The Trump administration on Saturday took a decisive move regarding visas that has, unsurprisingly, spurred heated controversy on the left.
As Fox News reports, the State Department revealed that it was suspending the issuance of visitor visas from individuals hailing from Gaza until a full review of the process can be completed, a proclamation that has Democrats crying foul.
The abrupt change emerged in a post on the State Department’s X account, sparking a flood of online commentary and critique.
“All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days,” the post explained.
The move was not accompanied by additional immediate indications of what sparked the crackdown, either from the State Department itself or from its leader, Marco Rubio.
However, critics of the administration have suggested that the decision was prompted by complaints lodged by conservative commentator Laura Loomer about the entry of Palestinians under the special visas, as NBC News reports.
In the wake of the State Department’s decision, Loomer praised the result on X, saying, “This is fantastic news. Thank you @SecRubio for your prompt response to this invasion of our country by NGOS that have been accused of being pro-HAMAS,” adding, “There are doctors in other countries. The US is not the world’s hospital!”
Support for Rubio’s decision will assuredly be found among Republican lawmakers who expressed alarm about Loomer’s initial reporting.
When made aware of the arrival of Gazans under the specialized visas, Rep. Chip Roy (TX) vowed to investigate the situation, while Rep. Randy Fine (FL) declared the situation a “national security risk.”
On the other side of the issue were groups such as The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which said that the exclusion of Gazans from visa availability was indicative of Trump administration “intentional cruelty.”
According to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, the move will result in the denial of access to critical care needed by sick and wounded Gazan children.
The organization stated, “This policy will have a devastating and irreversible impact on our ability to bring injured and critically ill children from Gaza to the United States for lifesaving medical treatment -- a mission that has defined our work for more than 30 years.”
That outrage aside, the United States is not alone in exercising new caution when it comes to bringing Gazans into the country, with France having suspended evacuations from the war-torn area earlier in August after a Palestinian student it had admitted on a visa shared an image of Adolf Hitler advocating for the murder of Jews, as Fox News noted.
At the time, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot declared that the student at issue needed to “leave the country” and that she had “no place” in France, expressing sentiments surely shared by Americans wary of importing anti-Semitism into the country under the guise of humanitarian aid that can arguably, as Loomer contends, be provided elsewhere.
President Donald Trump has said in will make the decision "in the next few weeks" about changing the way marijuana is scheduled to effectively decriminalize it, The Hill reported. This was part of a plan first floated by then-President Joe Biden to change how the government classifies the drug from a Schedule 1 to a Schedule III.
The push to legalize pot has historically been a leftist policy, but Trump said in 2024 that the issue was on the table. "As I have previously stated, I believe it is time to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use. We must also implement smart regulations, while providing access for adults, to safe, tested product," Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time.
"As a Floridian, I will be voting YES on Amendment 3 this November. As President, we will continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to pass common sense laws, including safe banking for state authorized companies, and supporting states rights to pass marijuana laws, like in Florida, that work so well for their citizens," Trump said.
Trump is not seeking to make the substance completely legal, but it's no doubt a step in that direction. Biden attempted to get it done during his time in office, as he saw it as a criminal justice reform, but Drug Enforcement Administration Administrative Law Judge John Mulrooney canceled a hearing on the matter just before Trump took office.
Marijuana Policy Project Director Adam Smith blames the DEA for resisting the change to the laws on marijuana and thwarting Biden's plan. "The DEA, culturally and historically, has been against reforming cannabis laws," Smith said.
"And I think to some extent that is their natural response, to dig in their heels,” Smith said. Still, Smith believes that the growing tolerance of the drug signals that the time is right to make the change to how it's handled on the legal side, even among Republicans.
"I would point out that majorities of Americans from all parties support cannabis law reform and support legalization. [A] large, large, overwhelming majority support medical access, and so I don’t think it’s as unpopular on the right as it is often portrayed," Smith claimed.
"Also, there’s an issue of personal freedom that should speak to conservatives," Smith added. Notably, the Florida measure Trump voted on failed to get 60% of the vote required in the heavily Republican state. However, a Pew Research poll found that only 10% of Americans polled believed cannabis should be completely illegal, while another 87% support the legalization of recreational and medical use.
The push for legalization isn't just from the people who wish to use marijuana. The move would also allow growers to declare additional tax incentives, including deducting business expenses or claiming credits if the drug were rescheduled, as producers of substances classified in Schedule I or II are prohibited from such claims.
Proponents argue that this means the product could be regulated and tested for the consumer's benefit, but it's a small consolation to have America's cities reeking of reefer. Opponents of the drug's rescheduling have pointed out that it unfairly gives tax incentives to an entire industry while the rest of the nation takes the brunt of the downsides.
Kevin Sabet, drug policy adviser to three presidents and president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, believes this is not in line with Trump's values. "I don’t think it’s consistent with his agenda at all. The other thing is, you know, it would give huge tax breaks to the marijuana industry," Sabet said.
"That’s all that this is about. It’s about money. It’s about a small number of people making a lot of money off of many users," he added. Even if Trump wishes to push this through, there may be resistance at the DEA, considering that the new DEA Administrator Terry Cole walked back support for rescheduling after he was confirmed.
The places that have decriminalized marijuana are now filled with the stench of pot, while stoned individuals can be found out and about throughout the day. Bringing this to every city and small town in America seems like a terrible plan and a surprising move from Trump, especially since it was started under Biden.
Leaders from seven foreign nations are backing President Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, Breitbart reported. The White House is calling Trump the "President of PEACE" as he heads into talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to broker an end to the war with Ukraine.
The White House celebrated the news in a post to Instagram on Tuesday. It lists Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Gabonese President Brice Oligui Nguema, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Government of Pakistan, and Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe as his backers.
Trump has brokered peace deals for nations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, and he's currently working towards peace in Europe. For these efforts, Trump has garnered some surprising support, including from his Democratic 2016 presidential opponent and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
View this post on Instagram
Trump has received support from the many grateful leaders of nations who recognize the work he's done to end conflict and war for them. Just last week, Trump helped Armenia and Azerbaijan agree to peace during a White House meeting through what he called the "Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity" agreement.
It gave Azerbaijan "full access" to Nakhichevan, which is a territory located southwest of Armenia. "With this accord, we’ve finally succeeded in making peace, and we just left the Oval Office where we signed voluminous documents and very important elements to the agreement," Trump said on Aug. 8.
The president was also responsible for getting Cambodia and Thailand to agree to "quickly work out a Ceasefire and, ultimately, PEACE!" between the two nations. They had disagreed over the border, and the conflict left 150,000 people displaced.
Meanwhile, Trump received the hearty endorsement for the prize from Rwanda’s Nduhungirehe and Gabon’s Nguema after he put an end to the bloody conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo that had gone on for decades. "Anyone, including President Trump, who would help sizably to bring this conflict to an end deserves the Nobel Peace Prize," Nduhungirehe said to Breitbart in June just after signing the peace agreement.
Netanyahu said during a White House dinner in July that he recommended the president for the prize after he ended the 12-Day Israel-Iran War. The government of Pakistan said Trump deserves the prize as he "demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through a robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi, which de-escalated a rapidly deteriorating situation."
As these accolades are piling up from foreign nations, Trump met with Putin to hash out a possible deal for peace in the war with Ukraine, Fox News reported. Surprisingly, this led Clinton to share that she would also endorse Trump for the prize, which is awarded annually in December but typically announced in October.
"You know, look, if we could pull that off, if President Trump were the architect of that, I'd nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize," Clinton said ahead of Trump's summit with Putin set to take place in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday. She added some conditions, but nevertheless, it's a shocking promise from the former first lady.
"But maybe this is the opportunity to make it clear that there must be a ceasefire, there will be no exchange of territory, and that, over a period of time, Putin should be actually withdrawing from the territory he seized in order to demonstrate his good faith efforts, let us say, not to threaten European security," Clinton added. She said that her "goal here is to not allow capitulation to Putin, aided and abetted by the United States."
Clinton believes it would be detrimental to America's standing in the world for Trump to accept these terms. "I think that’s a terrible, terrible precedent, and I think it would make our country less safe, I think it will reward Putin’s aggression, and he will not stop. We know that," Clinton said.
It's unlikely Trump gets Putin's unconditional surrender, but his track record demonstrates that the president knows what he's doing when it comes to brokering peace. Clinton may withhold her endorsement if things don't go exactly as she wants, but Trump has already proven himself to be a solid leader with a knack for peace, and leaders around the world already recognize that.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi will head the Metropolitan Police Department after President Donald Trump federalized law enforcement in Washington, D.C., WRC-TV reported. The president cited rampant crime in the nation's capital that forced him to hand over the police force to Bondi, with Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole serving as interim federal commissioner of MPD.
On Monday, Trump stunned the nation's capital when he announced at a news conference that he was sending some 800 service members from the National Guard to Washington, D.C., to assist in bringing crime under control. "We will bring in the military if it’s needed," Trump told reporters.
"I don’t think we’ll need it," he clarified. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised National Guardsmen would be "flowing into the streets of Washington in the coming week" with the promise of adding "other specialized units" if necessary to get the job done.
The Army has said the plan is for the troops to assist law enforcement in cleaning up the city. "Between 100 and 200 Soldiers will be supporting law enforcement at any given time. Their duties will include an array of tasks from administrative, logistics, and physical presence in support of law enforcement," the Army said in a statement Tuesday.
Bondi got right to work on Tuesday by coordinating with Muriel Bowser, the Democratic mayor of Washington, D.C., who agreed to "work closely" with the Trump administration after the president signed the order for the feds to take over the police force. Bondi posted about the meeting on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
"I just concluded a productive meeting with DC @MayorBowser at the Department of Justice. We agreed that there is nothing more important than keeping residents and tourists in Washington, D.C. safe from deadly crime," Bondi wrote.
"At President Trump’s direction, @TheJusticeDept will work closely with D.C. city government and @DCPoliceDept to make Washington, D.C. safe again," Bondi concluded. She thanked all of those involved in a reply to the thread.
I just concluded a productive meeting with DC @MayorBowser at the Department of Justice.
We agreed that there is nothing more important than keeping residents and tourists in Washington, D.C. safe from deadly crime.
At President Trump’s direction, @TheJusticeDept will work…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 12, 2025
The nation's capital saw a violent crime spike in 2023, and though rates recently have fallen to the lowest number in decades, it's still a crime-ridden city, The Hill reported. Unfortunately, Bowser's hearty support for Trump's plan to deploy the National Guard was short-lived, but that hasn't stopped the plan from already getting results.
By Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there were already 100 arrests made after implementing Trump's plan, Fox News reported. Around 400 National Guard troops were out on patrol this week, with an additional 500 federal agents on the streets as well, with a focus on nighttime enforcement.
It's expected that about 200 National Guardsmen will patrol at a time around the clock. Meanwhile, a juvenile curfew is in effect in the Navy Yard until the end of the month following an incident there involving a juvenile discharging a weapon in the area.
Despite the early success, protesters are demonstrating against Trump's efforts to clean up crime in Washington. One of those protesters turned out to be Sean Charles Dunn, an international affairs specialist in the Criminal Division of the Office of International Affairs, who was arrested and charged with a felony after throwing a sandwich at a federal agent, CNN reported.
"If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you. I just learned that this defendant worked at the Department of Justice — NO LONGER. Not only is he FIRED, he has been charged with a felony," Bondi wrote on social media after the arrest. "This is an example of the Deep State we have been up against for seven months as we work to refocus the DOJ. You will NOT work in this administration while disrespecting our government and law enforcement," she added.
Something had to be done about the problems with Washington, D.C., and that's what Trump has given Bondi the power to do. It's the nation's capital, where the business of the federal government takes place and where the president has his home, and it should be protected accordingly whether leftists like it or not.
President Donald Trump's Department of Justice sent a memo to employees on Tuesday requiring that "preferred pronouns" be deleted from email signatures, Breitbart reported. This is to comply wth the president's executive order "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government."
The use of preferred pronouns has proliferated throughout the government and corporate America over the last several years. It was a way to signal to the world that an employee was woke enough to accept that some people could choose to identify as a gender that is different from their biological sex.
Setting the record straight on this fallacy was part of Trump's campaign promise to roll back the madness, which allowed men who identify as women to participate in sports with females and enter their private spaces, such as bathrooms and locker rooms. The DOJ's edict this week is a bonus from that move back to normalcy.
"Extraneous content, such as preferred pronouns, motivational quotes, and GIFs, shall not be used in the signature block. The official Department logo may be added to the signature block at the employee’s discretion, directly below the last line in the block," the memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
A copy of the memo was shared with X, formerly Twitter, by Washington Times reporter Alex Swoyer. The news outlet broke the story about the change at the DOJ after obtaining a copy of the memo that was sent to employees.
Trump DOJ directs employees to cease using preferred pronouns starting August 25 @WashTimes @DAGToddBlanche pic.twitter.com/LUfWSGIsY6
— Alex Swoyer (@ASwoyer) August 12, 2025
"In pursuit of its law and order agenda each day, the Department deals with facts. To maintain the public trust, the Department’s communications must therefore reflect reality," the memo pointed out to employees.
It further noted that communications must be "oriented towards the mission of the department," whether they are sent internally or externally. "Signature blocks should not include extraneous and declarations, and certainly should not include content at odds with announced administration policies," Blanche's memo said.
The employees were given until August 25 to comply with the new rules set forth by the memo. This is a positive move for the government and for the restoration of sanity, which Trump has ushered in with his executive order and his presidency.
The 2024 presidential election gave voters the choice to return to normalcy after years of gender identity nonsense, among other social ills imposed on them by Democrats. Like many things Trump promised during his campaign, the president delivered with his executive order in January stating that there are only two genders, and that they are "not changeable and are grounded in fundamental incontrovertible reality."
The order noted that pretending there was anything other than male and female was destructive. "The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system. Basing Federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself," the order said.
"This unhealthy road is paved by an ongoing and purposeful attack against the ordinary and longstanding use and understanding of biological and scientific terms, replacing the immutable biological reality of sex with an internal, fluid, and subjective sense of self unmoored from biological facts." Trump's order recognized that deviating from this was dangerous to women.
"Invalidating the true and biological category of ‘woman’ improperly transforms laws and policies designed to protect sex-based opportunities into laws and policies that undermine them, replacing longstanding, cherished legal rights and values with an identity-based, inchoate social concept. Accordingly, my Administration will defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male," the order declared.
This was a crucial step to restoring sex-segregated spaces that are necessary to the protection of women and girls, and Trump wasn't afraid to stand up to the woke mob to do it. This order has also empowered the DOJ to make a minor but equally significant change to email signatures that will surely outrage the woke Democrats.
President Trump has endorsed Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones for the state's 2026 gubernatorial race, The Hill reported. Jones is the second high-profile Republican to announce the intention to replace the term-limited current GOP Gov. Brian Kemp.
Jones announced his candidacy last month to much fanfare. According to his campaign ad, Jones said that he is in favor of keeping men out of women's sports, abolishing the state income tax, and addressing the fentanyl epidemic.
Jones has also been a staunch supporter of Trump's Make America Great Again agenda. The president announced he was supporting Jones in a post on his Truth Social on Monday.
Trump is backing Jones to become Georgia's new executive, emphasizing the state's importance while offering his strong endorsement. "Highly Respected and very popular Lieutenant Governor, Burt Jones, is running to be the next Governor of the Great State of Georgia, a very special place to me in that we had a BIG Presidential Election Win just eight short months ago, November 5, 2024," Trump wrote.
"As the first member of the Georgia State Assembly to Endorse 'DONALD J. TRUMP' for President, Burt was strongly committed to my Campaign in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and worked tirelessly to help us WIN. He has been with us from the very beginning," Trump continued.
The president said that Jones has been "tested at the most difficult levels and times" and "has proven he has the Courage and Wisdom to deliver strong results for the incredible people of his wonderful State and Nation," Trump said. The president also said that Jones will implement an agenda similar to his.
"As your next Governor, Burt Jones will fight hard to Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A., Champion American Energy DOMINANCE, Continue to Secure our now Secure Southern Border, Strengthen our Military/Veterans, Ensure LAW AND ORDER, Advance Election Integrity, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment. Burt Jones for Governor has my Complete and Total Endorsement – HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!" Trump concluded.
Georgia is a critical swing state for Republicans, and Trump clinched its 16 electoral votes in the 2016 and 2024 elections. He lost in 2020 and famously fell out with Kemp over it, which means a new Republican governor on Trump's side would go a long way to restoring party unity.
According to the Associated Press, Georgia became the center of the controversy in 2020 over Trump's claims about a stolen election. He placed a call late in 2020 to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" the votes that would award the state to him instead of then-President Joe Biden.
The media and the Democrats tried to spin this as a shakedown, but Trump was asking for help in counting legitimate votes as he thought the election had been stolen from him. Raffensperger has used this as a springboard for his own self-serving narrative, but it bled over into the relationship with Kemp, who has denied election integrity problems.
"For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward - under oath - and prove anything in a court of law. Our elections in Georgia are secure, accessible, and fair, and will continue to be as long as I am governor," Kemp said in 2024, according to Fox News.
Although Kemp didn't campaign with Trump, he eventually endorsed him against then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Now, if Jones becomes governor, it will put the feud to rest for good.
Trump is using his clout to help Republicans in Georgia far ahead of the next election, and that's a good sign. The president is as popular as ever, and it's clear that Trump wants to leave the party in a good position for the next presidential election and beyond.
Ed Martin was only appointed to be President Donald Trump's pardon attorney in May, but he will now lead the DOJ's Weaponization Working Group, which includes overseeing cases against New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) and Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Both Schiff and James are accused of fraudulently claiming primary residences in areas around Washington, D.C. to get more favorable loan terms.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) made a criminal referral against James earlier in the year over her Virginia property, which she claimed as primary even though her job in New York required her to live there. A similar referral was made for Schiff in May.
Schiff is under investigation for claiming that his home in Maryland was his primary residence even though he was required to live in California while a House member representing four different districts from that state during his 24-year tenure.
Grand juries in Virginia and Maryland are hearing evidence of James and Schiff's alleged crimes, and will decide soon whether they will face trials there.
Charges including potential mortgage fraud, bank fraud and wire fraud can carry jail terms of up to 30 years.
Martin will be a special prosecutor in those cases if the grand jury does decide to indict them.
“Attorney General Bondi and President Trump have given me a very serious mission,” Martin said of the assignment. "I am committed to going where the facts take me."
“For months DOJ and the FBI have been working on these two cases," he continued. "It is my job to stick the landing.”
Both James and Schiff have been vocal critics of President Donald Trump for many years.
Ironically, James prosecuted him for allegedly overvaluing his properties to get favorable loan terms, while Schiff presided over his first impeachment in the House.
James convicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records and got an almost half billion dollar judgment against him, which is being appealed.
James's attorney Abbe Lowell, who once helped defend Trump, said in a statement, “Investigating the fraud case Attorney General James won against President Trump and his businesses has to be the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president’s political retribution campaign."
Schiff's attorney, former New York prosecutor Preet Bharara, said, “Ed Martin, the most brazenly partisan and politically compromised person possible for the task, has been picked to investigate a political adversary. The bias here is glaring."
Bharara pointed out that Schiff had placed a hold on Martin's previous nomination to be a U.S. Attorney in D.C. and forced him to step down from consideration.
Is Trump going after his enemies to even the score for the things they have done to him and his allies, or is the DOJ just trying to see justice be done?
One of the most surprising aspects of President Donald Trump’s second term in office thus far has been his commitment to the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) platform championed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Now that the second Trump administration has been in place for more than 200 days, MAHA supporters and advocates are touting a host of milestones and additive bans that have already been achieved, as Breitbart reports, and are looking ahead to what is yet to come.
Several key accomplishments already notched by RFK and HHS can be seen in the changes to which food industry giants have agreed, adjustments that span cooking practices as well as additives.
Fast food notable Steak & Shake pledged to banish seed oils and begin preparing its offerings with beef tallow, a health-conscious shift lauded by Kennedy and his supporters.
Iconic West Coast chain In-N-Out Burger promised to eliminate Red Dye 40, Yellow 5, and artificial flavorings from its products, marking another sea change in fast food.
Other household names that appear ready and willing to get on board the MAHA train include PepsiCo, McCormick, Kraft, Nestle, Heinz, Conagra, Tyson, Hershey, and General Mills, all of which have committed to the elimination -- or at least reduction -- of their use of synthetic dyes in their product lines.
In a push to encourage healthier eating among impoverished communities, the Trump administration, with the help of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, has authorized waivers for a growing number of states to ban the use of food stamps for the purchase of junk foods and sodas.
Kennedy, who has had a decades-long interest in vaccine safety, made headlines last week when it was announced that HHS would be initiating a “coordinated wind-down” of its mRNA vaccine development activities.
The push is set to include the “cancellation and de-scoping of various contracts and solicitations” which had been undertaken pursuant to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
According to HHS, the decision “follows a comprehensive review of mRNA-related investments initiated during the COVID-19 public health emergency.”
Kennedy explained, “We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted. BARDA is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu.”
He continued, “We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”
Though critics such as former Surgeon General Jerome Adams have blasted the mRNA funding decision in particular and suggested that “people are going to die” as a result, the administration stands firm in trumpeting the MAHA achievements tallied to date.
White House spokesperson Liz Huston declared last week, “In its first 200 days, the administration has delivered on the president’s pledge by restoring Gold Standard Science at HHS,” adding her belief that “the best is yet to come – the administration is committed to doubling down and continuing to transform American good, health care, and science to Make America Healthy Again,” a focus for which millions are assuredly grateful.
President Donald Trump wants the next census to exclude illegal immigrants from the count, Breitbart reported. This issue matters as congressional districts are given representatives based on population, while Democrats import millions of illegal immigrants.
In a post to Truth Social on Thursday, Trump shared that he already has plans in the works to change how the surveys are conducted. "I have instructed our Department of Commerce to immediately begin work on a new and highly accurate CENSUS based on modern-day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024," Trump wrote.
"People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" the president concluded. Although the president has no authority to recount the census, he and other lawmakers can fine-tune how the data is used.
The U.S. Census Bureau conducts its survey once a decade for the entire United States and its five territories. The last census was conducted in 2020, marking the first time the option to complete the census online was available, meaning the next will be due in 2030 after Trump leaves office.
Those counted have always included people who entered the country illegally, but with so many swaying the balance in Congress, Trump believes the time has come to exclude them from assigning representatives. It's long been understood as a Democratic strategy to inflate their influence like this, and the numbers bear that out.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, California, New York, and Texas gained additional seats while Alabama, Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota lost seats due to illegal immigrants in the count. Moreover, there are as many as 22 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S., with an expected rate of one-in-six U.S. residents being foreign-born by 2060.
Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller said on Wednesday's Hannity program on Fox News that Democrats have incorporated this into their strategy. "Democrats have gerrymandered the vote beyond recognition to try and maintain their advantage in the House elections," he told host Sean Hannity.
"Let’s not forget, Democrats rigged the 2020 census by including illegal aliens!" Whether his opinion about the "rigged" census is correct or not, it's an issue that is being addressed by some GOP lawmakers.
According to Fox News, the "Equal Representation Act" was introduced in the Senate in June with heavy Republican support. This legislation would add the question and exclude noncitizens from being counted in apportionments, given their significant political influence.
"It is unconscionable that illegal immigrants and noncitizens are counted toward congressional district apportionment and our electoral map for the presidency, which also heavily skews the seat count in the U.S. House of Representatives," said Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) in a statement when the bill was introduced in June. Hagerty noted that Democrats purposely allow unchecked illegal immigration for this purpose.
"While people continue to flee Democrat-run cities, desperate Democrats have backfilled the mass exodus with illegal immigrants so that they do not lose their seats in Congress or their electoral votes, hence artificially boosting their political power and, in turn, diluting the power of other Americans’ votes. I’m pleased to lead my colleagues in reintroducing this legislation that would require a citizenship question on the census and will ensure that only citizens are counted in congressional redistricting," Hagerty said.
Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), who introduced a similar measure in the House during the Biden administration, noted that the U.S. Constitution mandates everyone be counted. "But the Constitution does not specify whether noncitizens or illegal aliens must be counted for the purpose of apportioning House seats," Edwards said.
There's no reason that illegal immigrants should go toward the count that decides a state's representation in Congress. Democrats have been benefiting as illegal immigrants flood into their states, and Trump and the Republicans are right that this has to stop.
President Donald Trump's Department of the Interior has nixed the Lava Ridge Wind Project that was pushed through late in the Biden administration, Town Hall reported. The project would have installed a vast wind farm consisting of 231 wind turbines along 57,447 acres of rural Idaho landscape.
The need for energy solutions remains a priority, but wind farms have long been understood to be less than ideal for that purpose. Still, President Joe Biden's Bureau of Land Management approved the project in December 2024, which would have created the largest wind farm on land.
It was expected to generate 1,000 megawatts of power, but this technology comes with many more downsides. When announcing the cancellation, the Department of the Interior cited some of the cons of the renewable energy source.
"Under President Donald J. Trump, the Department of the Interior will no longer provide preferential treatment towards unreliable, intermittent power sources that harm rural communities, livelihoods, and the land, such as the Lava Ridge Wind Project and the radical Green New Scam agenda that burdens our nation and public lands," the department said in a statement. The decision is one welcomed by the people of Idaho and its leaders.
The project was bad policy for several reasons, but Interior Department officials found out that the project was also full of "crucial legal deficiencies" in the way then-President Joe Biden approved it. The department found that "unique statutory criteria that were ignored" at the time, which was enough to give the Interior Department pause.
Trump had made it a priority to halt the project on day one of his presidency, suspecting that the controversial project was rubber-stamped during Biden's final month in office. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum praised Trump for doing so in a statement.
"Under President Donald Trump's bold leadership, the Department is putting the brakes on deficient, unreliable energy and putting the American people first. This decisive action defends the American taxpayer, safeguards our land, and averts what would have been one of the largest, most irresponsible wind projects in the nation," Burgum wrote.
"By reversing the Biden administration's thoughtless approval of the Lava Ridge Wind Project, we are protecting tens of thousands of acres from harmful wind policy while shielding the interests of rural Idaho communities," Burgum added. The decision was also popular with Idaho Gov. Brad Little, who passed an executive order similar to Trump's that was aptly named "Gone with the Lava Ridge Wind Project Act."
Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson also celebrated the project's demise. "For four years, the Biden administration demonstrated that it would rather prioritize renewable wind power over multiple-use mandates directed by Congress," Simpson wrote, adding that Biden didn't "genuinely engage with stakeholders to address concerns about the Minidoka National Historic Site, grazing, wildfire response, and more" during the approval process.
Despite all of the problems that come with wind turbines, including aviation concerns, impact on wildlife, and quality of life, some in Idaho are lamenting the project's cancellation, according to the Idaho Capital Sun. The Idaho Conservation League said that this decision does not address the continued need for renewable energy.
"While the Lava Ridge Project wasn’t perfect, we desperately need to develop new sources of renewable energy in order to meet the growing demand for electricity and replace carbon-emitting coal and gas power plants," the environmental conservation group said in a statement. The 2024 report from Idaho’s Office of Energy and Mineral Resources’ Energy Landscape 2024 Report noted that 40% of its energy comes from out of state.
“If the Lava Ridge Project is not a suitable location, then we need to work together to find locations that are suitable for the development of wind and solar in Idaho. Opposing all wind and solar projects is not a viable solution,” the Idaho Conservation League claimed.
The organization believes that continuing to use more coal and fossil fuels to generate energy is a net negative for the people of Idaho. "At the end of the day, if we fail to develop wind and solar projects, then we will be on the hook for higher electric bills and longer, hotter, drier, and smokier summers," the organization claimed.
Wind farms are unsightly and use vast expanses of open space that could otherwise be used to farm or for recreation. Nobody wants these on their land, but radical environmentalists want to keep pushing it on people in rural communities. Trump was right to do what he did, and the people of Idaho are grateful to him for it.