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.
A video of Barron Trump at the age of almost three with his mother, First Lady Melania Trump, has gone viral in recent days as interest in the president's youngest son intensifies.
In the video, originally posted on TikTok but shared to X, Barron answers questions about his then-love of drums in an accent similar to his mother's.
This video is so cute. pic.twitter.com/4YccXfXawI
— Cassandra MacDonald (@CassandraRules) January 22, 2025
"What do you want for your birthday?" she asks him.
"Like on television drums," he said.
Barron is also seen sitting on an oversized stuffed cat in an opulent room and trying on a clunky gold watch while Melania dotes on him.
"This video is so cute," the X user captioned it.
The video, which was originally posted on TikTok in November 2024, now has over 1 million views on X alone.
As far back as August, another interview of a young Barron Trump speaking with a Slovenian accent went viral, this one from 2010.
Of course, if he was spending the majority of his time with his mother or anyone else with a heavy Slovenian accent (Grandma? a nanny?), he would naturally pick that up.
Assuming he didn't have a Slovenian nanny, it proves what has been obvious all along--his mother devoted herself to him and spent a lot of time with him.
Barron has been protected from most exposure to the media, which have been like vultures around the Trump family and cannot be trusted.
Now that he's an adult legally, he will have to decide how much he wants to be in the public eye.
Melania Trump has said recently that she is "very proud of him—about his knowledge, and about politics, and giving advice to his father."
Social media was not happy with a recent shopping trip by former Vice President and failed Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff.
Photos of the couple leaving 99 Ranch Market Asian Grocery store in Westwood, California showed them carrying their groceries in plastic bags, which got her branded a "hypocrite" by some social media users.
JUST IN: Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff seen grocery shopping together with plastic bags, violating left-wing environmental doctrine - NYP pic.twitter.com/nDJMTgnbS6
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 24, 2025
In 2019, Harris waged something of a campaign against plastic bags. During a CNN campaign event, Harris was asked if she thought plastic bags should be banned and she said, "I think we should, yes."
At the time, she did say she didn't like paper straws. "We gotta kind of perfect that one a little bit more," she said.
Somewhere between then and 2024, she stopped talking about banning plastic bags. Now she's using them, but is she doing anything wrong?
California has banned single-use plastic bags, so why was this market even using them?
According to some internet users, Harris and Emhoff were probably using reusable plastic bags, which are now used in California instead of single-use ones.
"Quick clarification with the plastic bags," one X user said. "Here in California, they decided to allow grocery stores to distribute these thicker, reusable plastic bags. So, that’s what they’re using, rather than the thin plastic bags you get in most other states."
The publicity is happening at the same time that Harris campaign insiders are saying that Harris is blaming Emhoff for her election loss and that their marriage has become strained as a result.
Emhoff has faced recent accusations that he cheated on his former wife and conceived a child with their nanny.
An ex-girlfriend also said that Emhoff slapped her when they were dating.
Let's be real though--no one cares about what Emhoff did half as much as they feared, and rightly so, that Harris would make everything Biden did worse by continuing them and making them even more radically liberal.
If she wants to feel better about her showing in the election by blaming hubby, I guess it's a free country--no thanks to her.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has been sworn in as President Trump's Department of Homeland Security Secretary, which is the latest major confirmation of Trump's new administration.
Noem was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at his home on Saturday after a scheduling issue forced a change in plans.
Noem was originally set to be sworn in at the Indian Treaty Room inside the Navy Department Wing of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C. but that ceremony was delayed multiple times for undisclosed reasons.
In a post to X, Noem stated, "It is such an honor to be sworn in as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security. It was made even more meaningful by being sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at his home. Thank you, President [Donald] Trump for putting your trust in me to help keep America safe."
Noem has an important next few years ahead of her as she will play a key role in Trump's America First agenda ensuring that America is made safe after years of rising crime and the arrival of millions of unvetted illegal immigrants, some with connections to terrorist groups.
The last four years have been tough on Americans who have had to deal with rising crime everywhere as well as general societal breakdown actively encouraged by the Biden administration and their soft-on-crime policies.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry shared photos of Noem's swearing-in on X saying, "Sharon and I were honored to be a part of the swearing in ceremony for Homeland Security Secretary, @KristiNoem. America will be safer and stronger because of her and @realDonaldTrump [President Donald Trump]’s leadership. And once again Americans will be put FIRST!"
Noem was confirmed by the Senate in a 59-34 making Noem the fourth Trump nominee to be approved by the Senate meaning she captured a few Democrat Senators alongside all Republican Senators.
Noem's confirmation was much simpler than the confirmation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who was confirmed on a 51-50 vote after the Senate tied forcing Vice President JD Vance to cast the tie-breaking vote.
Hegseth had three Republican Senators join Democrats in voting against him in the form of former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Susan Collins (R-ME).
Noem faced no such trouble and as such is now ready to begin working to secure the southern border and repair the "broken immigration system," that her predecessor Alejandro Mayorkas left her with.
Under the Biden administration, millions of illegal immigrants crossed into the United States including a massive amount of "gotaways" that could be anyone.
The discovery of violent transnational gangs and individuals with terrorist links in the United States has illustrated just how badly the Biden administration handled things.
The sheer amount of crimes and needless deaths caused by illegal immigrants is ground enough to consider criminal investigations into the Biden administration. Noem is well aware of all of this and will be putting her energy into securing the homeland starting with the border.
Americans have witnessed tragedy after tragedy like the murder of nursing student Laken Riley and the killing of Travis Wolfe and they have had enough. America will be made safer with mass deportations and the closing of the southern border.
A federal judge has banned eight Capitol protestors from entering Washington, DC, without his permission in a decision on Friday after Trump floated the idea of inviting protestors to the Capitol.
US District Judge Amit Mehta covers most of the protestors whose sentences Trump commuted and who did not receive a full pardon.
The order read, "The court hereby amends the conditions of supervised release … to include the following special conditions. You must not knowingly enter the District of Columbia without first obtaining the permission from the Court,” the decree says, with an identical prohibition against setting foot in “the United States Capitol or onto surrounding grounds."
Judge Mehta President Barack Obama and also serves as a panelist on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court which is the same court that has been rubberstamping the mass surveillance of the American people.
This decision is likely to set up a battle between Trump and the D.C. judges who are determined to flout Trump's pardons of the J6 protestors.
The news that Trump had granted sweeping pardons and sentence commutations to the Jan. 6th protestors sent progressives into a howling rage at the news that Trump was really going to end the unjust imprisonment of political prisoners.
In all, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people who participated in the protest, many of whom committed no crime and were merely attending the protest.
Leftist prosecutors attempted to hit innocent protestors with obstruction charges which were overturned by the Supreme Court but it still took Trump winning the presidency and issuing pardons to free innocent conservative protestors.
There were a further 14 protestors whose sentences weren’t fully wiped away, but Trump has made it clear that those cases also could “go to a full pardon," which seems likely considering this decision from Judge Mehta barring protestors from attending events at the Capitol.
When Trump was asked about hosting protesters, Trump said, "I don’t know. I’m sure that they probably would like to. I did them something important, but what they did is they were protesting a crooked election. I mean, people understand that also, and they were treated very badly. Nobody’s been treated like that. So I’d be open to it, certainly. I don’t know of anything like that, but I think they’re going to meet with some of the congresspeople — congressmen, -women want to meet [them], but I’d certainly be open to it."
Trump isn't backing down on the January 6th protestors and is holding strong on his promises to protect them and give them justice for the last four years of injustice that they have faced.
Those who protested at the Capitol on January 6th all those years ago have faced unspeakable civil rights violations with some alleging that physical abuse was common.
There have been allegations of physical abuse, retaliation, and deprivation of food and heat, in a squalid D.C. jail where some defendants were housed for extended periods without charges.
Most concerning is the strong evidence that many protestors were pressured to confess to crimes they didn't commit. It will be up to Trump and his new Department of Justice to untangle this mess and hold bad actors in the justice system accountable.
Pretty much anyone who was paying attention during and after the 2020 election knows the media suppressed stories about the Hunter Biden laptop that broke just before the election.
Two former top Politico reporters admitted on a podcast this week that their ex-employer participated in the suppression, killing stories that were negative to Biden and telling reporters not to write them.
Marc Caputo, now with Axios, and Tara Palmeri, now with Puck, discussed the circumstances on Palmeri's "Somebody's Gotta Win" podcast earlier in the week.
Caputo acknowledged that the press has lost much of the public trust it had, giving the laptop story as an example.
“Politico did that terrible, ill-fated headline: 51 intelligence agents, or former intelligence agents, say that the Hunter Biden laptop was disinformation, or bore the hallmarks of disinformation. Turns out that story was closer to disinformation because the Hunter Biden laptop appeared to be true,” he observed.
Caputo jumped in to say that it wasn't just Politico; Facebook and Twitter censored stories about the laptop and even shut down the New York Post's account for a week to keep the October surprise from getting out to a wider audience.
“I was covering Biden at the time, and I remember coming to my editor and saying, ‘Hey, we need to write about the Hunter Biden laptop,’" he said. "And I was told this came from on high at Politico: Don’t write about the laptop, don’t talk about the laptop, don’t tweet about the laptop. And the only thing Politico wound up writing was that piece that called it disinformation, which charitably could be called misinformation, at the least.”
“Yeah, I mean, I had a hard time — you know I wrote some pretty serious reporting on Hunter Biden, which actually ended up getting him prosecuted — the story on the gun” replied Palmeri.
Palmeri said she spent three months--during the Biden transition and the beginning of his presidency--investigating the laptop story, but got very little interest in publishing it because Politico's higher-ups didn't want to hurt Biden during the "honeymoon period."
"I had everything, you know, the police reports, every, like, you know, I’m a solid reporter. But I do wonder if it could have, if it would have been published a little quicker if it was a different type of story,” Palmeri mused.
Caputo then said he pursued a story in 2019 about the tax lien on Hunter Biden's work for Burisma, but got nowhere with it at the time.
“That story was killed by the editors, and they gave no explanation for that either,” he said. “So that general experience, you know, obviously the public doesn’t know about those things, but as a reporter having witnessed the way in which the two candidates-”
“We just get called, like, ‘the terrible mainstream media.’ It’s like you don’t understand the process there,” Palmeri put in.
“Well, you also don’t understand the dumb decisions of cowardly editors that are made above us,” Caputo agreed.
As early as February 1st, President Trump's team is considering imposing a 10% tariff on China, according to Trump's statements, as Reuters reported.
“We’re talking about a tariff of 10% on China based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” the president said, speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday evening. “Probably Feb. 1 is the date we’re looking at,” he added.
The addictive synthetic opioid fentanyl causes tens of thousands of U.S. overdose deaths each year.
Washington and Beijing have agreed to collaborate on reducing illicit drug supplies, primarily generated in China and Mexico.
Trump reported a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday over fentanyl and trade. The Chinese statement said Xi advocated for collaboration and positive economic relations between the two countries.
China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang reported that a trade war has no winners at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday (official translation). He urged international support for “economic globalization” and “distribute it better.”
The offshore Chinese yuan rose before falling to 7.2796 per dollar.
Leading Chinese state-run and financial media ignored the planned tariffs and focused on other Trump announcements, including his EU tariff threat.
China trades most with the U.S. Official data from Wind Information shows China's dollar imports from the U.S. dipped 0.1% last year while exports rose 4.9%.
In 2024, China's trade surplus with the U.S. was $361 billion, up from $316.9 billion in 2020, Trump's last full year.
The White House hiked duties on Chinese goods to stimulate imports and address U.S. firms' worries in China. Beijing reacted with its own duties.
“If the US imposed an additional 10 percent tariff on China and China responded in kind, US GDP would be $55 billion less over the four years of the second Trump administration, and $128 billion less in China,” the U.S.-based Peterson Institute for International Economics said in a Jan. 17 report.
On Tuesday, Trump mentioned that his team was discussing the possibility of imposing a tariff of "approximately 25%" on Mexico and Canada.
He made similar comments the day before, saying that taxes on Mexico and Canada may be implemented as soon as February.
“We’re thinking in terms of 25% (levies) on Mexico and Canada, because they’re allowing a vast number of people” over the border, he said on Monday.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump vowed to impose tariffs of more than 60% on commodities from China. According to a post on his social media network Truth Social, he advocated for "an additional 10% Tariff" on China as late as November.