Trump delivers first rally-style speech since election win as he threatens to retake Panama Canal: Live
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Get our free Inside Washington email
Donald Trump gave his first rally-style speech since his election victory in Phoenix on Sunday.
At the event — AmericaFest 2024 — he discussed immigration, defended some of his most controversial cabinet picks, and laid out his plans for when he takes office on January 20, which he referred to as “liberation day.”
Trump also repeated his threats of retaking the Panama Canal.
“We’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else,” he said.
On Truth Social Saturday, Trump accused Panama of charging American vessels “exorbitant prices” to use the vital waterway that acts as a shortcut linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S.,” Trump vented.
“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he stridently added, referring to a 1977 treaty.
The 78-year-old Republican also echoed his plans to impose tariffs against the European Union, Canada and Mexico. He said he wouldn’t let the E.U. turn the U.S. into a “dumping ground.”
Trump nominates Stephen Alexander Vaden as deputy secretary of the department of agriculture
The president-elected named Judge Stephen Alexander Vaden as his deputy secretary of agriculture in a Truth Social Post on Sunday shortly after he gave a rally-style speech in Arizona. “In my First Term, Stephen was the General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture, and a Member of the Board of the Commodity Credit Corporation, where he won two cases before the United States Supreme Court, relocated and reorganized the Agencies that comprise the Department to better serve Rural America, and engaged in substantial regulatory reform,” Trump wrote.
“Stephen joined the USDA on Day One of my First Term, and left in December 2020 after I nominated him, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him, to continue to serve the American People as an Article III Judge on the Court of International Trade,” he said.
Texas Republican Rep. Kay Granger found in retirement facility after months out of the public eye
The discovery by a local newspaper of “confused” Texas Republican Representative Kay Granger, 81, in an assisted care facility on Saturday after she dropped out of sight last month has retriggered concerns about aging lawmakers clinging to their powerful roles in the face of fears about diminishing competence.
Age became a political issue in 2024 as in no other election cycle in the modern era of American politics, touching on former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Peloisi, the late California Representative Dianne Feinstein, President Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump and other aging leaders.
With the presidential election now in the rear-view mirror, a troubling picture is increasingly emerging of Washington.
John Bowden has the full story.
WATCH: “They better be careful,” Trump says, repeating tariff threats against EU
Biden admin looks to lock in legacy on immigration and death penalty
The Biden administration is using its waning days in office to make a final mark ahead of the incoming Trump White House.
It announced Friday it would forgive another $4.28 billion in student debt for 54,900 borrowers who pursued careers in public service, bringing Biden’s total to some $180 billion of forgiveness overall, the largest sum of debt forgiveness from any president in U.S. history.
At the same time, the administration said it would scrap further forgiveness proposals from the U.S. Department of Education, noting “uncertainty around the implementation” given Trump’s impending inauguration.
“The Department at this time intends to commit its limited operational resources to helping at-risk borrowers return to repayment successfully,” Education Secretary Migual Cardona wrote in official notices.
Josh Marcus has the full story.
ICYMI: Lara Trump will not run for the Senate
Lara Trump dropped out of the running for the Senate on Saturday evening, teasing a “big announcement” to come in January.
Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law was floated as a possible replacement for Marco Rubio, the president-elect’s choice for secretary of state.
Two weeks ago Trump announced she was also stepping down from her role as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Rhian Lubin has the full story.
Donald Trump’s tariffs will be ‘surgical’, his former communications director warned
Donald Trump will impose “surgical” tariffs when he enters office, his former director of communications has warned, as concern grows over an imminent trade war with the United States.
Anthony Scaramucci said Trump will impose the levies in a targeted way on any “industries that we need to protect”.
The former adviser’s intervention comes just days after Sir Keir Starmer hit out at the “dangers” of tariffs, putting the prime minister on a collision course with the incoming US president.
Read the full story.
Fascism is ‘not a word that regular people use:’ Sen. John Fetterman, when discussing Trump’s election win
The president-elect welcomes a ‘commonsense revolution’
Donald Trump said a “commonsense revolution” is coming soon to America.
“Woke has to stop. It’s destroying our country. Woke is bulls***,” Trump said, citing the renaming of ships and military bases that were named after Confederate figures. “We will get critical race theory and transgender insanity out of our schools,” he said.
In his second term, Trump promised taxes will be slashed, wages will be increased, violent crime will end and America’s “once-great cities” will be rebuilt.
“We are finally going to build up our country, defend our land and protect our citizens,” the president-elect promised.
“Together we will fight, fight, fight, and together we will win, win, win!” Trump said at the conclusion of his speech.
Before walking off the stage, he did his signature “Trump dance” as the Village People’s “YMCA” played.
Trump lays out anti-trans policies that he will sign on ‘day one’
“With the stroke of my pen, on day one I will stop the transgender lunacy,” Donald Trump told the Phoenix crowd.
He said he plans to stop “gender mutilation,” keep transgender Americans out of the military and “keep men out of women’s sports,” he said.
Source: independent.co.uk
