February.
Key advisers to President Donald Trump were reportedly stunned by the Oval Office blowup between Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday.
Zelenskyy was confrontational and aggressive toward Trump, and Vance stepped in to suggest strongly that he show more gratitude for the hundreds of billions of dollars the U.S. has given Ukraine in money and weapons to fight against Russia.
Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles were joined by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina for lunch in the Cabinet Room, where they rehashed what had happened on camera and in front of reporters.
Several of the officials were in disbelief about the way Zelenskyy badgered Trump, while another one said that if Zelenskyy had disagreed with Trump privately instead of publicly, the blowup would not have happened.
In the end, the planned minerals deal with Ukraine did not go forward, and Zelenskyy was asked to leave the White House without the joint press conference that was planned taking place.
Some on Trump's team believed that Zelenskyy's chief adviser Andriy Yermak had undermined the negotiations in the days before the meeting, but others weren't so sure Zelenskyy himself wasn't the problem.
Neither side had signed the customary paperwork ahead of the deal, which made some of the advisers nervous.
But Zelenskyy seemed excited about signing the deal. No one was ready for how things turned.
The minerals deal was seen as a first step to a ceasefire agreement, but it didn't happen so now leadership has to regroup and see where to go from there.
Trump and Vance are taking a practical approach to the war. They know Ukraine can't win, so they'd rather negotiate an end than keep throwing bad money after good.
Ukraine is understandably concerned that Russia won't honor any agreement that is made, and doesn't want to look weak by giving up any of the territory Russia took away.
Other pundits have said that Trump and Vance were making it clear that Zelenskyy really had no choice but to agree to terms because the funding they needed would not be continuing.
There's no telling how much more Ukraine could lose if the U.S. stops giving aid. It really is their best move to go along with the agreement and give Trump what he wants.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi to clarify if she is under investigation after border czar Tom Homan recommended an investigation into AOC for aiding illegal immigrants.
In early February, AOC's office held a ‘Know Your Rights’ webinar, offering constituents guidance on how to interact with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Of course, this description isn't remotely correct as this webinar was directed at illegal immigrants, who are not AOC's constituents.
Furthermore, the advice offered to these illegal immigrants could be categorized as advising these illegal immigrants on how to evade ICE agents who are conducting mass deportation operations.
This 'Know Your Rights' webinar was so blatantly crossing a line that it led to Border Czar Tom Homan to call on the Trump administration to open an investigation, but so far, it appears that no official investigation has been launched.
AOC has framed Homan's calls for an investigation as "political" and claimed that Homan is threatening her 1st Amendment rights as an elected official.
Apparently, AOC believes that aiding and abetting illegal immigrants with information on how to evade law enforcement is protected by the 1st Amendment. It's hard to imagine that her argument will hold up in court should the Department of Justice look into this situation.
In a press release on Friday, AOC stated, "I write to request clarity on whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) has yielded to political pressure and attempts to weaponize the agency against elected officials whose speech they disagree with. Over the past two weeks, 'Border Czar' Tom Homan has gone on multiple forums threatening political prosecution against me, citing resources I distributed informing my constituents and the American public of their constitutional and legal rights."
She went on to further claim, "Mr. Homan’s repeated attempts to use your agency to politically intimidate duly elected officials are a textbook threat to the right to free speech in the United States. Threatening criminal proceedings for exercising the First Amendment is itself a violation of the First Amendment."
Naturally, the question is what "resources" did AOC distribute to her "constituents" in this webinar. For starters, in a post to X, AOC said, "Citizen or not, we all should know our rights to protect ourselves and others from illegal search & seizure."
That post was one of many in which she grouped both citizens and non-citizens together, making it clear that she's not just informing her constituents of their rights but is intentionally teaching illegal immigrants how to evade deportation.
The ball is in the Trump administration's court now, with Attorney General Bondi holding the power to press forward with an investigation that would send a message to radical Democrats about aiding illegal immigrants.
For too long, Democrat politicians from the local, state, and national levels have gotten away with ignoring immigration law, with entire Democrat cities and even states actively working against immigration enforcement to protect illegal immigrants.
So far, there has been no announcement from the DOJ on this situation, but that indicates that the DOJ is keeping quiet while putting together the facts of the case before making an official decision.
This will be an important story to keep an eye on as President Donald Trump has sworn to be tougher than ever on illegal immigration and that force must be applied to those Americans who protect these illegal immigrants from being lawfully deported.
It's taken 2.5 years, but the FBI is finally getting around to doing what is right.
The Hill is reporting that America's Federal Bureau of Investigation is returning the property seized during the 2022 raid of Mar-a-Lago to President Trump, according to the White House.
"The FBI is giving the President his property back that was taken during the unlawful and illegal raids. We are taking possession of the boxes today and loading them onto Air Force One," White House communications director Steven Cheung announced in a statement on February 28.
Donald Trump didn't see the raid coming, and it clearly upset him when it happened. Trump lashed out at law enforcement, accusing them of committing "political persecution."
"My beautiful home Mar A Lago in Palm Beach, Florida is currently under siege, raided and occupied by a large group of FBI agents," Trump said in a statement shortly after the raids. His public message also included a link for donations to his political action committee.
"After working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies, this unannounced raid at my home was not necessary or appropriate."
The raid was part of an investigation into the attacks on America's Capitol on January 6, 2021 and Donald Trump's actions to overturn the 2020 election results in an attempt to remain in power.
While it's impossible to know everything that went on during the raid, Trump said that law enforcement officials "even broke into my safe."
The raid came after "the National Archives reportedly asked the Justice Department to investigate after authorities recovered 15 boxes of materials from Trump’s Florida home that should have been left with government records keepers. Among the retrieved materials were some that were classified," according to The Hill.
It took a little bit longer than Trump would have liked, but America's justice system ultimately prevailed. After over two long years, the boxes of belongings that were taken from Trump were finally returned.
Alina Habba, the president's counselor, said that she personally loaded some of the infamous boxes onto Air Force One.
"Justice has been and will continue to be restored in this country under President Trump. TRUTH AND JUSTICE ALWAYS WIN IN THE END. God Bless America," Habba said in a post on social media.
In total, the FBI had taken 33 boxes worth of Donald Trump's possessions.
The raid prompted heavy criticism of America's FBI by Donald Trump, and may be one of the reasons Trump is so eager to clean out unnecessary federal employees since taking back the White House.
The announcement by Governor Tim Walz (D) that he won't run for an open Senate seat in the state has reinvigorated a stalled field, bringing several prominent candidates into the picture to at least consider running.
Walz is in his second term as governor and said he would consider running for a third term in 2026 rather than looking to fill the Senate seat that will be vacated by Tina Smith (D) at the end of her term, as he had been considering.
Walz's national profile as (failed) vice presidential running mate to former Vice President Kamala Harris made him all but a shoo-in if he did try to run, which kept most others from jumping in.
Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) is perhaps the most prominent name weighing a run for the seat. The top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee in the House, she is also a strong fundraiser.
“I started making calls yesterday looking for feedback on what they are looking for in terms of a representative to the Senate for the state of Minnesota,” Craig said. “Tim Walz has been such a great friend, and I wanted to respect the fact that he was taking a look at this seat over the last couple of weeks.”
“I want to be very purposeful about this,” she added. “I've got a great job here in the House. I love my district and the people in it, but I also absolutely love the people of Minnesota, and so we'll see where all that lands in the coming weeks.”
Despite the fact that his Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan had already thrown her hat in the ring, Walz said he would not make an endorsement in the race.
“At this point in time, I don't want to have my thumb on the scale in any way, and I don't not so certain people care necessarily where you think on that,” he said. “I just know we've got a deep bench. We’ve got good folks.”
Politico said his refusal to endorse could be looked at as a snub to Flanagan.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar are other Democrats who could get into the race now that it has opened up. Omar, who also has a national profile, is popular in her district but may be less so at the statewide level.
Furthermore, both Ellison and Omar are quite anti-Israel, which could get the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to spend a lot of money campaigning against them.
Dave Wellstone, the son of late Senator Paul Wellstone, is also considering a run. The elder Wellstone died in a plane crash in 2002.
Two Republicans--Royce White and retired Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze--have so far announced their intentions to run for the seat.
White was the party's nominee in 2024.