Former Secretary of State and failed Democrat 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton couldn't resist a dig at Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over the involvement of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)'s takeover of the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Most of them aren’t old enough to rent a car,” she wrote on X in response to Duffy's announcement of the plan. “And you’re going to let them mess with airline safety that’s already deteriorated on your watch?”
Her comment turned into a Twitter war between Clinton and Duffy.
Duffy responded by saying, “Madam Secretary, with all due respect, ‘experienced’ Washington bureaucrats are the reason our nation’s infrastructure is crumbling. You need to sit this one out."
But Clinton did anything but.
In fact, she went on to blame President Donald Trump's administration for the recent aviation crashes even though there's no evidence any of his policies were responsible.
"US airlines had gone 16 years without fatal crashes," she wrote. "Then MAGA fired the FAA chief, gutted the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, and threatened air traffic controllers with layoffs. Now there have been two fatal crashes. Hope your unvetted 22-year-olds fix things fast."
Duffy then set the record straight, refusing to let Clinton blame the administration for an American Airlines crash with a military helicopter that killed all 67 people on both aircraft or a Medevac crash in Philadelphia that killed nine people when it crashed into a neighborhood.
“I know you’re lashing out because DOGE is uncovering your family’s obscene grifting via USAID, but I won’t let you lie and distort facts,” Duffy countered. “The FAA administrator announced he resigned over a month before Trump took office, and the air traffic controllers were always exempt from Trump’s civil service buyouts. “
Clinton's spokesperson then jumped in to claim that Duffy's comment about Chelsea Clinton getting millions from USAID was not true.
"Musk deleted the tweet that spread this lie," Nick Merill posted.
Bottom line, whether that's true or not, Democrats are going stark raving mad over Trump's mission to actually make cuts in government wasteful spending--cuts that are sorely needed given the crushing load of debt the government is currently functioning under.
Duffy ended by saying, “I’m returning this department to its mission of safety by using innovative technology in transportation and infrastructure. Your team had its chance and failed.”
Trump knows he has a huge task ahead of him, and he's not wasting even a minute.
A judge in Washington, D.C., has stated that Prince Harry's visa records will be subject to "maximum disclosure as long as it doesn't violate privacy."
The Daily Mirror reported that Judge Carl Nichols requested that the Department of Homeland Security request redactions to Harry's documents or "continued withholdings" in anticipation of the potential release of certain documentation, as The New York Post reported.
This decision is just one component of a high-stakes litigation with the Heritage Foundation.
The conservative-leaning foundation has contended that Harry should not have been permitted to relocate to the United States as a result of his prior drug use.
Heritage is interested in determining whether the Duke of Sussex, as he described in his book Spare, lied on his visa documents about his use of cannabis, cocaine, magic mushrooms, and ayahuasca.
According to the think tank, he should not have been admitted to the United States if he had been truthful, and they maintain that the public has a right to know whether he was treated favorably by immigration officials.
The judge maintained the confidentiality of his rationale for dismissing the think tank's argument, despite the fact that the case was dismissed in September.
Nevertheless, Heritage has been attempting to overturn or vacate the ruling, and Nichols suggested that it might have at least some success while speaking during a hearing on Wednesday.
The Sun quoted him as advocating for the greatest amount of publication that could be achieved without infringing upon Harry's privacy, and he added, "In my view that has to happen."
Harry's files have been perused by Nichols in secret, and he will have a general understanding of their contents.
His suggestion that certain documents could be redacted and subsequently released suggests that Heritage may obtain at least a portion of the information it is pursuing. Specifically, was Harry questioned about his past drug use, and what was he admitted to.
The case was abruptly terminated in September, with the court's rationale for siding with the Department of Homeland Security being kept confidential in order to protect Harry's privacy.
Heritage counsel stated that this denied them the opportunity to contest the interpretation of critical documents in court.
Wednesday's hearing at federal court in Washington, D.C. was the first since President Donald Trump's re-election.
Heritage had argued that Joe Biden's previous administration had been safeguarding Harry, and Trump himself stated in March 2024:
"We'll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they'll have to take appropriate action."
Although there is no indication that the Department of Homeland Security will alter its stance under Trump and cease to pursue the case, Heritage appears to have emerged with a more positive outlook than it did in September.
The prime minister of Sweden termed the shooting at an adult education facility in Örebro on Tuesday the worst mass shooting in Swedish history, killing at least 10 people.
How the incident happened is still being investigated by Swedish police, as The Daily Mail reported.
A shooting was reported in Örebro, a city 160 km west of Stockholm, at 12:33 p.m. local time (6:33 a.m. ET) on Tuesday.The incident happened at Campus Risbergska, a school for unschooled individuals.
Such facilities are called Komvux in Sweden. Komvuxes offer vocational training, Swedish language instruction, and other courses for persons seeking jobs. These programs are vital to Sweden's refugees and migrants.
As the alarms went off and the red lights flashed, students hid under desks in cellphone videos.
“We heard bangs and loud screams. At first we didn’t understand what it was, but then we realized it could be gunfire,” Andreas Sundling, a 28-year-old student at the campus, told CNN affiliate Expressen.
His classmates, he said, took cover behind the doors and waited for the police to arrive and evacuate the classroom, which took about an hour.
“There was blood all over the corridor,” Sundling said.
The assault left at least ten individuals dead and six more wounded, according to the police. The assailant also passed away.
Örebro regional officials provided an update on Wednesday stating that the local university hospital was treating six individuals.
All five patients were adults; three women and two men had gunshot wounds and had surgery. Officials have stated that the five individuals are currently in a "stable but serious" condition, after initially being believed to have injuries that could cause death.
Officials said that no one else required hospitalization during the night.
Many of the students had already departed the campus following Tuesday's national exam, according to teacher Lena Warenmark, who spoke to Swedish state broadcaster SVT.
An individual stormed into Mary Pegado's classroom and ordered her and her kids to evacuate, according to the 54-year-old educator.
“I think of my students,” Pegado told Reuters. “Many of them have fled from countries where things like this happen, and now they experience it here. It is horrible,” she said.
President Donald Trump has matched his highest-ever approval ratings in one of the bluest states in the nation--New York--and has a higher approval rating than Governor Kathy Hochul (D) in the same poll.
The Siena College survey was released on Monday and showed Trump with a 41% approval rating, while Hochul's was 39%.
Trump's approval hasn't been so high since the month before he took office in 2016.
A big part of the upward swing for Trump is his crackdown on illegal immigrants who have committed crimes--79% of poll respondents approved of deporting criminal illegal immigrants.
A majority of 54% believe that Trump will do an "excellent" or "good" job securing the U.S. border.
“President Trump has not been popular in his former home state for more than a decade. And while that is still true, Trump now has his best favorability rating, 41-56%, since the month before he took office the first time, December 2016, when his favorability rating was 41-53%,” Sienna pollster Steven Greenberg said of the results.
Predictably, Republicans view Trump favorably 83% to 13%, while Democrats view him unfavorably 81% to 17%. With independents, Trump is slightly up 48% to 46%.
Trump is already making good on his promises to deport illegal immigrants who have committed crimes and has conducted ICE raids in New York City and other major cities.
Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 25, an alleged ringleader of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, was arrested in the Bronx last week.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made his first visit to the southern border on Monday, declaring a "new era of determination" under Trump.
"Because of President Donald Trump, this is a new era at the southern border, a new era of determination, a new era of cooperation. And at the Defense Department, we are proud to be a part of it," he told reporters after touring the border.
Trump has used threats of tariffs to get countries like Mexico, Canada, and Columbia to cooperate with his border crackdown.
Mexico and Canada have both said they will station thousands of troops at the border to stop the flow of fentanyl and human trafficking there.
The U.S. military is also deploying more troops there. "We are going to get control of this border," Hegseth promised.
In her recently released bestselling memoir, First Lady Melania Trump disclosed that she was "deeply worried" about the health of her son Barron (and husband Donald) when she and the then-president both tested positive for the coronavirus in October 2020.
While the president's physician, Dr Sean Conley, released a statement at the time saying that the Trumps were doing well and would "remain at home within the White House during their convalescence," the president was subsequently hospitalized out of an abundance of caution.
He was given an experimental drug cocktail injection and remdesivir, after which he quickly recovered.
The virus hit the older population and those with certain pre-existing conditions hardest, but that was not well known in the early months of the pandemic.
The first lady said she was "overwhelmed" with worry for her husband and son.
"Barron and I had spent the previous evening chatting in my room, and although he continued to test negative, I feared he might soon fall ill as well," she wrote.
"He was young and healthy, but the uncertainties surrounding the virus were daunting. As any mother would, I worried deeply about my son."
Barron did eventually contract the virus, but had only mild symptoms.
Melania Trump also recovered well, even though she didn't take the same treatments as her husband. She is more than 20 years younger than he is, and younger populations seemed to have an easier time of it if they were already fairly healthy prior to infection.
After Trump recovered, he made an address to the nation urging people to return to work.
"Don't let it [coronavirus] dominate you," he urged, adding, "We're going to be out front. As your leader, I had to do that. I knew there's danger to it, but I had to do it. I stood out front and led."
Trump went on to narrowly lose his re-election bid, and the nation was subjected to months of mask-shaming and other scare tactics by the incoming Biden administration.
Many were strong-armed into getting the COVID-19 vaccines available at the time under onerous rules that threatened their jobs for resisting.
The Supreme Court had to get involved and strike down the mandates in order to preserve the freedom to avoid these untested vaccines, which have now proven to be more risky than anyone thought at the time.
The Army Black Hawk that collided with an American Airlines passenger jet in Washington D.C. was reportedly training for an event in which the White House would be evacuated.
The Army confirmed that three soldiers, who all perished, had been rehearsing a plan that involved the evacuation of the White House when their Black Hawk collided with American Airlines flight 5342 just before 9 pm on Wednesday night.
As soon as news broke that the collision had involved a military aircraft, online commentators immediately began to speculate about the purpose of the helicopter's flight with some commentators correctly speculating that they were conducting a training exercise involving evacuating the president.
Defense officials confirmed that the helicopter was rehearsing for a Continuity of Government contingency plan which would involve evacuating key staff from the White House in the event of an emergency.
COG contingency plans are a set of procedures designed to ensure that government functions are preserved during and after a catastrophic event, like a nuclear or chemical attack on Washington D.C.
Two of the crew members were identified as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves and crew chief Staff Sergeant Ryan O'Hara but the identity of the third was withheld by the Army at the request of the family.
This immediately drew the attention of Americans as this was an unusual situation. Typically, the identities of deceased soldiers are withheld until "next-of-kin" are notified, but the family is trying to withhold the identity past that point.
Information still began to leak out as it was revealed that the third soldier was a female co-pilot who was reportedly flying during the time of the collision.
Eventually, the identity of the third crewmember was released despite an apparent attempt by the family to scrub all social media and references.
The third crewmember was identified as Captain Rebecca Lobach which immediately drummed up speculation that this tragedy may have been caused by DEI policies pushed aggressively by the Biden administration in the armed forces.
The fact that Lobach's family made the unusual move of requesting her identity be hidden while they worked to scrub her social media suggests there could be something strange happening.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies have been pushed hard by the Biden administration in the armed forces and the most notable sign of these policies is the push to have women in combat positions as well as in critical roles flying aircraft.
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been talking extensively about DEI in the armed forces ever since Wednesday's tragedy suggesting that Lobach may have been pushed into a situation she wasn't ready for in order to tick off DEI quotas.
Internet sleuths have since discovered that Lobach was a lesbian who attended LGBTQ+ pride events and served as a social aid to the Biden White House which further raises questions about what was wiped from Lobach's social media.
The truth is likely to come out in the coming days as the Trump administration has sworn to transparency and is going to do everything possible to get all the information out to those families grieving the loss of their loved ones in this terrible accident.
A man has pleaded guilty to unsafely operating a drone that collided with firefighting aircraft during the devastating Palisades Fire in Los Angeles.
Peter Tripp Akemann agreed to a plea deal that would see him pay full restitution for the damage on the plane and do 150 hours of community service in wildfire relief in exchange for no time in prison.
Acting U.S. attorney Joseph McNally confirmed the details of the plea deal for the charges Akemann faced that carried a potential sentence of one year in prison.
Akemann's unsafe drone operation resulted in a collision that grounded a firefighting aircraft for several days in early January while wildfires devastated the affluent Pacific Palisades area.
As there was no evidence suggesting Akemann acted with malicious intent in operating his drone in an unsafe manner, prosecutors were willing to negotiate for no prison time.
While Akemann had no malicious intent, Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, stated "Lack of common sense and ignorance of your duty as a drone pilot will not shield you from criminal charges."
The aircraft that hit Akemann's drone was from Canada and owned by the Government of Quebec and Akemann has agreed to pay $65,000 in repair costs.
On January 9th, Akemann launched his drone from a parking structure in Santa Monica and flew it over 1.5 miles toward the Palisades Fire.
At a certain point, Akemann lost sight of the drone after which the drone then hit the wing of a Super Scooper firefighting plane punching a hole in the plane's left wing.
Thanks to the skilled actions of the pilots, they were able to land the aircraft safely despite the hole in the wing averting a potential tragedy that could have cost the lives of the two pilots as well as others had the plane crashed in an urban area.
While the plane survived, it was grounded for days restricting the ability of firefighters to contain the out of control wildfires that consumed thousands of structures.
Private citizens operating drones must pay attention to emergency orders in case authorities issue a grounding order for all personal craft.
During firefighting operations, drones must be grounded to avoid collision with helicopters and planes which are a key asset in fighting massive wildfires.
Davis explained, "The FAA has very strict guidelines about registering drones and where drones can be flown. The onus is on the pilot, if firefighters are putting out a fire with aircraft that should be a clue."
Hopefully, Akemann's case will be a reminder to all private operators to make better decisions and not interfere with firefighting operations by compromising the airspace.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum was confirmed on Thursday to be President Donald Trump's Secretary of the Interior by a 79-18 vote, sailing easily through the nomination process.
Burgum was advanced out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee with only two votes against him: Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI).
Wyden feared that Burgum would roll back former President Joe Biden's energy policies like the renewable energy tax credits he wrote and helped place in the Inflation Reduction Act.
“I cannot support these nominees who will carry out Trump’s policies that throw out America’s greatest advantages,” Wyden said last week.
For Burgum's part, he at least claims he believes climate change is real, but he's obviously willing to toe Trump's line for the position or he wouldn't have been nominated.
The Secretary of the Interior leads the Department of the Interior, which manages federal land and conservation efforts as well as the natural resources that land contains (think fossil fuels).
Burgum has said he understands that fossil fuels are necessary to power today's power grid and the coming AI-related needs.
“We are in an energy crisis in our country, and the first place is actually related to electricity,” Burgum said. “Electricity is at the brink; our grid is at a point where it could go completely unstable. We could be just months away from having skyrocketing prices for Americans.”
Artificial intelligence relies strongly on large databases of information to power it, and that takes up significant resources.
“And, of course, as we talked about in the AI arms race, we need electricity for manufacturing,” Burgum said. “And AI is manufacturing intelligence. And if we don’t manufacture more intelligence than our adversaries, it affects every job, every company, in every industry.”
Burgum was one of the easier votes on Trump nominees so far.
DOD Secretary Pete Hegseth was only confirmed after Vice President J.D. Vance cast the tiebreaking vote when the Senate deadlocked on his nomination.
Kristi Noem was confirmed as DHS Secretary in a healthy 59-34 vote that was still much closer than Burgum's.
Still, his nominees have not faced a great deal of opposition so far, with some controversial picks like RFK Jr. sure to face a much tougher fight.
Ivanka Trump volunteered in Los Angeles for hours, helping those affected by the recent California disasters with practical necessities and offering moral support, as Page Six reported.
The again-first daughter came to the devastated area just days after her newly-reelected father once again took up his residence in the White House.
She helped fire-affected families at the LA Dream Center and Expressions Church as part of her work with the charity group CityServe.
Trump, like the rest of her family, is no stranger to the glitz and glamour of life in the Golden State. With their considerable wealth and connections, the line between the Trumps and Los Angeles has traditionally been strong.
Ivanka was seen working with volunteers during her visit in casual clothes consisting of jeans, sneakers, and a black windbreaker jacket.
Wearing an apron and disposable gloves, she distributed emergency supplies like diapers and food while also seen providing hot meals to fire victims in the kitchen.
One photo even shows her helping to load a carton of supplies into cars for low-income households.
In a recent statement, CityServe’s co-founder, Dave Donaldson, highlighted the significant impact of Ivanka’s efforts.
It was noted that she dedicated significant time to connecting with victims, providing them with support and attentively listening to their accounts, proving an outstanding level of empathy.
“Many of the families Ivanka helped have lost everything,” Donaldson said in a statement posted on Instagram.
“Their needs are desperate. Ivanka wrapped her arms around them and listened to their stories with enormous empathy.”
Donaldson commended Ivanka for her commitment and the extensive time she devoted to community service.
The statement continued, "She spent hours encouraging volunteers and first responders and distributing emergency supplies to families at Expression Church and the LA Dream Center.”
On the same day, actor Ben Affleck was spotted lending a hand at a homeless encampment alongside a team of staffers.
The Palisades Fire has devastated more than 23,000 acres in Pacific Palisades, while the Eaton Fire has impacted the Altadena area, resulting in numerous individuals being left homeless or compelled to evacuate their residences.
President Donald Trump has been clear that he believes the mismanagement of resources is what caused the intense devastation.
Among the notable figures affected by recent events are Paris Hilton, Heidi Montag, and Spencer Pratt, all of whom have reported losing their homes.
The Republican Party has the opportunity to expand its Senate majority by flipping the seat, as Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) has announced that he will not be standing for reelection in 2026, as AP News reported.
“I always thought there would be a time that I would step aside and pass the reins for the next generation,” Peters told The Detroit News, who published an exclusive interview with him. “I also never saw service in Congress as something you do your whole life.”
Peters, who is 66 years old, was initially elected to Congress in 2008. He served in the House from January 2009 to January 2015. He was initially elected to the Senate in 2014 and narrowly secured reelection in 2020.
“I think this is pretty normal for everybody to say, I’ve done a job, and I’m proud of the job I did, but there are other things I want to do in my life. There are other ways that I can give back to the community,” he said.
Peters was the leader of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the primary campaign financing arm of the Senate Democrats, during his tenure in the Senate.
This effort enabled the Democrats to retain the Senate in the 2022 election, but they ultimately lost it two years later. Peters stated that he is not withdrawing from the political sphere.
Between February 2021 and this January, Peters served as the chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. He presently occupies the position of the committee's most senior member.
“I want to be very clear: I’m not retiring. I’m just not running for reelection in the Senate,” he said. “I hope, God willing, I have a lot more good years ahead.”
He has declined to participate in the Michigan gubernatorial primary that is scheduled for 2026, despite the fact that term limits prevent Governor Gretchen Whitmer from seeking reelection.
But she might seek the Democratic nomination to replace Peters if elected.
“There’s still a lot of work to do. We have issues related to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, natural disasters, cybersecurity to border security, and I’m intimately involved in all these issues, and we'll continue to do that,” said Peters.
Representative Hillary Scholten (D-MI), Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist, Pete Buttigieg (former Secretary of Transportation), and State Senator Mallory McMorrow are all Democrats who could run for the position.
Former Michigan Republican Senator Mike Rogers, current Michigan Representative Bill Huizenga, and former Michigan House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain are among potential GOP contenders.
Once the dust settles, Peters won't have to worry about battling for his seat.
“The great thing is this really allows me to just be completely, completely focused on the day-to-day work that I do as a U.S. senator and fight for issues that are important to people here in Michigan,” he said.