Republican, Democrat Lawmakers Push for ‘Unwavering' Commitment to AUKUS
In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), and ranking member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) described the trilateral partnership between Australia, the UK, and the United States as 'vital' to countering Beijing's expanding military reach.
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Axios
25 minutes ago
- Axios
Not every Democrat is fighting Trump's D.C. police takeover
Some House Democrats are striking a much more careful tone on President Trump's D.C. crime crackdown than their party's leadership. Why it matters: Democrats' centrist wing has spent years rebutting claims by Republicans that the party is universally anti-law enforcement — and it's not about to let down its guard now. That could present complications for Democratic leadership if a measure to extend — or end — Trump's D.C. "crime emergency" comes up for a vote. It also complicates a message that has been largely centered on accusing Trump of overreacting to a non-existent crime problem. What they're saying: "I'm a believer in local control, which is why I've supported DC statehood. But under current law, the president does have authority to nationalize DC's local police under certain conditions," Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) said in a statement. He added: "If there is a disagreement between the president and leaders in DC about whether those conditions have been met, it will be up to the courts to decide." Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) told Axios in a statement: "I support efforts to reduce crime in Washington, D.C., and I stand with the members of law enforcement who are working to keep our communities safe." Cuellar said those efforts should be "closely coordinated with city officials, local police departments and federal law enforcement agencies" to avoid "unnecessary overlap." State of play: Trump announced Wednesday that he is federalizing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and deploying the D.C. National Guard to crack down on what he described as rampant crime in the city. Democrats have pushed back by noting that D.C. crime has fallen the last two years to a 30-year low, but Republicans have argued that the numbers are still far too high. A group of Democrats, led by House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), introduced a joint resolution on Friday to end the "crime emergency" upon which Trump's crackdown is based. Zoom in: Other Democratic centrists are trying to re-orient the issue through an anti-Trump lens, with some noting Republicans shortchanged the city by $1 billion in a government funding bill this year. "City leaders should be all in on fighting crime. Trump should give them their money back to hire more cops," said Greg Landsman (D-Ohio). "Why did he steal $1 billion from the city when they need it for public safety and roads? So fight crime and his chaos. If it doesn't make the city safer, fight back. Safety first." Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), another swing-district member, said she opposes the National Guard deployment and warned their roundup of homeless people in D.C. may overcrowd local hospitals. The other side: "Trusting a Democrat to handle crime is like asking the fox to guard the henhouse," said Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, in a statement to Axios.
The Hill
25 minutes ago
- The Hill
Alec Baldwin: Trump wants to ‘deflect from his inadequacy' with ‘insane moves'
Actor Alec Baldwin on Friday condemned President Trump's efforts to take over D.C.'s law enforcement. 'What's gonna happen next? Is Trump gonna federalize the New York City Police Department? What's after that? Chicago, L.A., Miami, Boston, and on and on? What's after that? The NFL? The NBA? Is he gonna federalize them to take them over?' Baldwin said in a video uploaded to social media. 'All he wants to do is deflect from his inadequacy by the bold, insane moves.' City leaders and protestors have echoed his outrage, urging federal forces to fall back. Democrats introduced legislation on Friday seeking to stop the president from mandating law enforcement agents in the nation's capital. 'The takeover of D.C. police, it's not what I need. I don't need this D.C. police to be taken over. I don't,' Baldwin said before turning to other issues. 'They need to get the tariffs over with. They need to get the war over with. They need to get the Gaza thing over with. And after that, we have something else we have to get over with,' he continued.
Boston Globe
25 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
A timeline of Trump's complicated relationship with Putin
The early years In 2007, after Time magazine selected Putin as its 'Man of the Year,' Trump wrote him a congratulatory letter. 'As you probably have heard, I'm a big fan of yours!' Trump wrote. Six years later, Trump took the Miss Universe contest to Moscow. Months before the pageant, which he owned at the time, he wondered on social media if Putin would attend, and if so, 'will he become my new best friend?' Putin did not attend. Advertisement The 2016 presidential campaign Soon after he formally announced a run for the White House in 2015, Trump told reporters in July that he would 'get along very well with Vladimir Putin.' The exchange of compliments continued that year, when Putin called Trump 'a very bright and talented man,' and Trump said that praise was a 'great honor.' In July 2016, though, Trump seemed to backtrack after saying repeatedly for years that he had a relationship with Putin. 'He said one nice thing about me. He said I'm a genius. I said thank you very much to the newspaper, and that was the end of it. I never met Putin,' he said. Advertisement During the final presidential debate in 2016, Hillary Clinton suggested that he would be Putin's 'puppet,' which Trump dismissed. But questions over Trump's ties to Russia did not go away, and after he took office in January 2017, Russia's role in the U.S. election dominated political conversation in the United States. A U.S. intelligence assessment made public that month concluded that Putin had ordered an operation to interfere in the election in an effort to 'undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency.' Russia, the assessment said, had 'developed a clear preference for' Trump. Trump denied wrongdoing and attacked the investigation. The first meetings The first in-person meeting between the two leaders took place at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, where Trump asked Putin about Russian interference in the election. Putin denied any involvement. After the meeting, Trump took his interpreter's notes and instructed him not to brief anyone. They met again in November that year, in Vietnam, and in July 2018 in Helsinki. On both occasions, Putin denied interfering in the 2016 election. In Helsinki, Trump stood beside Putin and challenged the conclusion of his own intelligence agencies about Russian election interference. Later in 2018, the two leaders spoke informally at dinner during a G20 meeting in Argentina. Little information emerged about that discussion. They met once more before the end of the first Trump term, at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019. By then, special counsel Robert Mueller had concluded that Russian had carried out a 'sweeping and systematic' attack on U.S. democracy. Advertisement Asked by a reporter whether he would tell Russia not to meddle in U.S. elections, Trump said, 'Yes, of course, I will.' He then turned to Putin, with a half-grin, and said, 'Don't meddle in the election, President,' as Putin chuckled. Russian invasion of Ukraine In February 2022, as Russia prepared to invade Ukraine, Trump, now out of the White House, called Putin 'pretty smart' during a fundraiser. 'He's taken over a country for $2 worth of sanctions,' Trump said, 'taking over a country — really a vast, vast location, a great piece of land with a lot of people — and just walking right in.' The next year, as he revved up another presidential campaign, Trump said he would end the war in Ukraine 'before I even arrive at the Oval Office.' Trump's second term As he began his second term, Trump expressed an interest in swiftly bringing an end to the war in Ukraine. But his relationship with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine took a nosedive in February after a fiery confrontation at the White House. Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky for not showing more gratitude for U.S. support, and the president said that Putin had 'been through a lot with me' in enduring the 'Russia hoax' — Trump's description of the investigation into Russian election interference in 2016. But Trump began to indicate frustration with Putin as the war proved harder to end than he had expected. 'I'm not happy with Putin — I can tell you that much right now — because he's killing a lot of people,' Trump said in July. He appeared to soften his comments before the meeting in Alaska, saying he 'got along well' with Putin. He said he would know within minutes of speaking with the Russian leader Friday if he would strike a deal to end the war. Advertisement This article originally appeared in .
