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Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Vance's trip for burgers crashes into Trump's D.C. takeover
A vice president, defense secretary and top White House aide walk into a burger joint. Let the chaos ensue. Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller on Wednesday paid an unannounced visit to the National Guard troops stationed at Union Station, the major regional train station in the nation's capital. From a second-floor Shake Shack, Vance thanked the soldiers for 'actually keeping this place safe.' 'You guys bust your ass all day. We give you hamburgers. Not a fair trade, but we're grateful for everything you guys do,' the vice president said. His staffers presented them with boxes of burgers. The remarks were hard to hear, however, because of what was happening down below. As three of the most powerful men in the world attempted to seize yet another media moment broadcasting the White House's crackdown on crime in Washington, protesters in the station drowned them out. Shouts of 'Free D.C.,' echoed throughout the historic train hall. The extraordinary scene was evocative of the greater tensions between Washington and the White House, as President Donald Trump exerts unprecedented control over the deep-blue city. Since the president launched a takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department, deployed federal law enforcement from agencies like ICE and the FBI and sent in National Guard troops nine days ago, the District has had little choice but to comply with a crackdown — based predominantly on the president's whims — while tackling the uncomfortable political realities of crime here. 'You hear these people out here screaming 'Free D.C.,' Vance said. 'Let's free D.C. from lawlessness. Let's free Washington, D.C., from one of the highest murder rates in the entire world. Let's free Washington, D.C., so that young families can walk around and feel safe and secure. That's what we're trying to free D.C. from.' Vance and Miller — who have both been publicly critical of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and the broader racial justice movement — cast the protesters in racial terms, calling them out for being white and not having a true understanding of crime in the city. 'It's kind of bizarre that we have a bunch of old, primarily white people who are out there protesting the policies that keep people safe when they've never felt danger in their entire lives,' Vance said. Although troops and law enforcement have been highly visible in the city's tourist hotspots — which are generally high-traffic, low-crime areas — the White House says enforcement crackdowns are concentrated in Wards 7 and 8, which are majority-Black and have the highest crime rate in the city. POLITICO could not independently confirm the White House's analysis. 'We're going to ignore these stupid white hippies,' Miller said. 'They all need to go home and take a nap because they're all over 90 years old, and we're going to get back to business protecting the American people.' Miller called the protesters 'crazy communists' who 'have no connection to this city.' He promised to add 'thousands more resources to this city to get criminals and the gang members out of here.' Trump nine days ago invoked a provision of the Home Rule Act, the 1970s law that grants limited self-governance to the District, to demand the services of the Metropolitan Police Department to assist the federal government during 'special conditions of an emergency nature.' But Trump and his administration have cast his move in much more dire terms, suggesting it was a full-fledged federal takeover of the city's police. An attempt by the administration to name the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration the city's 'emergency police commissioner' prompted fury from city officials, a move the administration walked back last week in an agreement with D.C. at the urging of a federal judge. Trump only has the authority to take federal control of the MPD for 30 days without congressional approval, but has suggested he wants to circumvent that. Asked if the White House would try to extend the takeover beyond that timeline, Vance said: 'If the president of the United States thinks that he has to extend this order to ensure that people have access to public safety, then that's exactly what he'll do.' A supermajority of the city's residents oppose Trump controlling law enforcement in the city, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll released Wednesday. But Vance said he was 'highly skeptical' of that poll. 'I don't know what poll you're talking about, maybe the same poll that said Kamala Harris would win the popular vote by 10 points,' he quipped. That response, too, is indicative of the broader White House playbook behind the crime crackdown: Lean on what people see and how they feel, and when the numbers don't align with the vibes, call the numbers into question. District police data, for example, has violent crime in Washington at a 30-year low. But the White House claims the MPD 'cooked the books' and the Justice Department is now probing whether those statistics were manipulated, multiple outlets reported Tuesday. Vance on Wednesday said 'crime statistics all over our country were massively underreported.' Asked what evidence he had that the MPD statistics had been manipulated, Vance said 'you just have to look around,' adding that statistics from the Justice Department and FBI 'back it up.' It was not clear what statistics he was referring to. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
10 House Democrats ask NCAA about plans to protect women as ways to pay college athletes increase
Ten Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives have asked the NCAA if and how college sports' major governing body plans to protect the interests of female athletes as the largest portion of NIL and revenue-sharing payments continue to be directed to male athletes. The lawmakers, in a letter to NCAA President Charlie Baker dated Thursday, noted that President Donald Trump's administration rescinded Title IX guidance on name, image and likeness payments that required equitable distribution between male and female athletes. The letter requests answers by Aug. 30 to five questions about the implementation of the recent House vs. NCAA antitrust lawsuit settlement: — Will the NCAA encourage schools to allocate direct payments to male and female athletes equitably? — With male athletes likely to continue receiving the bulk of NIL payments from third parties, will the NCAA refocus its own investments in women's sport to counteract the disparity? — With 90% of the $2.8 million damages allocated to former athletes going to football and men's basketball players, how will the NCAA commit to ensuring damages are distributed in an equitable manner? — By how much does the NCAA expect additional scholarship opportunities for women to increase overall funding for women's sports at Division I schools? — What will the NCAA do to educate athletes — particularly female athletes — about the details of the settlement and the opportunities associated with it, along with the rights they may give up when signing contracts with their schools? In a statement to The Associated Press, the NCAA did not directly address the questions. Instead, the NCAA urged lawmakers to support the 'SCORE Act,' a bill introduced last month by Florida Republican Gus Bilirakis and short for Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements Act. The proposed legislation would, in part, create mechanisms to protect NIL rights of athletes. The NCAA said its investment in women's sports has 'continuously and significantly increased in the last several years.' It pointed out that women's teams participating in the NCAA Tournament received shares of revenue for the first time last season and the creation of the 32-team Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament increased postseason opportunities. The NCAA also said it has continued efforts to sponsor new sports and 'expand opportunities for women to compete in and benefit from college sports.' 'Regardless, Title IX is the law, and all NCAA schools must comply fully with the law and its expectations,' the NCAA said. The NCAA has argued that it needs a limited antitrust exemption in order to set its own rules and preserve a college sports system that provides billions of dollars in scholarships and helps train future U.S. Olympians. Several athletes are suing the NCAA over its rule that athletes are eligible to play only four seasons in a five-year period, and in June a group of female athletes filed an appeal of the House settlement, saying it discriminated against women in violation of federal law. ___ AP college sports:
Associated Press
19 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Huckabee blames Europe for stalled Gaza talks, highlighting a growing Western divide
JERUSALEM (AP) — U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee sought Wednesday to blame a recent breakdown in Gaza ceasefire talks on the decision by some European leaders to recognize Palestinian statehood. Talks over a lasting ceasefire have repeatedly stalled since the early months of the war sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack — and long before there was any talk of major European states recognizing Palestinian statehood. The decisions were announced by France, Britain and other countries after the Trump administration's Mideast envoy had already walked away in frustration from the negotiations, which happened behind closed doors. It's unclear how and when they began to break down. But Huckabee's remarks in an interview with The Associated Press point to a sharp divide among Western nations about how to approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the rift has only deepened since President Donald Trump took office. Many European countries have sought to pressure Israel — the stronger party — and frame the pursuit of a two-state solution as a way to address the root causes of a conflict that long predates the war in Gaza. But the Trump administration has given Israel wide latitude to end the war on its terms. A dispute over which side should be pressured The White House fully supported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to end an earlier ceasefire that Trump had helped broker and resume wide-ranging military operations, during which Israel prevented food, medicine and other goods from entering Gaza for more than two months. Trump appears to have adopted Israel's position that further military pressure — including a planned offensive into some of the most densely populated areas of Gaza — will force Hamas to surrender. 'We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!!' Trump posted this week on his Truth Social site. Meanwhile, France, Britain and more than two dozen other Western-aligned nations have expressed mounting outrage at Israel's actions, demanding that it halt the fighting and do more to facilitate humanitarian aid. The moves to recognize Palestinians statehood — which were largely symbolic — were in part aimed at pressuring Israel to halt its offensive. Britain explicitly linked the two, saying it would hold off on recognizing a Palestinian state if Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza, stopped building settlements in the West Bank and committed to a two-state solution. Israel's current government and most of its political class were opposed to Palestinian statehood even before the war, and they now say it would reward Hamas and allow the militants to eventually carry out more Oct. 7-style attacks. 'A counterproductive effect' Huckabee, who is himself a longtime opponent of Palestinian statehood, said the 'noise that has been made by European leaders recently ... is having the counterproductive effect that they probably think that they want.' 'If they believe that unilaterally calling for a two-state, a Palestinian state recognition, immediately brings them closer, the sad truth is it's taking them further away,' he said. The AP sought comment from the foreign ministries of France and Britain, which did not immediately respond. Most Palestinians believe the decades-old conflict is rooted in Israel's military occupation of lands they want for an independent state and its continuous expansion of Jewish settlements. Attempts to negotiate a two-state solution going back to the early 1990s repeatedly broke down as violence flared, and no serious or substantive talks have been held since Netanyahu returned to office in 2009. On Wednesday, Israel approved plans for settlements in an area known as E1 outside Jerusalem, which the Palestinians and others say will cut the West Bank in half and make the establishment of a viable and contiguous state virtually impossible. Past U.S. administrations joined their Western allies in vehemently opposing such plans. Trump and Huckabee — a strong supporter of Israeli settlements — did not. Ceasefire talks have shown signs of progress The ceasefire talks have continued, with Hamas saying this week that it accepted a proposal from Arab mediators that is similar to an earlier one advanced by the U.S. and accepted by Israel. Israel and the U.S. have not yet responded to the offer. Huckabee said he could not elaborate on the talks beyond saying he would not trust that Hamas is serious until they 'put their signatures on it' and that the group could be 'stringing this along,' as the U.S. and Israel have alleged in the past. The main disagreement has been over the conditions in which the war would end. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel says it is committed to returning all the hostages, defeating and disarming Hamas, and maintaining lasting security control over the territory. In Israel, many blame Netanyahu for the failure of the talks, accusing him of seeking to prolong the war in order to keep his far-right governing coalition intact. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets over the weekend to protest his planned offensive and call for a deal to return the captives. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at
