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U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem led federal raids by ICE agents in northern Virginia Tuesday morning, despite the fact the operation had been leaked by Vanity Fair congressional reporter Pablo Manriquez who gave advice on eluding capture.
"We will not be deterred by leaks. If you come to this country and break our laws, we will hunt you down," Noem said on X.
"Successful enforcement operation this morning – getting MS-13 members, 18th Street gang members and perpetrators of sexual crimes off our streets."
She later noted the raids were successful: "Northern Virginia is safer this morning after a successful operation getting criminal aliens and gang members off our streets. Thank you to our brave enforcement officers."
In the wake of the operation, Noem was mocked by Aaron Fritschner, the deputy chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who represents the Arlington neighborhood where one raid occurred.
"Secretary Noem wore a flak jacket to give herself added protection from the ongoing free weapons fire in the dangerous war zone of Arlington, Virginia," Fritschner said, adding, "Known dog-killer appears on the loose in Northern Virginia, keep your pets safe folks."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump is thrashing Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky for "supposedly" saying a deal to end the war between Ukraine and Russia "is still very, very far away."
"I wanna see it end fast. I don't want to see this go on for years and years," Trump said at a White House news conference Monday.
"Now, President Zelensky supposedly made a statement today in AP – I'm not a big fan of AP, so maybe it was an incorrect statement – but he thinks the war's gonna go on for a long time. And he better not be right about that. That's all I'm saying."
Earlier in the day on Truth Social, Trump said of Zelensky's purported remark:
"This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer! It is what I was saying, this guy doesn't want there to be Peace as long as he has America's backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S. – Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?"
During the news conference Monday afternoon, Trump stressed his desire for a quick end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has been flaring for three years.
"I want all those young people to stop being killed," Trump said. "We're talking about thousands of young people a week."
"It's a very, very sad thing that's happening over there. We want to get it finished. We want to stop the death."
Trump indicated he's trying to get deals with everyone involved.
"It takes two to tango, and you're gonna have to make a deal with Russia, and you're gonna have to make a deal Ukraine," he explained. "And you're gonna have to have the consent from the European Union. Everybody has to get in a room, so to speak, and make a deal."
"If somebody doesn't want to make a deal, I don't think that person will be around very long. That person will not be listened to very long," he added.
Trump also recounted the track record of previous U.S. presidents and their handling of recent Russian aggression.
"Under President Bush, they got Georgia. Russia got Georgia," he said. "Under President Obama, they got a nice big submarine base. Crimea."
"Under President Trump, they got nothing. And under President Biden, they tried to get the whole thing."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
IRS officials have decided to conceal the home addresses of some 700,000 people suspected of being in the United States illegally, according to a report from the Washington Post.
The decision came on a request from immigration enforcement officials for those locations, and it was the IRS "rebuffing" attempts by the administration of President Donald Trump to gain access to that information for his crackdown on illegals.
The report noted that the Internal Revenue Service had promised "undocumented immigrants" over the years that it would protect their information and it would be safe for them to file income tax documents "without fear of being deported."
And the IRS said the law doesn't allow the release of personal information, even to another government agency.
AT the time, the IRS claimed, "There is no authorization under this provision to share tax data with ICE."
The report said an estimated one-half of the 11 million illegal aliens in the country file income tax returns, filing with individual taxpayer numbers, or ITINs, as they are ineligible for Social Security numbers.
The report credited this population with paying billions of dollars in federal taxes.
The report said the Washington Post got access to a memo in which Department of Homeland Security officials asked the IRS to link the names with a last known address, phone number or email, and the request was a followup to a DHS request weeks ago that would let immigration officials turn over a list of names to the IRS in order to get home addresses.
The publication said five anonymous people familiar with the scenario made those claims.
Then this week a memo asked the IRS "to deploy dozens of highly skilled IRS auditors and criminal investigators to launch probes of businesses suspected of hiring immigrants not authorized to work in the United States," the report said.
It said, "IRS investigations should be conducted, and assistance should be provided without regard for any threshold, floor, or internal policy for opening an investigation. Further, IRS should provide leads on businesses that are circumventing tax laws or violating worksite-related statutes, many of which are from prior leads or complaints that IRS did not investigate due to not meeting internal IRS policy for opening an investigation."
While the IRS rejected the plan, the report said, the agency is trying to reach agreement on ways to help immigration officials without violating privacy laws.
The publication's sources claimed the idea is triggering alarm inside the IRS because handing out taxpayer information to third parties in both a civil and criminal offense.
Dorothy A. Brown, of Georgetown University Law Center, claimed the program sounded like "racial profiling on steroids."
And the report noted an anonymous federal official said ICE would be viewing IRS records as a way to locate illegal aliens through their address, workplaces, children and more.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The Trump administration today announced that the number of illegal-alien border crossing attempts in February was the lowest in U.S. history – a mere 8.326.
President Trump shared the data on social media, writing, "There were only 8,326 apprehensions of illegals by Border Patrol at the U.S.-Mexico border, all of whom were quickly ejected from our Nation or, when necessary, prosecuted for crimes against the United States of America."
Continuing, Trump announced, "The invasion of our country is OVER."
During the Biden administration, there were as many as 300,000 illegal crossings in a month, "and virtually ALL of them were released into our County," Trump noted.
CBS reported that on some days during a record spike in illegal crossings under President Biden, Border Patrol recorded more than 8,000 apprehensions in a single day.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also posted on X, thanking the president for his leadership.
"February was the lowest month in recorded history for encounters at our border," wrote Noem. "The world is hearing our message: do not come to our country illegally. If you do, we will find you, arrest you, and send you back. Thank you President @realDonaldTrump for your strong leadership and to our brave @CBP officers and agents for keeping America safe.
"We're just getting started."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
WASHINGTON – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky departed the White House before a scheduled, then canceled, press conference after a heated exchange in the Oval Office Friday.
The hot words developed when Zelensky asked U.S. President Trump to address Ukrainians' concerns about his perceived closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump called the question "disrespectful" to a nation trying to secure peace between the two nations.
"I'm not aligned with Putin," Trump said. "I'm aligned with the United States of America."
Vice President J.D. Vance then weighed in, saying to Zelensky, "I think it's disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media. […] you should be thanking the president for trying to bring you into this conference."
He then bluntly asked the Ukrainian leader – whom Trump once called a dictator – "Mr. President, Do you disagree that you've had problems bringing people in your military, and do you think that it's respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America, and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?"
The full heated exchange included Trump demanding Zelensky not "Tell us how we'll feel" if there's no deal, and telling him "You don't have the cards" without the United States backing his country. Vance also accuses the embattled leader of being on a "publicity tour" who should be grateful for the Trump administration, despite campaigning for former Vice President Kamala Harris in a swing state last Fall.
Shortly afterward, President Trump posted on Truth Social:
We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure. It's amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don't want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.
It is clear Zelensky came to provoke President Trump. He brought photos of dead Ukrainians, and made disapproving faces as President Trump spoke to the media in the Oval Office. No word yet on what this means for what the administration has called "the last yard" of U.S.-negotiated peace talks for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump's campaign to save America financially goes far beyond his agenda to cut waste, fraud, and abuse from the government books – although that certainly is part of it, with estimates of $60 or $70 billion in bad spending decisions already reversed.
He's also on track to raise money for America. One program involves tariffs he has imposed on shipments into the country, and there's speculation that if applied properly, income could reach into the trillions of dollars and replace the current income tax.
But there's another trillion dollars or so, or possibly much more, that could be coming in through another idea.
CBS explained that it's Trump's idea for a "gold card" 'aimed at rich foreigners who want the right to live in America and are willing to pay for it.
"That term is a play on the green card, more officially known as a permanent residency card, which allows non-citizens to live and work permanently in the U.S. Green cards are most frequently awarded to foreigners who marry U.S. citizens or to those who receive one through their employer, with the latter process taking an average of three years to complete, according to the Cato Institute," the report said.
Trump said his plan is to make available an expensive option for the wealthy literally to purchase that right.
"It's going to be a route to citizenship, and wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card, they'll be wealthy, and they'll be successful and they'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people," Trump said.
Now Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the income possible for that concept already is at $1.125 trillion.
That would be paid by "deeply vetted" global citizens who would bring "entrepreneurial spirit and capacity," including jobs and businesses, to America. And they would pay American taxes.
He said 250,000 people now are "in line" for that potential program.
Trump has explained that if roughly 8,000 people received gold cards each year, the U.S. would raise about $40 billion annually through the program.
The CBS report said such "investor visas" are common around the world and more than 100 nations offer such programs.
"We have it all worked out from the legal standpoint. It's totally legal to do. It's somewhat like a green card, but at a higher level of sophistication — it's a road to citizenship for people, and essentially people of wealth or people of great talent, where people of wealth pay for those people of talent to get in, meaning companies will pay for people to get in and to have long, long term status in the country," he said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
In a Wednesday morning social media posting spree, President Donald Trump vowed to sue "dishonest" authors, book publishers and media for their use of anonymous and off-the-record quotes he believes are fake.
Trump said on Truth Social: "As a President who is being given credit for having the Best Opening Month of any President in history, quite naturally, here come the Fake books and stories with the so-called 'anonymous,' or 'off the record,' quotes.
"At some point I am going to sue some of these dishonest authors and book publishers, or even media in general, to find out whether or not these 'anonymous sources' even exist, which they largely do not.
"They are made up, defamatory fiction, and a big price should be paid for this blatant dishonesty. I'll do it as a service to our Country. Who knows, maybe we will create some NICE NEW LAW!!!"
Trump also took aim at the Wall Street Journal.
"I don't understand The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, never have," he began.
"They come to my aid when I least expect it, sometimes strongly, and I greatly appreciate that — Very meaningful! But then they come out with some real CLINKERS, like today's Editorial that my Auto Tariffs will hurt the Michigan Automobile Business. They are sooo WRONG, in fact, it is just the opposite.
"The tariffs will drive massive amounts of auto manufacturing to MICHIGAN, a State which I just easily one in the Presidential Election. They have already stopped numerous new auto plants from being built in other countries, a GIGANTIC WIN (already!)
"FOR MICHIGAN, and the United States as a whole. Just let it all happen, and watch, it won't be even close! AMERICAN industry will thrive, and we will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!"
The president also posted brief comments on other issues.
"I hope the House and Senate are able to agree on making the Tax Cuts PERMANENT!"
"ALL CABINET MEMBERS ARE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ELON. The Media will see that at the Cabinet Meeting this morning!!!"
He even commented on Tuesday's near miss of a Southwest Airlines flight almost colliding with an executive jet at Chicago Midway Airport.
"GREAT JOB BY THE SOUTHWEST PILOTS IN CHICAGO," Trump said in all capital letters.
"A NEARLY TRAGIC CLOSE CALL. PERHAPS SUSPEND THE PILOTS LICENSE OF THE OTHER PLANE, WHO MUST HAVE BEEN 'SLEEPING!'"
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A television network report on a detained illegal alien who was sent to America's prison at Guantanamo Bay, then returned to his native Venezuela, has the makings of a great advertisement for President Donald Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and his border security plans.
That's according to media personality Benny Johnson, who posted the clip on X.
The alien, Kevin Rodriguez, explains, "I don't plan on leaving my country, because I am traumatized by everything I went through."
The NBC clip explained the interview was with Telemundo.
He was detained for 14 days in Guantanamo, to which Trump has been sending captured illegal alien criminals.
And during those days in a six foot by nine foot cell, he lost nine pounds.
"There were spider webs. The cell was in really bad shape," he said, according to a translation. "What worried me was how long I was going to be there. How long my family would go without knowing about how I was doing."
Kristi Noem, Trump's Department of Homeland Security secretary, said, "This is part of our plan to make sure that we're protecting America."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
There were a number of topics that members of Congress wanted to investigate while Joe Biden was in the White House.
For example, the FBI agents who were installed in the protest-turned-riot on Jan. 6, 2021. And the decision to label traditional Catholics as "violent extremists." And the collusion between the Biden-Harris administration and Big Tech to suppress America's First Amendment speech rights.
Then-FBI chief Christopher Wray simply declined to produce the documents that were needed.
But Wray is gone, Kash Patel is the new FBI chief and Rep. Jim Jordan now is asking him to move those investigations forward.
In a letter to Patel, Jordan, R-Ohio, and the chief of the House Judiciary Committee, asked for help in conducting "oversight into misconduct of the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the Biden administration."
One of the topics is the Biden administration's "insertion" of federal agents into local school board meetings.
"On October 4, 2021, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memorandum to then-FBI Director Wray on the subject of 'Partnership Among Federal, State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Law Enforcement to Address Threats Against School Administrators, Board Members, Teachers, and Staff,' directing federal law enforcement resources to address a purported increase in school board-related threats."
The FBI then created a "special threat tag" to use in those "investigations."
But Congress, in asking for documentation of that agenda, got only "only a limited subset of internal communications regarding how the Justice Department could address purported threats at local school board meetings and made available to the committee in camera additional documents regarding cases opened using the special threat tag."
But Jordan noted the FBI "should possess additional responsive documents and communications referring or relating to the EDUOFFICIALS threat tag—including internal documents and communications regarding investigations categorized under the threat tag."
Then there was the FBI's labeling of Catholics as "violent extremists," which resulted in agents being "inserted" into places of worship.
The FBI's response to that inquiry was "insufficient, ultimately leading the committee to issue a subpoena to the FBI for the requested documents and information on April 10, 2023."
Even so, the committee believes the FBI has additional information that would be useful in an investigation.
The censorship scheme also saw questions left unanswered.
"During the 118th Congress, the Committee conducted extensive oversight of how and to what extent the executive branch coerced and colluded with technology companies and other entities to censor speech. The committee's investigation, public reporting, and publicized discovery in an ongoing federal court case, Missouri v. Biden, revealed how the federal government, including the FBI, pressured and colluded with Facebook and other Big Tech entities to censor certain viewpoints in ways that undermined First Amendment principles."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Several leftist states have openly defied President Donald Trump's orders that men not be allowed to participate in women's sports, including Maine.
And it may end up costing the state a lot.
Trump has announced plans to withhold federal funds from Maine because of its open rejection of the president's mandates.
A report from Fox News explains Trump confirmed federal funds will be cut off if the state "continues to defy his executive order."
The issue is the transgender ideologies and beliefs that were promoted government-wide, worldwide in fact, by Joe Biden.
Those unscientific claims said men who said they are women could be considered women on the issue of athletic competition.
In fact, following the science, men do not become women, no matter their chemical treatments or even surgical mutilations, because being male or female is embedded in the human body down to the DNA level.
"I heard men are still playing in Maine," Trump told a gathering of Republican governors. "I hate to tell you this, but we're not going to give them any federal money, they are still saying 'we want men to play in women's sports' and I can not believe that they're doing that… So we're not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up."
Trump signed his order earlier this month instructing all federal agencies to look at grants, programs and policies that fail to comply with the administration's efforts to end "male competitive participation in women's sports… as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth."
Some governing bodies for sports have no official position regarding men claiming to be women. Others allow men to be on women's teams.
Trump's order said, "These policies are unfair to female athletes and do not protect female safety."
Maine, and others states like California and Minnesota, immediately announced their open defiance.
Now the chief of a major athletics governing body for high school sports in Maine said officials still will use claimed "gender identity" to determine an athlete's participation, meaning if a boy says he is a girl, he is allowed on the girls' teams.
Mike Burnham of the Maine Principals Association said schools will follow state law, not the president's order.
"The executive order and our Maine state Human Rights Act are in conflict, and the Maine Principal's Association (MPA) will continue to follow state law as it pertains to gender identity," Burnham said, in the report.