Latest news with #JointAddress
UPI
21-05-2025
- Politics
- UPI
Trump reveals plans for 'Golden Dome' missile defense system
1 of 5 | President Donald Trump announces plans for his ambitious "Golden Dome" missile defense shield, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. "The Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they're launched from the other side of the world and even if they're launched from space," Trump said. Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI | License Photo May 20 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump announced details Tuesday about his "Golden Dome" missile defense shield that is expected to cost $175 billion and be "fully operational" by the end of his term. "We'll have it done in about three years. Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world and even if they are launched from space," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that Canada will be included in the project. "Canada has called us and they want to be a part of it," Trump said. "So, we'll be talking to them. They want to have protection, also." Trump's "Golden Dome" missile defense shield, which the president says will be made entirely in the United States, comes decades after former President Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" vision failed to materialize. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the technology is possible now. "The technology wasn't there. Now it is," said Hegseth. "And you're following through to say we will protect the homeland from cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, whether they're conventional or nuclear." Throughout his campaign and during his Joint Address to Congress, Trump has repeatedly called for a missile defense system, similar to Israel's "Iron Dome." "In my next term, we will build a great Iron Dome over our country, a dome like has never been seen before, a state-of-the-art missile defense shield that will be entirely built in America," Trump told a Wisconsin rally last June. "I will be asking Congress to fund a state-of-the-art Golden Dome missile defense shield to protect our homeland," Trump told Congress in March. "Ronald Reagan wanted to do it years ago, but the technology wasn't there." Israel's multibillion dollar "Iron Dome" was developed to shield it from short-range and medium-range missile attacks. The dome successfully shielded Israel last April after Iran launched hundreds of missiles at the Jewish state. While the United States has a Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system, it would not be able to defend against a large-scale attack from countries such as Russia, China, Iran or North Korea. Earlier this month, Hegseth ordered the U.S. Army to modernize and prioritize its current resources to establish an effective "Golden Dome" air and missile defense system over the United States. That means ending obsolete systems and scaling back on the use of redundant programs, Hegseth said, as he called the "Golden Dome" a "generational investment in the security of America." The specifics on the size and scope of the "Golden Dome" project, and whether the system would cover all parts of the United States, were not revealed Tuesday. Gen. Michael Guetlein, the Pentagon's vice chief of space operations, has been tapped to lead the project. "The Defense Department has gathered the brightest minds and best technical talent available," said Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesman. They will "review a full range of options that considers current U.S. missile defense technology and cutting-edge innovation to rapidly develop and field a dependable umbrella of protection for our homeland."
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Brazen White GOP Rep Refuses to Apologize for Racial Insult
A white GOP congresswoman who called Texas Rep. Al Green 'boy' didn't apologize for her comment Tuesday and instead claimed that the senior Black lawmaker is 'blowing it out of proportion.' More than 24 hours after an interview clip of her using the word in reference to Green gained attention, Tennessee Rep. Diana Harshbarger finally responded on social media. 'The weather is warming up, so naturally, the snowflakes are starting to melt!' Harshbarger wrote on X, reposting the clip of her interview with Tennessee religious group F.A.M.E. Ministries. 'I was discussing one of my colleague's [sic] erratic behavior during President Trump's Joint Address, and now he—along with the rest of the Radical Left—is blowing it out of proportion in a desperate attempt to get attention,' she went on. 'BOY oh boy, you just can't catch a break between the FAKE NEWS and young men wielding canes!' Green, who is 77, held a press conference in Texas earlier Tuesday alongside other community leaders in which he noted his personal experience with such racially coded language. 'This is especially sensitive for me because, as a child, I remember my father being stopped by a peace officer, and the officer referred to my father as 'boy.' And my mother was 'girl.' And it wasn't just that one time. It was the way society addressed people of color who were of African ancestry at the time,' Green said. 'It wasn't said to indicate that you were youthful. It was said to demean, to degrade, to denigrate. It was said such that you would know your place in society, and it was something that you would have said immediately to you.' Green never mentioned Harshbarger by name, but noted that due to her status and the fact that her comments came during an interview, the situation is 'different' than if a layperson used the word to him on the street. Congressman Al Green Holds Press Conference to Address Controversial Slur by a Colleague Calling Him "Boy," and Referring to His Cane as a Weapon, along with the Use of an LGBTQ+ Slur Congressman Al Green Holds Press Conference to Address Controversial Slur by a Colleague Calling Him "Boy," and Referring to His Cane as a Weapon, along with the Use of an LGBTQ+ Slur Posted by Rep. Al Green on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 'This is an attempt to normalize, whether it's done wittingly or unwittingly, this type of slur, and it's something that we cannot tolerate,' he said. 'Unfortunately, the president has set the tone and tenor, and unfortunately the tone and tenor starts at the top and it meanders its way down,' he added. 'We have to stop it and stop it now.' As for Harshbarger's accusation during her interview that Green's cane is 'not real,' and could even contain a weapon, Green showed otherwise. 'There are some who believe that this cane has a weapon in it. I'm almost reluctant to say that it doesn't, to be quite honest,' he said, chuckling, 'because there is some degree of safety in knowing that people might not bother to say some things or do some things that are ugly if they think I am armed.' Green then invited a member of the press to inspect his cane. The reporter twisted at the base and the handle, revealing no secret compartment for weapons. 'I am ambulatory, but I find that it is quite beneficial when I'm climbing stairs,' Green explained. 'It does give me some degree of stability that I need from time to time.' Green said he would be retiring the item and replacing it with another, similar-looking cane he had also brought to the press conference. Harshbarger isn't the only Republican member of Congress to accuse Green on not needing his cane. Rep. Lauren Boebert did so while calling the device a 'pimp cane'—another racially coded comment.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
WATCH: Dems struggle to name the leader of the Democratic Party
Top voices in the Democratic Party, as well as average Democratic voters, have struggled to answer who the party's leader is when asked during interviews. A video from the conservative opposition research organization, America Rising, highlighted comments from Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elissa Slotkin on the matter, including average Americans, almost all of whom struggled to give a clear answer. "People know me, I'm pretty straightforward. I don't think it's a secret that Democrats have been on their heels since Trump won the election. I don't think that's something hidden. And I think it's on us to be clear about not only leadership, and there's lot of leaders in both parties, but also a strategy, right?" Slotkin said in a "Meet the Press" interview earlier this month, which is in the clip. Sen. Elissa Slotkin Tells 'The View' Democrats Need To Admit They Have A Problem At the time, she added that the party is still "finding their footing." Slotkin, who won her competitive Michigan seat in November, came into the national spotlight after responding to President Trump's Joint Address to Congress on March 4. "I think there's a lot of discontent with the Democratic leadership, and I think with the entire Democratic Party," Sanders said in an interview with CNN. Read On The Fox News App Others asked in the video struggled to answer the question, except for one woman who said that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is the current leader of the party. Bernie Sanders Gets Up During Interview After 'Nonsense' Question About Aoc "Nobody. There isn't one," another person said in the video. The progressive "Squad" leader recently held numerous "Fighting Oligarchy" events in Colorado, Arizona and Nevada with Sanders in opposition to the Trump administration. However, the jury is still out as to who, if anyone, can emerge as a uniting voice for progressives and moderates in the party while still maintaining staunch opposition to the Trump White House. Chuck Schumer Facing 'Uphill Fight' Amid Leadership Doubts: 'Matter Of When, Not If' Meanwhile, some in the clip outright objected to the notion that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who's technically the highest-ranking Democrat in the United States, is the actual leader. Schumer has faced some calls to step down from his position after voting in favor of a continuing resolution backed by the Trump administration to avert a government shutdown – a move that many Democrats in his own caucus disagreed with. A recent CNN poll of 504 Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents muddies the water even more, with Ocasio-Cortez getting the highest percentage of being considered the leader at 10%, with former Vice President Kamala Harris at 9% and Sanders at 8%. The same poll showed a 29% favorability for the Democrats, compared with 54% viewing them article source: WATCH: Dems struggle to name the leader of the Democratic Party
Fox News
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Why must race come before everything, even the dreams of our youngest Americans?
A year ago, a video went viral showing a young boy of about ten or 11-years-old who was dressed in a policeman's uniform. His neighbors were bullying him. Some even shook their body parts at him in a degrading fashion. How could he, a Black boy, be so foolish as to support their public enemy, the police? Throughout all this, the boy stood there with a stoic face and maintained his composure. When I saw that video, I was appalled by the bad faith in it. Had we become so jaded as a society that we mocked a child for the dream of becoming a police officer and serving the people? Would he have been mocked if he declared his ambition was to be a rapper? People in neighborhoods like these tell us that police departments need more folks that look like them. Yet when one of their own dares to dream this dream, they twerk in front of him. This video angered me and I showed it around my community. We have to be better than this, I said. We have to encourage young dreamers like this young man. A few weeks ago, I watched President Donald Trump honor a young 13-year-old boy, Devarjaye "DJ" Daniel, during his Joint Address to Congress. "[DJ] has always dreamed of becoming a police officer," the president explained during his speech. "But in 2018, DJ was diagnosed with brain cancer." "The doctors gave him five months at most to live," Trump added. "That was more than six years ago. Since that time, DJ and his dad have been on a quest to make his dream come true." DJ has received honorary badges from 908 police agencies across the nation. He surpassed his original goal of 100 badges. "I am asking our new Secret Service director, Sean Curran, to officially make you an agent of the United States Secret Service," said Trump as the audience chanted, "DJ!" It was a touching moment, a good faith moment. Afterward, I watched a new video of DJ where he had the poise of a soul mature beyond his years. He spoke of how he lives with cancer: "I'm gonna keep on going until my gas tank runs out. And that's when God calls you home. You never know when God's gonna call you home." That's it. That's it right there. That's how you live life. I shared this video widely. To my surprise, my friend sent me the viral video from a year ago showing the young boy being made fun of for wearing a police uniform and told me that it was DJ. I looked more closely and it was him. I couldn't believe him. I felt a mixture of emotions. On the one hand, I was proud of him for sticking to his dream, a path that took him from that ugly incident into a room in our nation's capitol with the most powerful men and women of the land. That's what believing in oneself and one's dream does. On the other hand, I was filled with disgust. In that viral video, his own neighbors were mocking and bullying him. What does that say about his own people? Is there anything more shameful than trashing the dreams of a young American? DJ didn't find support on those mean streets but he found it in the nation's capitol. In many ways, I think those two videos of DJ illustrate clearly the battle that faces us Americans. The bad faith video mocked his American Dream and the good faith video showed a young man living bravely in the face of an immensely unfair sentence. Bad faith gets us nowhere whereas good faith knows no bounds and no limits on strength. I see in DJ a man, yes, a man, of good faith and may God bless him for never surrendering it.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Boebert says Al Green shook ‘pimp cane' at Trump
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) condemned Rep. Al Green's (D-Texas) decision to interrupt President Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday while raising what she described as a 'pimp cane.' 'Al Green was given multiple opportunities to stand down, to sit down, to behave, to show decorum. And he did not,' the Colorado lawmaker said during a Friday appearance on Real America's Voice. 'For him to go and shake his pimp cane at President Trump was absolutely abhorrent,' she added. Green stood up to protest cuts to Medicaid during Tuesday's joint session which resulted in his removal from the House chamber. Lawmakers voted to censure the Texas lawmaker on Thursday with the support of 10 Democrats following the outburst. Despite some party members veering away from supporting Green's remarks, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) publicly backed Green's stance. 'Congressman Al Green's decision to protest President Trump's words during the Joint Address on Tuesday was one of conscience, and he maintains the full support of our Caucus,' CBC Chair Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. 'Americans around the country are showing up to town halls to express their outrage over Republicans' complete disregard for the needs of the American people and Congressman Green gave voice to their concerns,' Clarke continued. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has also said he would ensure Democrats were not removed from committee assignments after Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) vowed to undertake the effort against those who sang 'We Shall Overcome' on the House floor following Green's censure. Boebert, who condemned Green's behavior, notably disrupted President Biden's address to Congress in 2022 alongside Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R). The Hill reached out to Green's office and the CBC for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
