Trump Suggests Vance is MAGA Movement's Heir Apparent
Though Mr. Trump has previously mused about running for a third presidential term in 2028, the Constitution does not allow it, and speculation has grown about who he would support as his eventual successor.
At an event in the South Court Auditorium of the White House on Tuesday, Mr. Trump was asked by a reporter whether he agreed that the heir apparent to the MAGA movement was Mr. Vance.
'Well, I think most likely, in all fairness. He's the vice president,' Mr. Trump said. He added that it was 'too early obviously to talk about it,' but that Mr. Vance was 'doing a great job and he would be probably favorite at this point.'
Mr. Trump also suggested that 'Marco,' an apparent reference to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was 'also somebody that maybe would get together with JD' on a Republican ticket.
The president's comments suggest a shift in his thinking over time. In May, he floated both Mr. Vance and Mr. Rubio as possible successors.
Earlier, in February, the president was asked in an interview with Fox News whether he saw Mr. Vance as his successor and the Republican nominee in 2028. 'No, but he's very capable,' Mr. Trump said then, adding that it was too early in his term for such speculation.
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Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier slept in House chamber after refusing GOP-mandated permission slip to leave
Claim: In August 2025, Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, slept overnight in the state House chamber because Republicans mandated that no Democratic lawmakers could not leave without a "permission slip" and a police escort, conditions she refused to accept. Rating: Context: Under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, Texas Republicans announced they would redraw the state's U.S. congressional district maps mid-decade. The new maps projected that Republicans would gain five seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Democratic lawmakers protested the redistricting by leaving the state and preventing the quorum needed for a legislative vote on the redistricting. When the Democrats returned, Republicans mandated they not be allowed to leave the House chamber without a "permission slip" and a police escort, ostensibly to prevent them from leaving the state again. On Aug. 18, 2025, posts appeared on social media platforms, including Facebook, Reddit and X, claiming that Texas Republicans in the state House of Representatives had locked state Rep. Nicole Collier, a Democrat from Fort Worth, in the House chamber overnight, refusing to allow her to leave until she signed a "permission slip" and agreed to a police escort. Snopes readers wrote in and searched the site for more information about the incident. The claim is true. It was reported in several reliable publications, including The Texas Tribune, CBS News and NBC News. Collier posted to her X account on Aug. 19 showing her sleeping in the House. Collier's decision to remain in the House chamber rather than accept the Republicans' conditions was the latest development in a long chain of events that began in June 2025 when The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump was pushing the state of Texas to redraw its federal congressional districts mid-decade in order to preserve the thin Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. District maps are generally drawn every decade following the census. Redrawing them mid-decade without being ordered to do so by a court is rare, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Texas is one of 26 states where the state legislators have the power to draw the maps. State Republicans, who control a majority in both legislative houses, agreed to redistrict, and submitted a congressional map that would likely turn five Democratic seats into Republican seats. State Democrats (and many Texans) protested the move. However, the Democratic Party hasn't held a majority in Texas since 2002, giving them very little power in the legislature to stop the redistricting proposal. According to The Texas Tribune, however, there is one option that both political parties in the state have used to delay legislation since as early as 1870 — denying a quorum. In order for a legislature to vote on a measure, a certain number of representatives must be present. This number is called a quorum. Without the politicians, no votes. So, state Democrats left Texas to block the redistricting bill's passage. Republican officials retaliated by issuing civil arrest warrants for the missing Democrats, although the move was largely symbolic because the warrants applied only within state lines. They also "moved to extradite absent members from Illinois, launched investigations and sought to declare at least one Democrat's seat vacant," according to The Texas Tribune. The missing Democrats returned to Texas following California Gov. Gavin Newsom's announcement of a ballot initiative that would let that state redraw its own congressional districts to counteract the Texas redistricting. State House Speaker Dustin Burrows said Democrats would be given a permission slip that allowed them to leave the House on the condition that they were given an "around-the-clock escort" by Texas state troopers to ensure they did not attempt to break the legislative quorum again. Collier refused the police escort, meaning she would not be allowed to leave the state House until the next day when the body reconvened. "I refuse to sign away my dignity as a duly elected representative just so Republicans can control my movements and monitor me with police escorts," Collier said in a statement to The Texas Tribune. "When I press that button to vote, I know these maps will harm my constituents — I won't just go along quietly with their intimidation or their discrimination." Astudillo, By Carla. "Texas Republicans' Redistricting Map: How the GOP Could Increase Its Stronghold." The Texas Tribune, 18 Aug. 2025, Betts, By Hayden. "Denying Quorum Has Been a Texas Political Strategy since 1870." The Texas Tribune, 3 Aug. 2025, Davisson, Matthew, and Jack Fink. Texas Democrat Says She's Locked inside State Capitol after Refusing Mandatory DPS Escort - CBS Texas. 19 Aug. 2025, Eckman, Sarah J., and Whitaker L. Paige. Mid-Decade Congressional Redistricting: Key Issues. In Focus, IF13082, Congressional Research Service, "Fort Worth Rep. Nicole Collier Refuses to Leave Texas House, Protesting State Trooper Escorts." KERA News, 19 Aug. 2025, Goodman, J. David, and Shane Goldmacher. "White House Pushes Texas to Redistrict, Hoping to Blunt Democratic Gains." The New York Times, 9 Jun. 2025, Governor Abbott Orders Texas Department Of Public Safety To Arrest Delinquent House Democrats. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025. Guo, By Kayla. "Rep. Nicole Collier Spends Night on Texas House Floor after Refusing Police Escort." The Texas Tribune, 19 Aug. 2025, ---. "Texas House Democrats Return to Capitol, Ending Walkout over Redistricting Plan." The Texas Tribune, 18 Aug. 2025, Izzo, Jack. "This Democratic US House District in Texas Is Real, but It Was Drawn by Republicans." Snopes, 8 Aug. 2025, Klibanoff, By Eleanor. "Texas House Issues Arrest Warrants for Democrats Who Left State to Block Congressional Redistricting." The Texas Tribune, 4 Aug. 2025, Koseff, Alexei. "5 Things to Know about Gavin Newsom's Plan to Redraw California's Election Maps." CalMatters, 18 Aug. 2025. Lewis, Daniel. 'We've Had Enough': Texas Democrat Who Slept on State House Floor Speaks out | CNN Politics. 2025. "National Overview." All About Redistricting, Accessed 19 Aug. 2025. "Party Control of Texas State Government." Ballotpedia, Accessed 19 Aug. 2025. "Texas Democratic Legislator Is Sleeping in the State Capitol after Refusing Security Escort to Leave." NBC News, 19 Aug. 2025, Tracy, Matt. "Over 300 Protests Held Saturday against Trump Redistricting Push." Reuters, 17 Aug. 2025.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What we know about video allegedly showing captured US tank flying Russian and American flags
In August 2025, as U.S. President Donald Trump prepared to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Russian broadcaster RT circulated a video that claimed to authentically show a captured U.S. tank in Ukraine flying both U.S. and Russian flags. Days before the video started circulating, Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in an unsuccessful bid to secure a peace deal in the war in Ukraine. RT said the footage showed a captured U.S. M113 armored personnel carrier near Mala Tochmacka, an embattled village in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The broadcaster claimed it had received the footage from a soldier in the field. Though RT's report reflected verified details about which Russian forces were fighting near Mala Tochmacka, the video also displayed signs of the use of artificial intelligence. Due to a lack of corroborating evidence, Snopes could not confirm the video's authenticity. In August 2025, days after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin's unsuccessful bid to end the war in Ukraine through a summit in Alaska, a video (archived) circulated online that claimed to authentically show a captured U.S. tank in Ukraine flying U.S. and Russian flags. One version of the video, posted on a pro-Ukraine X account, had more than 690,000 views at the time of this writing. The video also circulated on Facebook (archived), Threads (archived), Instagram (archived), Bluesky (archived) and TikTok (archived). Additionally, Snopes readers wrote in asking whether the video was authentic. The video quickly drew ire from Ukrainian officials. Andriy Yermak, the head of the office of the president of Ukraine, posted (archived) the video on Telegram, describing it as the work of "propagandists" and "the height of insolence." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Trump on Aug. 18, the date the video started circulating, to continue discussions about how to end the war. Snopes could not independently verify where or when the video was recorded. The footage came from RT (archived), previously known as Russia Today, a broadcaster that the European Union suspended shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 for practices of "disinformation and information manipulation." RT said it got the footage from soldiers operating near Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, where fighting had been ongoing since 2022. Snopes, which does not rely on anonymous sources, could not independently verify RT's source. The footage also showed signs of possibly having been created or manipulated by artificial intelligence. The flags on the tank appeared unnaturally bright compared with the rest of the footage. In one clip, the Russian flag appeared to suddenly morph in and out of existence. Given the lack of verifiable information about this video, we could not give it a rating at the time of this writing. We reached out to Vlad Andritsa, the journalist who RT said initially received the footage from Russian soldiers in the field, for information about how he verified it and await a reply. Morphing flags raised AI suspicions Three clips in RT's 46-second video showed a tank, reportedly a captured U.S. M113 armored vehicle, flying Russian and U.S. flags. In the first clip, the vehicle drove along a paved road lined by electricity wires. The flags waved as they would be expected to if they were attached to a moving vehicle but appeared very bright compared with the surrounding green, gray and brown landscape. In the second clip, the Russian flag suddenly appeared to morph in and out of existence. Frame-by-frame analysis of this clip (around time code 0:21) showed the Russian flag change shape from a white blob to a blue-and-white blob and back to a white blob. The American flag remained fully suspended throughout this time. (Telegram @rt_russ) That movement — the sudden shape-shifting of an element of a video — was a characteristic tell of other viral AI-generated videos. The RT video included a third clip that appeared to be a zoomed-out version of the second, where the Russian flag again appeared to morph in and out of existence. RT post reflected real movements in war in Ukraine Though Snopes could not independently verify the authenticity of the video, RT's accompanying report did contain authentic or plausible details about the ongoing war in Ukraine. According to RT, the footage showed a captured M113 armored vehicle near Mala Tochmacka, Ukraine. The U.S. has supplied M113 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine since 2022. RT said the footage showed a vehicle operated by the 70th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment, a regiment of the Russian ground forces originally from Chechnya, a semi-independent autonomous region of Russia. Ukrainian officials and Russian war-focused Telegram channels (archived) said fighting occurred near Mala Tochmacka in early August, around a week before RT posted the video of the tank allegedly carrying the U.S. and Russian flags. According to both the above information and geolocated footage published by Ukrainian (time code 0:34, archived) and Russian (time code 2:48) military channels, Ukrainian forces struck Russian armored vehicles near Mala Tochmacka on Aug. 10. However, none of this footage appeared to show the alleged M113 carrying the U.S. and Russian flags. According to the Institute for the Study of War, a nonpartisan public-policy research organization documenting armed conflicts around the world, fighting near Mala Tochmacka continued until Aug. 18, the most recent report at the time of this writing. The ISW reported that the 70th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment was involved in these clashes. Given the above, it was not impossible that the footage authentically showed a recording by a Russian soldier from the 70th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of a captured U.S. tank operated by Russian soldiers near Mala Tochmacka, though Snopes could not independently verify this fact. Ultimately, the video did not contain enough information for Snopes to determine its date or recording location. While Russian troops were no doubt present near Mala Tochmacka around the time the video circulated and could have captured a U.S.-donated M113 armored vehicle, several aspects of the video gave rise to suspicion. RT, a Russian broadcaster that the European Council suspended for its practice of "disinformation and information manipulation," spread the footage from an anonymous source. Additionally, the footage itself showed a Russian flag that appeared to disappear and reappear, a common sign of AI use. provided translations from Russian and Ukrainian to English. COLVIN, JILL, and MICHELLE L. PRICE. "For Trump and Putin, Handshakes on a Red Carpet and a Joint Limo Ride, Then an Abrupt Ending." AP News, 15 Aug. 2025, CORBET, SYLVIE, et al. "Trump Begins Planning for Putin-Zelenskyy Meeting While Affirming US Help with Security Guarantees." AP News, 18 Aug. 2025, Council of the EU. "EU Imposes Sanctions on State-Owned Outlets RT/Russia Today and Sputnik's Broadcasting in the EU." Council of the European Union, March 2, 20222, Harward, Christina, et al. "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 13, 2025." Institute for the Study of War, 13 Aug. 2025, "M113 Family of Vehicles." BAE Systems, Accessed 19 Aug. 2025. Malyasov, Dylan. "Vietnam-Era M113s Save Lives in Ukraine War." Defence Blog, 10 Jan. 2025, Sobieski, Jessica, et al. "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 18, 2025." Institute for the Study of War, 18 Aug. 2025, "Влад Андрица." Telegram, Командование Мотострелкового Полка Из Чечни Пытается Скрыть Саботаж Среди Военных в Украине. 14 Jun. 2022, "Рапортували, що закріпилися в тюрмі" — поблизу Оріхового три години відбивали штурм російської "броні". Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
New York Times
27 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump's White House Joins TikTok
President Trump has started an official White House account on TikTok, deepening his ties with the Chinese-owned social media company as he repeatedly declines to enforce a federal law that would ban the company's app because of national security concerns. The first post by @WhiteHouse on TikTok — showing Mr. Trump at various events while dramatic music plays — referenced a viral video on the social media site that featured footage from the movie 'Creed' and music by the rapper Kendrick Lamar. The White House's embrace of TikTok continues a remarkable turnabout for Mr. Trump, who tried to ban the platform in his first term. Mr. Trump created a personal account in June 2024, and his popularity on the app soared amid his effort to court TikTok's predominantly younger voters. Donors to Mr. Trump and the company's executives have also undertaken a lobbying effort to prevent TikTok from going dark in the United States. Mr. Trump's return to TikTok — the last post on his personal account was on Election Day — is the latest sign that he has little intention of enforcing the national security ban on the app. The ban stemmed from a 2024 law that requires app stores and cloud computing providers to stop distributing or hosting TikTok unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. A bipartisan coalition in Congress passed the law over concerns that the Chinese government could use the app to gather information about Americans or spread propaganda. After drawing a devoted following on TikTok that supported his successful re-election bid, the president-elect threw the app an unexpected lifeline in its quest to continue operating in the United States. Hours after the federal law banning the app took effect in the final days of the Biden administration, Mr. Trump said that he would issue an executive order to delay the enforcement of the ban. The law has a section allowing Mr. Trump to grant a 90-day extension if a buyer is found, but only if there is 'significant progress' toward a deal that puts TikTok in the hands of a non-Chinese company. Mr. Trump made several additional extensions anyway. TikTok has until mid-September to find a new owner, but Mr. Trump could grant another extension.
