Accused of making Metro less safe, watchdog relents on self-driving trains
After a two-month standoff with its safety watchdog, Metro received approval Tuesday to use self-driving trains on three of its six subway lines. Automation will expand beyond the Red Line to the Green and Yellow lines Friday.
But a broader conflict between the two agencies continues, and multiple elected leaders say the commission created in 2018 to address Metro's dysfunctional safety culture is now creating problems that add risk instead of reducing it. They are pushing back on a commission plan to start fining Metro for failing to follow orders — and backing Metro's calls for an outsider to resolve future conflicts instead.
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CNN
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In pictures: The nationwide ‘No Kings' protests
More than 2,000 protests are scheduled across all 50 states Saturday through the No Kings movement, which organizers say seeks to reject 'authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarization of our democracy.' The mobilization is a direct response to a military parade rolling through Washington, DC, on Saturday that celebrates the 250th anniversary of the US Army. It also coincides with President Donald Trump's 79th birthday. Saturday's rallies have been amplified by a week of protests against ICE raids in Los Angeles and other major cities. Following the Hands Off! and 50501 protests this spring, Saturday's demonstrations aren't the first nationwide rejection of Trump's policies. But organizers expect them to be the largest. Millions of Americans are expected to take part.
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump Threatens to Crush Violent Protests in Every State
Donald Trump has warned that protesters trying to thwart his immigration crackdown in other states will be met with equal or greater force than demonstrators in Los Angeles. As critics accused the president of authoritarianism, Trump also reiterated that he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act if he deemed it necessary. That would be a dramatic escalation by the president, who has already ordered active-duty Marines and 2000 more National Guard troops into L.A. The move to draft troops into Los Angeles prompted a lawsuit by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who on Tuesday also asked a judge to issue a restraining order to block Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from using the National Guard in his state. 'Federal antagonization, through the presence of soldiers in the streets, has already caused real and irreparable damage to the City of Los Angeles, the people who live there, and the State of California. They must be stopped, immediately,' the motion states. Trump, however, doubled down on Tuesday and vowed to crush protestors who followed in LA's footsteps. 'I can inform the rest of the country that when they do it, if they do it, they're going to be met with equal or greater force than we met right here,' he told reporters in the Oval Office. Anti-ICE protests of all sizes have already popped up all over the country, including in New York, Atlanta, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. More protests are expected to follow this Saturday, when a coalition of activist groups embarks on a national series of 'No Kings' protests to coincide with Trump's birthday and military parade in DC. 'If there's any protester who wants to come out there they will be met with very big force,' Trump said on Tuesday. The ratcheting of the president's rhetoric comes days after sweeping ICE raids led to more than 100 arrests in the Los Angeles area, sparked in part by a directive by top White House aide Stephen Miller, the architect of the president's immigration policies. According to the Wall Street Journal, Miller was frustrated with ICE's failure to meet the deportation quota the administration had set and held a meeting at the agency's headquarters last month. During the meeting, he reportedly challenged agents to go places like Home Depot or 7-Eleven, where migrants were likely to work, and start arresting people. This led to agents descending on the Westlake neighborhood last week to deliver on Miller's mission, sparking resistance from community members. The issue has placed Democrats in a delicate balancing act, given the surge in illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. under the Biden administration. While White House officials argued that local officials did not do enough to curtail protestors as tensions flared, Democrats accused the president of escalating the situation for a media opportunity. Speaking at the Hill on Tuesday, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who represents a California district, reminded reporters that Trump refused to deploy the National Guard when a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. 'We begged the president of the United States to send in the National Guard. He would not do it,' she said. Outside the White House, a lone protester, Nadine Seiler, told the Daily Beast she was worried about the future of the country under Trump. 'We are not even five months in, and we are seeing how our rights are being eroded,' Seiler said, wearing a t-shirt that emblazoned with the words: 'Make Due Process Great Again.' 'He's even saying he wants to arrest Gavin Newsom. It's scary.'
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
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Trump Is Using the L.A. Crisis in Ultimatum to GOP Lawmakers
President Donald Trump is hoping to turn a crisis into an opportunity by using the Los Angeles protests to persuade on-the-fence GOP lawmakers to back his spending bill. White House officials and Trump allies believe the optics of the protests could ultimately benefit the president as he seeks funding for the hardline immigration proposals outlined in his 'Big, Beautiful Bill,' including expanded deportations of migrants. 'We see the riots in L.A. as laden with political opportunity—a fight between what Republicans say they want vs. the radical left and protesters waving the Mexican flag in front of burning cars—and the Democrats supporting them,' a senior White House adviser told Axios. Trump's megabill barely scraped through the House in a 215–214 vote in May, with negotiations now underway before it heads to the Senate floor. A number of GOP lawmakers have expressed concerns about the legislation, including proposed cuts to Medicaid and the potential impact on the deficit, raising speculation over whether the bill could be tanked in the upper chamber. Some Republicans now believe the wave of protests and unrest against federal immigration raids across L.A.—which has included demonstrators throwing rocks at law enforcement—could help sway potential GOP holdouts to support Trump's bill. 'It's the best BBB marketing ever. It has brought the critical need for increased border funding and immigration enforcement to the forefront,' Andrew Kolvet, spokesman for Turning Point USA, told Axios. 'Everyone we're talking to in the Senate says this put it over the top.' A similar sentiment was echoed by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who posted Monday on X that the 'lawlessness happening in LA is ANOTHER reason why we need to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill IMMEDIATELY.' 'The violent riots in Los Angeles, enabled by weak Democrat leaders like Gavin Newsom, underscore the importance of passing President Trump's One, Big, Beautiful Bill and providing ICE agents with the resources needed to fund at least 1 million removals, 10,000 new ICE personnel, 3,000 new Border Patrol agents, and massively expand ICE detention capacity,' White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson told the Daily Beast. Republicans appear less concerned with other optics surrounding the protests, including whether Trump overstepped his authority by deploying National Guard troops to L.A. without prior approval from California, as well as sending in about 700 U.S. Marines to help quell the disorder. Trump also agreed it would be a 'great thing' if his border czar, Tom Homan, authorized the arrest of California Gov. Gavin Newsom amid the partisan tensions surrounding the protests. 'I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican—this is a line we cannot cross as a nation. This is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism,' Newsom posted while sharing a clip of Trump's remarks. GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, who voted against Trump's megabill in May, said the L.A. protests will not sway his vote when the bill returns to the House for final approval. 'The 'Big Beautiful Bill' actually rewards Gov. Newsom's failed policies with a $100 billion gift to California in the form of increased SALT deductions,' Massie told Axios.
