Latest news with #AmericanPeople
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Maddow: Military last resort in L.A. shows a weak president with no ideas and no political skills
Rachel Maddow points out that the most important story of our era is not what Donald Trump is trying to do, but what the American people will allow him to do. Maddow notes that pushback works against Trump's authoritarian overreach, and the fact that Trump skipped ahead to the last resort of calling in the military against protesters in Los Angeles is a sign of his weakness, his lack of ideas, and his lack of political skills to turn his plummeting popularity around.
Wall Street Journal
2 days ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Africa Needs American Generosity
President Trump has made clear that he will put the needs of his country and its citizens first before attending to the needs of the world. No leader of a nation as great as the U.S. could do otherwise. It would be a mistake, however, for Mr. Trump to forget about Africa. In purely material terms, Africa is important to the U.S. because of its natural resources and its bright, entrepreneurial and eager young people. But global leadership involves more than strategic utility—it has a vital humanitarian dimension. What happens in Africa affects the American people.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jury rejects border military trespassing charge
Jun. 5—In two words, an El Paso jury on Thursday rendered a blow to the Trump administration's new attempt to charge migrants with additional crimes for crossing illegally into the U.S. at the Texas and New Mexico international borders. The "not guilty" verdict in U.S. Magistrate Court in El Paso came in the case of a Peruvian woman charged with the petty misdemeanor of entering restricted military property when she crossed into the U.S. on May 12 west of Tornillo, Texas. The jury did convict Adely Vanessa De La Cruz-Alvarez of the charge of illegal entry, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura Enriquez dismissed the third charge of violation of a security regulation. It was one of the first times, if not the first, that average citizens have weighed in on the new "novel" approach to immigration enforcement at the U.S. border with Mexico. The Department of Defense, at the behest of the White House, established temporary military zones in April adjacent to the international border. The defense areas stretch about 180 miles in New Mexico and 63 miles in western Texas, and signs are posted about every 100 feet warning of the restricted zones. "This is a victory," said Veronica Lerma, one of the El Paso defense attorneys in the case. "We hope this sends a message that there are attorneys willing to set these case-for-jury trials and let the community decide." The jury deliberated for more than five hours after a two-day trial. Efforts to reach the U.S. Attorney's Office in El Paso for comment weren't successful Thursday. Lerma said her 21-year-old client, captured after she walked across the Rio Grande riverbed from Mexico, will likely be deported back to her home in Peru. She was sentenced to time served on the illegal entry conviction. "She was crying and hugged us (upon hearing she was acquitted of the trespass charge)," said another defense attorney, Shane McMahon. Conviction on the petty misdemeanor would have carried a prison term of up to six months. The violation of a security regulation charge carries up to a year in prison. The new regulations are part of the Trump administration's push to deter undocumented immigrants from entering the country illegally. The potentially stiffer penalties, coupled with threats of mass deportations — for some immigrants to El Salvadoran prisons — are all part of a larger plan to reduce unlawful crossings to zero. "Many of these aliens unlawfully within the United States present significant threats to national security and public safety, committing vile and heinous acts against innocent Americans," reads an executive order, "Protecting the American People from Invasion," signed on President Donald Trump's first day in office. "Others are engaged in hostile activities, including espionage, economic espionage, and preparations for terror-related activities. Many have abused the generosity of the American people, and their presence in the United States has cost taxpayers billions of dollars at the Federal, State, and local levels." Before this new militarized zone, those convicted of illegal entry, typically charged for first time offenders, are deported after serving a brief stint in jail awaiting resolution of their cases. Defense attorneys argued that there was no evidence that De La Cruz knew the border area she entered was military property. Federal prosecutors contended that there was no need to prove she saw the signs or had specific knowledge because she intended to willfully violate the law by crossing illegally into the U.S. No such jury trials have occurred in New Mexico, according to court records. An estimated 700 cases involving military trespass violations at the New Mexico National Defense Area have been filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office, but the prosecutions have been rocky. Earlier this week, the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Mexico struck out when attempting to reinstate dozens of the military trespass charges dismissed by the state's chief U.S. Magistrate judge in Las Cruces on May 19. U.S. District Judge Sarah M. Davenport of New Mexico ruled Monday that there was no legal avenue to appeal because of the way the cases were charged. The judge didn't address the primary argument being raised in such cases: that the defendants didn't know that the border area they entered was a military property. Davenport wrote that the charges dismissed by Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth pertained to his ruling on a criminal complaint. Wormuth found the government lacked probable cause to bring military trespassing-related charges against a woman from Uzbekistan arrested in southern New Mexico in May. Davenport concluded that because a criminal complaint was the mechanism by which the charges were filed, the government had no legal right to appeal. Asked about the ruling, U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison of New Mexico told the Journal through a spokeswoman on Thursday, "We remain committed to the commonsense principle that border security is national security. Every nation has the right and obligation to know exactly who and what is coming across its borders. While we respectfully disagree with the adverse rulings from the Court, the United States Attorney's Office is considering all available next steps — including various avenues of appeal — and will act with confidence in the merits of our position. Together with our military and Border Patrol partners, we have already made tremendous strides towards achieving operational control of our southern border." Davenport stated that the U.S. Attorney's Office can simply file what is known as a criminal information and continue such prosecutions. And, in recent weeks, that's what federal prosecutors have done in hundreds of cases. By filing criminal charges via an information, "it takes it out of a magistrate's hands," said McMahon on Thursday. But that could lead to the cases going to trial, as happened in El Paso.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Trump is brushing off Musk's megabill attacks — for now
President Donald Trump is frustrated with Elon Musk for slamming the administration's chief legislative priority, but isn't taking it personally — a distinction that's helped keep a lid on the White House's response so far. Yet as Musk's attacks stretch into their second day, administration officials are wondering how long the peace will hold, according to two White House aides and two outside advisers to the president granted anonymity to discuss internal thinking. 'In Trumpworld, we know that the sign things are going south fast is the president getting personal, even if it's just a half-sentence on Truth,' said one of the advisers. 'He's the one who decides.' Musk's ambush of the GOP's megabill via social media represents perhaps the stiffest test yet of a Trump-Musk relationship that has survived far longer than many in the president's orbit anticipated, even if it now appears to be ending the way most of them predicted. The Tesla CEO called the centerpiece of Trump's agenda a 'disgusting abomination' just days after a buddy-buddy press conference in the Oval Office during which Trump presented him with a golden key. And while it has irritated Trump aides who are trying to maintain fragile support for the legislation in the Senate, Musk's targeting of the bill and not the president himself has helped keep things relatively civil, according to the two administration officials and one of the advisers. Trump has kept silent on the matter despite Musk's continued broadsides on X. Within the West Wing, his aides dismissed Musk's complaints about the bill's size and deficit spending, arguing instead that Musk is upset primarily because it eliminates tax credits that stood to benefit his electric car company Tesla. The episode did renew quiet discussions over how to counter the sudden offensive from a former ally whose prominence, social media platform and deep pockets have made him massively influential within the Republican Party. Senior White House aide Stephen Miller, who worked closely with Musk in the administration, has taken the lead in defending the merits of the bill on X, seeking to remind critics in one post that the bill was designed by "President Trump, his loyal aides, and his closest allies in Congress to deliver fully and enthusiastically on the explicit promises he made the American People." Yet Trump has remained circumspect, according to aides and others who have spoken to him, avoiding a high-profile fight even as he ramps up involvement in efforts to change the bill in the Senate. If Trump were to confront Musk, it would most likely happen via Truth Social, said one of the White House officials. 'Elon running his mouth publicly about the bill is not helping the president at all,' the outside adviser said. "But those two fellows have talked a lot, Trump and Elon, and I think they know each other pretty well." The White House has publicly downplayed the rift, emphasizing that Musk is now a private citizen and that he still agrees with Trump on a host of other issues. "The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. "It doesn't change the president's opinion." Musk's broadsides came ahead of a White House meeting on Wednesday between Trump and Senate Republicans, as lawmakers try to enact the megabill within a matter of weeks. Hill GOP leaders have largely brushed off Musk's intervention, calling the billionaire's critiques misguided and downplaying the impact he might have in moving votes. Within Trump's orbit, the timing of the criticism has bothered officials more than the substance — giving fodder to hesitant senators like Ron Johnson and Josh Hawley, according to one of the White House officials. But aides and allies largely dismissed the suggestion that Musk might derail the Senate effort, with some saying that after pouring millions of dollars into unsuccessfully influencing the Wisconsin Supreme Court race earlier this year, it's become clear his money doesn't swing votes. Other Republicans, though, have quietly urged the party's leadership to take more seriously the threat that Musk could fund primary challenges, said the second adviser. Even if the megabill makes it through the Senate, they say, a revised version will need to go back to the House, where Musk's influence and money could become a more immediate problem. Already, frontline and conservative Republicans are fretting about the potential consequences of getting crosswise with Musk and his near-unlimited financial resources. Should Musk escalate his rhetoric and issue a more explicit primary threat, it could force Republicans into the unenviable position of choosing between the president and his former aide — and raise the stakes for Trump's own decision over how to respond. 'They're stuck between Trump and Musk,' the second adviser said of rank-and-file members. 'I would characterize the level of alarm as reasonably high.'
Politico
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Politico
Trump is brushing off Musk's megabill attacks — for now
President Donald Trump is frustrated with Elon Musk for slamming the administration's chief legislative priority, but isn't taking it personally — a distinction that's helped keep a lid on the White House's response so far. Yet as Musk's attacks stretch into their second day, administration officials are wondering how long the peace will hold, according to two White House aides and two outside advisers to the president granted anonymity to discuss internal thinking. 'In Trumpworld, we know that the sign things are going south fast is the president getting personal, even if it's just a half-sentence on Truth,' said one of the advisers. 'He's the one who decides.' Musk's ambush of the GOP's megabill via social media represents perhaps the stiffest test yet of a Trump-Musk relationship that has survived far longer than many in the president's orbit anticipated, even if it now appears to be ending the way most of them predicted. The Tesla CEO called the centerpiece of Trump's agenda a 'disgusting abomination' just days after a buddy-buddy press conference in the Oval Office during which Trump presented him with a golden key. And while it has irritated Trump aides who are trying to maintain fragile support for the legislation in the Senate, Musk's targeting of the bill and not the president himself has helped keep things relatively civil, according to the two administration officials and one of the advisers. Trump has kept silent on the matter despite Musk's continued broadsides on X. Within the West Wing, his aides dismissed Musk's complaints about the bill's size and deficit spending, arguing instead that Musk is upset primarily because it eliminates tax credits that stood to benefit his electric car company Tesla. The episode did renew quiet discussions over how to counter the sudden offensive from a former ally whose prominence, social media platform and deep pockets have made him massively influential within the Republican Party. Senior White House aide Stephen Miller, who worked closely with Musk in the administration, has taken the lead in defending the merits of the bill on X, seeking to remind critics in one post that the bill was designed by 'President Trump, his loyal aides, and his closest allies in Congress to deliver fully and enthusiastically on the explicit promises he made the American People.' Yet Trump has remained circumspect, according to aides and others who have spoken to him, avoiding a high-profile fight even as he ramps up involvement in efforts to change the bill in the Senate. If Trump were to confront Musk, it would most likely happen via Truth Social, said one of the White House officials. 'Elon running his mouth publicly about the bill is not helping the president at all,' the outside adviser said. 'But those two fellows have talked a lot, Trump and Elon, and I think they know each other pretty well.' The White House has publicly downplayed the rift, emphasizing that Musk is now a private citizen and that he still agrees with Trump on a host of other issues. 'The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,' press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. 'It doesn't change the president's opinion.' Musk's broadsides came ahead of a White House meeting on Wednesday between Trump and Senate Republicans, as lawmakers try to enact the megabill within a matter of weeks. Hill GOP leaders have largely brushed off Musk's intervention, calling the billionaire's critiques misguided and downplaying the impact he might have in moving votes. Within Trump's orbit, the timing of the criticism has bothered officials more than the substance — giving fodder to hesitant senators like Ron Johnson and Josh Hawley, according to one of the White House officials. But aides and allies largely dismissed the suggestion that Musk might derail the Senate effort, with some saying that after pouring millions of dollars into unsuccessfully influencing the Wisconsin Supreme Court race earlier this year, it's become clear his money doesn't swing votes. Other Republicans, though, have quietly urged the party's leadership to take more seriously the threat that Musk could fund primary challenges, said the second adviser. Even if the megabill makes it through the Senate, they say, a revised version will need to go back to the House, where Musk's influence and money could become a more immediate problem. Already, frontline and conservative Republicans are fretting about the potential consequences of getting crosswise with Musk and his near-unlimited financial resources. Should Musk escalate his rhetoric and issue a more explicit primary threat, it could force Republicans into the unenviable position of choosing between the president and his former aide — and raise the stakes for Trump's own decision over how to respond. 'They're stuck between Trump and Musk,' the second adviser said of rank-and-file members. 'I would characterize the level of alarm as reasonably high.'
