Latest news with #PressBriefingRoom
The Hill
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Benny Johnson rails against DC crime at White House, floats presidential medal for ‘Big Balls'
Conservative pundit and social media personality Benny Johnson used an appearance in the White House Press Briefing Room's 'new media' seat to rail against crime in Washington, D.C. and suggest a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer, who was recently assaulted in the district, be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 'As a DC resident of 15 years … I have witnessed so much mugging and so much theft I lost track. I was carjacked. I have murderers on my Ring camera and masked shootings,' Johnson said at the top of Tuesday's briefing. 'I witnessed a woman on my block get held up at gun point for $20. And my house was set ablaze with my infant child inside.' The right-wing pundit then turned his gaze to other reporters seating in the White House. 'So to any reporter that says, and lies, that DC is a safe place to live and work,' Johnson said turning back to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. 'Thank you for making the city safe.' Johnson is one in a growing number of D.C.-based supporters of President Trump who have shared stories of feeling unsafe in the district, praising the president's decision on Monday to mobilize the national guard in the district and take control of its police department. Trump's announcement came on the heels of a number of high-profile crimes involving people with ties to government, including an incident earlier this month in which Edward 'Big Balls' Coristine, a 19-year-old former DOGE staffer, was attacked. Johnson on Tuesday suggested the White House honor Coristine as part of its pledge to crack down on D.C. crime. 'Will the president consider giving the presidential medal of freedom to Big Balls?' he asked Leavitt. 'I haven't spoken to him about that,' the press secretary chuckled in response. 'But perhaps its something he would consider.' Johnson is the latest in a slew of right-leaning podcasters, social media influencers and content creators on the right the White House has sought to elevate in the briefing room as a means to promote the president's agenda and push back on mainstream media coverage of his administration. During Monday's wide-ranging press conference announcing the D.C. crime crack down, conservative commentator Brain Glenn told Trump he was 'robbed last year, on the street by these teenage thugs who had a gun and got away with it,' and suggested 'adult crimes deserve adult penalties.' Trump's crime crackdown has angered Democrats and some local leaders in D.C., many of whom have pointed to statistics showing decreases in crime in the district in recent years and warned the president is overstepping his authority.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
28-06-2025
- Politics
- First Post
How US Supreme Court's ruling that curbs judges' power benefits Trump
The US Supreme Court has limited the ability of federal judges to grant nationwide injunctions. President Donald Trump has hailed the verdict as a 'tremendous win'. The Friday decision will expand the powers of the Republican president and have wider ramifications on his controversial policies, like the bid to end birthright citizenship read more US President Donald Trump speaks to the media in the Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington DC, June 27, 2025. Reuters The United States Supreme Court has handed a 'giant win' to President Donald Trump by curbing the authority of individual judges. In a ruling that will have a major impact on the Trump administration's move to end birthright citizenship, the top court on Friday (June 27) made it easier for the Republican leader to implement his contentious policies. The ruling curbs the ability of lone judges to block Trump's powers nationwide. We take a look at how the US Supreme Court's verdict has broadened the powers of the president. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What did US Supreme Court rule? The US Supreme Court, in a 6-3 majority, ruled that federal judges do not have the authority to grant nationwide injunctions. This effectively curbs the lower courts' ability to block executive orders. The case stems from Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship , a constitutional right in the US. At the White House briefing on Friday, Trump called the verdict a 'tremendous win'. He said the US administration is 'very happy about' the 'big, amazing decision'. It was a 'monumental victory for the Constitution, the separation of powers and the rule of law', the US president added. American Attorney General Pam Bondi, who flanked Trump at the podium, said the ruling will put an end to 'rogue judges striking down President Trump's policies across the entire nation.' Democrats rebuked the Supreme Court's decision, with Senate Leader Chuck Schumer calling it a 'terrifying step toward authoritarianism.' Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, wrote the majority opinion. 'Federal courts do not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch,' she said. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who authored the dissent opinion for the three liberal justices, called the ruling 'nothing less than an open invitation for the government to bypass the Constitution.' Trump said he will move ahead with 'so many policies' that had been 'wrongly' blocked, putting into focus his administration's bid to end birthright citizenship. He also rejected concerns that the high court's ruling would lead to the concentration of power in the White House. 'This is really the opposite of that. This really brings back the Constitution,' Trump said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What is birthright citizenship? Birthright citizenship makes any person born on US soil an American citizen, including children born to parents who illegally entered the country. 'All persons born or naturalised in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States,' according to the US Constitution's 14th Amendment. The right has been an integral part of the US law for over a century. Trump has long taken exception to birthright citizenship, describing it as a 'hoax'. After Friday's ruling, he said the decision would prevent 'scamming of our immigration process'. Mairelise Robinson, a pregnant US citizen, attends a protest in support of birthright citizenship, outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, May 15, 2025. File Photo/AP In January, soon after returning to the White House, Trump signed an executive order to deny citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants and some temporary residents and visitors. The executive order read, 'the Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States.' Immigrant rights groups, representing American newborns and their migrant parents, sued the Trump administration. As many as 22 states also urged federal judges to block Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship. Three federal district court judges separately blocked Trump's order and issued universal injunctions that prevented the enforcement of the order across the nation. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The US administration then approached the Supreme Court to block universal injunctions altogether. How Supreme Court's ruling expands Trump's power The top court has expanded the authority of the US president with its ruling, which is set to limit the power of lower court federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions. This will have wider ramifications for not just the birthright citizenship case but also other controversial policies that the Trump administration wants to push. Steven Schwinn, a law professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, told AFP that the court's ruling 'sharply undermines the power of federal courts to rein in lawless actions by the government.' Lower courts have blocked Trump's cuts to foreign assistance, diversity programmes, stopped funding for transgender people, limited the president's ability to terminate government employees, and paused his other immigration reforms. Now, the new ruling has put the US administration at an advantage, allowing it to ask courts to go ahead with many of these orders. The court's decision has 'systematically weakened judicial oversight and strengthened executive discretion,' Paul Rosenzweig, an attorney who served in Republican President George W Bush's administration, told Reuters. The apex court's verdict means it is effectively the only check on presidential authority. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD As per the Friday ruling, judges can typically grant relief only to the individuals or groups that brought a particular lawsuit. Now, the birthright citizenship case will return to lower courts, where judges will have to issue orders in compliance with the high court ruling, as per Associated Press (AP). The courts have 30 days to review their nationwide injunctions. Notably, Friday's ruling did not directly address the constitutionality of Trump's birthright citizenship order. So, the case is likely to come before the top court at a later date, noted BBC. Not just Trump, but the Supreme Court's ruling will have ramifications for the ability of the judiciary to rein in even future US presidents. With inputs from agencies
