Celebrating our military should be a truly bipartisan cause
What lies at the heart of overreactions to President Donald Trump is false attribution and misdirected, distasteful disdain. The response to this past weekend's military parade is a perfect example of how assumptions lead some people on the left to miss the forest for the nonexistent fires.
Rather than accept the stated reason for the parade, critics assumed these events were all about Trump's ego because they happened to take place on his birthday, which also happened to be on Flag Day. As an attendee of the parade, I did not hear Trump's name mentioned even once by the hundreds of MAGA faithful with whom I interacted or overheard.
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Fox News
14 minutes ago
- Fox News
Blue state GOP lawmakers urge major healthcare change for illegal immigrants
EXCLUSIVE: Colorado congressional Republicans are asking the state to stop allowing illegal immigrants to enroll in the state's Medicaid program, Health First Colorado. The program's availability to those in the country illegally who meet other requirements for coverage started this year, and the Republicans pitched changes in a letter to Democratic Gov. Jared Polis Wednesday. On Health First Colorado's website, it says, "Don't let immigration status stop you from applying for health coverage," citing state law. "Other Democrat-run states like California and Minnesota are beginning to walk back their policies that offer free and subsidized health care to illegal immigrants even without the One Big Beautiful Bill Act being law because they know that these policies are expensive, bad deals for their Medicaid beneficiaries," the letter from representatives Gabe Evans, Jeff Crank and Lauren Boebert states. "It is disheartening to see Colorado continue to double down and prioritize individuals who are unlawfully present even in the face of adverse impacts on Americans who need Medicaid the most, and we urge you to reverse course," the Republicans added. As the letter notes, Colorado is one of seven states that offer public healthcare coverage that does not factor in one's immigration status. California, Minnesota and Illinois are making reforms to their Medicaid offerings, according to The Wall Street Journal. Minnesota and Illinois are ending the availability as part of budget deals, and California is navigating different options, like a possible enrollment freeze, as its legislature hashes out a budget. In California, a recent poll revealed nearly 60% oppose Medicaid for illegal immigrants despite the law going into effect last year. The lawmakers added that the reconciliation bill includes a provision that will significantly penalize states that provide coverage to illegal immigrants because the Medicaid programs receive both federal and state taxpayer dollars. "There is a renewed urgency to revise this policy in light of the likely enactment of federal legislation to reduce the Medicaid [Federal Medical Assistance Percentage] for the expansion population from 90% to 80% for sanctuary states who use taxpayer dollars to cover illegal immigrants. As you know, this change would pose significant budgetary challenges to Colorado – but only if the state continues to pursue this policy," the letter states. A spokesperson for Polis' office told Fox News Digital in a statement that the reconciliation bill in the U.S. Senate should be completely redone from the House version. "Governor Polis is disappointed these three lawmakers are trying to gut Medicaid and kick people off private insurance, which would raise insurance costs for everyone who buys commercial insurance because of cost-shifting. Thanks to their votes — which they're trying to distract from — nearly 400,000 Coloradans would lose health care, which would also raise costs for everyone else," the statement said. "Governor Polis continues calling on the Senate to start from scratch with this terrible bill, including truly protecting Medicaid and extending critical subsidies for those who purchase plans off the health exchange so Coloradans can afford health care."
Los Angeles Times
16 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
My theory for why Trump's agents target Dodger Stadium and Winchell's Donut House
Well, we could just cancel baseball. And, to be safe, every doughnut shop in Los Angeles should be closed pending investigation. Some Dodgers fans might be undocumented, which could explain why federal agents were camped near Dodger Stadium on Thursday but denied entry. Or there could be another reason. Roughly a quarter of the players in Major League Baseball are from outside the country. Those foreigners have visas, as I understand it, but these days, the Trump administration has made clear that temporary protected legal status is no guarantee against ejection. Not from a game, but from the country. Has anybody checked Shohei Ohtani's papers lately? Or those of Teoscar Hernández, Kim Hye-seong or Yoshinobu Yamamoto? And what about the doughnuts? It's no secret in Los Angeles that a lot of doughnut shops are run by immigrants. So it can't be a coincidence that, on Wednesday, agents arrested several men at a bus stop near a Winchell's Donut House in Pasadena. State Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) posted comments and video on social media. 'As you can see, these ICE agents are pointing guns at innocent individuals, no warrants, no explanations, just fear and intimidation,' Chu wrote, adding that agents 'masked and armed like a militia' constitute an 'absolutely vile' abuse of power. This country is under threat like never before. Immigrants playing baseball, making doughnuts, hustling construction jobs at day laborer sites, changing the diapers of seniors with physical and cognitive disabilities. But for all of that, it can be a little difficult at times to follow the Trump administration's thinking. One day we were told the plan is to make 3,000 arrests a day. Then Trump quickly reversed course, saying raids on farms, hotels and restaurants would be curtailed because he learned in a shocking revelation from employers that 'our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace.' Then, almost immediately, the administration is back to going after everyone. I have a hunch as to why that is. First of all, it's worth noting that consistency has long been an issue for the president, so much so that he should be wearing flip-flops at all times. To the Oval Office, to the golf course, to bed. Everywhere. And yet, although we're used to him saying one thing and doing another, I think something else is at play here. Trump has kept some campaign promises but struck out on key vows, and he's not a guy who handles defeat well. Grocery prices were supposed to drop on Day One and a new age of American prosperity was about to begin. How's that going, folks? He was going to end the war in Ukraine before he even took office, and then put an end to the war in the Middle East. Hmmmmmmmm. He was going to usher in a new era of budget accountability with his buddy Elon Musk leading the way. Well, that was a quick and ugly divorce, and Trump's 'big beautiful' budget bill adds $3 trillion to the national debt. We know Trump loves to watch television, so we can only assume that after he threw himself a birthday party with a military parade on Saturday, he had to have caught news clips of millions of Americans marching at 'No Kings Day' rallies across the country, including in red states. Ouch. I'm wondering if Trump saw the same sign I saw at the El Segundo demonstration, which was about a certain wife who hasn't spent much time in the White House: 'If Melania doesn't have to live with him America shouldn't have to either.' Weak men, under duress, flex their muscles. Trump can deport, and so he will. It could ruin the economy, but that won't stop him. Catch a Dodgers game while you can, and stock up on doughnuts.
CNN
17 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump's new two-week negotiating window sets off scramble to restart stalled Iran talks
President Donald Trump's decision to open a two-week negotiating window before deciding on striking Iran sets off an urgent effort to restart talks that had been deadlocked when Israel began its bombing campaign last week. The hope among Trump and his advisers is that Iran — under constant Israeli attack and having suffered losses to its missile arsenal — will relent on its hardline position and agree to terms it had previously rejected, including abandoning its enrichment of uranium, according to US officials. The deferred decision, which came after days of increasingly martial messages from the president suggesting he was preparing to order a strike, also gives Trump more time to weigh the potential consequences — including the chance it could drag the United States into the type of foreign conflict he promised to avoid. But negotiating a diplomatic solution in Trump's condensed timeline appeared to face significant early hurdles. Earlier this week, discussions were underway inside the White House to dispatch Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance to the region for talks with Iran. But as Trump grew wary that diplomatic efforts might succeed, the idea never resulted in scheduled talks, and both Vance and Witkoff remained in Washington as of Thursday. Foreign ministers from Britain, Germany and France are traveling to Geneva on Friday to hold talks with Iranian representatives, and have been briefed on the details of the last deal Witkoff offered to Iran, which Tehran ultimately rejected before the Israeli strikes began. Among US officials, there were not high expectations of success for Friday's meeting in Geneva, one US official said. But a White House official kept the door open to progress. 'This is a meeting between European leaders and Iran. The President supports diplomatic efforts from our allies that could bring Iran closer to taking his deal,' a White House official said. Iran's consistent message to the US since Israel began its strikes a week ago has been they will not engage in further talks with the US until the ongoing Israeli operation ends, two sources familiar with the messages said. The US has so far not pressured Israel to halt its strikes, sources said. And Trump said this week that his message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been to 'keep going.' So far, Iran has offered no indication it is willing to move off its positions on enrichment, which it views as a red line. And as of Thursday, no official talks between the US and Iran were on the books, US officials said. In putting off a decision, Trump appears to be placing more stock in a diplomatic solution that only a day earlier he appeared to suggest was out of reach. 'I think the president has made it clear he always wants to pursue diplomacy. But believe me, the president is unafraid to use strength if necessary,' press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday after relaying Trump's new two-week timeline. 'And Iran and the entire world should know that the United States military is the strongest and most lethal fighting force in the world, and we have capabilities that no other country on this planet possesses.' In a string of Situation Room meetings over the course of this week, Trump has quizzed advisers about the likelihood US bunker-buster bombs could entirely eliminate Iran's underground nuclear facility at Fordow, and how long such an operation might last, according to people familiar with the conversations. He has insisted repeatedly he wants to avoid taking action that could devolve into a multi-year conflict, something many of his own loyalists — including his onetime top strategist Steve Bannon, with whom the president had lunch Thursday — argue would be unavoidable should he make the decision to go ahead. And while the president has seen the military options, he remains worried about a longer-term war. Any assessments on whether a strike would cause prolonged US engagement are predictive and, by their nature, not entirely satisfactory, one official said. The new, within-two-weeks time frame for talks was not universally welcomed. An Israeli intelligence official expressed dismay that Trump would not make a decision – one way or the other. 'This is not helping,' the official said. Trump will continue to convene top-level intelligence briefings over the coming days, returning to Washington early from a weekend trip to his property in New Jersey to be updated at the White House. He has relied principally on his CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine in meetings to discuss his options, according to people familiar with the matter. But at the center of the diplomatic efforts will be Witkoff, the president's friend and foreign envoy who has led negotiations meant to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Witkoff began direct messaging with his Iranian counterpart, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, earlier this month and the administration has maintained some communications with Iranian officials over the past tense days as Trump weighed a strike. The plan that Witkoff last offered to Tehran would have required Iran to eventually end all uranium enrichment on its soil, and on Thursday the White House said it still views a ban on Iranian uranium enrichment as necessary to a final deal. As the Europeans head into Friday's meeting, they will be 'taking the temperature' on how receptive the Iranians are to finding a diplomatic solution, given their belief that strikes in both directions are not a solution, a European official said. European leaders believe the risks of Iran's nuclear program persist even amid Israel's strikes because Tehran maintains nuclear know-how and may still have clandestine nuclear-related efforts that won't get demolished by military strikes. Meanwhile, most US diplomats who are not in Trump's inner circle at the State Department have not been given specific guidance to offer US allies on the diplomatic efforts, a US official and a European diplomat said. That has led to many frustrating discussions with foreign interlocutors as US diplomats have very few answers to give the allies as they try to determine their diplomatic and military posture in the region, pointing only to Trump's own words. As Trump has weighed his options, Secretary of State Rubio has been close by, also departing early from the Group of 7 summit in Canada along with the commander in chief earlier this week. The top US diplomat spoke on Monday with his French, British and European Union counterparts about efforts to 'encourage a diplomatic path that ensures Iran never develops a nuclear weapon,' according to State Department readouts of the calls. On Wednesday, Rubio 'compared notes' on the matter with the Norwegian foreign minister. Rubio met with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Thursday before Lammy departs for the Geneva talks, and the two 'agreed Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon,' according to the State Department. 'Meeting with Secretary of State Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Witkoff in the White House today, we discussed how Iran must make a deal to avoid a deepening conflict. A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution,' Lammy said in a statement Thursday. US officials, including Witkoff, have also been actively engaged with officials in the region, many of whom have offered their help in mediating a diplomatic path forward. Multiple sources said Iran has responded to messages from third parties, but their responses have not changed.
