Trump warns he’ll do ‘whatever it takes’ to deport migrants; vows to close down Department of Education: Live

Donald Trump rings opening bell at New York Stock Exchange

Donald Trump has said he is prepared to do “whatever it takes” to drive illegal immigrants from the United States, including building more detention centres, and also vowed to shut down the Department of Education and leave teaching administration up to individual states.

Trump further moved to downplay fears over Elon Musk and Robert F Kennedy Jr’s likely influence over his administration and to manage expectations on inflation, warning he may not be able to bring down grocery prices after all by saying: “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up, very hard.”

The president-elect made the comments in an interview withTime magazine after being named its “Person of the Year” following his November election win.

The annual cover – which highlights an individual who has greatly influenced the year, for good or ill – was unveiled on Thursday, bearing an imperious portrait of the Republican against a stark background.

Trump was also awarded the honor in 2016 after beating Hillary Clinton to win the White House for the first time.

He celebrated this latest gong yesterday by delivering a brief speech and ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

Trump backs dockworkers’ union over strike threat to protect jobs from automation

The president-elect was on Truth Social last night speaking up for the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) after meeting with its bosses Harold and Dennis Daggett.

“There has been a lot of discussion having to do with ‘automation’ on United States docks,” Trump wrote.

“I’ve studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it. The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen.”

The ILA, which represents more than 40,000 dockworkers, went on strike for three days in October over the prospect of robots replacing its members’ jobs.

The Biden administration helped reach a deal to avert that action, which reportedly cost the US economy $1bn a day, put further unrest could rear its head in the New Year.

Joe Sommerlad13 December 2024 10:15

Watch: Emmanuel Macron and Donald Tusk mock Trump’s macho handshake

Here’s the French President and the Prime Minister of Poland teasing the US president-elect yesterday before he has even taken office.

Ariana Baio has this on Macron and Trump’s original grapple during his Notre Dame Cathedral visit over the weekend.

Joe Sommerlad13 December 2024 09:55

Donald Trump tells Time he will do ‘whatever it takes’ to address illegal immigration and says he will abolish Department of Education

Good morning!

Donald Trump has said he is prepared to do “whatever it takes” to drive illegal immigrants from the United States, including building more detention centres, and also vowed to shut down the Department of Education and leave teaching administration up to individual states.

Trump further moved to downplay fears over Elon Musk and Robert F Kennedy Jr’s likely influence over his administration and to manage expectations on inflation, warning he may not be able to bring down grocery prices after all by saying: “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up, very hard.”

The president-elect made the comments in an interview withTime magazine after being named its “Person of the Year” following his November election win.

The annual cover – which highlights an individual who has greatly influenced the year, for good or ill – was unveiled on Thursday, bearing an imperious portrait of the Republican against a stark background.

Trump was also awarded the honor in 2016 after beating Hillary Clinton to win the White House for the first time.

He celebrated this latest gong yesterday by delivering a brief speech and ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

Here’s Kelly Rissman with more.

Joe Sommerlad13 December 2024 09:35

Elon Musk calls homelessness a ‘lie’ and ‘propaganda’ — and Trump is listening

“Homeless is a misnomer. It implies that someone got a little bit behind on their mortgage, and if you just gave them a job, they’d be back on their feet,” he told former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson in October. “What you actually have are violent, drug zombies with dead eyes and needles and human feces on the street.”

The more money spent combating homelessness, “the worse it gets,” according to Musk.

Read more:

Alex Woodward13 December 2024 09:00

‘No evidence’ undercover FBI agents joined Capitol riots despite ongoing conspiracy theories, watchdog finds

The findings deal a blow to persistent right-wing conspiracy theories that federal law enforcement agents provoked a riot or a “false flag” attack to entrap Donald Trump’s supporters to break into the Capitol.

But the report’s discovery that roughly two dozen confidential sources were on the ground at the time is likely to continue fueling a false narrative that federal agents had something to do with instigating the assault.

Read more:

Alex Woodward13 December 2024 08:00

From ‘Aspie supremacy’ to vaccines: The toxic autism politics of Trump’s second administration

Back in September, an X/Twitter account known as Autism Capital posted a screenshot of a written theory that appeared to be taken from 4Chan. The theory postulated that only “high [testostrone] alpha males” and “aneurotypical people” can think freely and be trusted to know what is objectively true. That means “a Republic for high-status males is best for decision making,” the theory continued. Elon Musk, the X owner and Tesla executive, responded: “Interesting observation.”

Little wonder that Musk found such proclamations interesting. He has talked in public a number of times about having “Asperger’s syndrome” (a term that fell out of favor as researchers learned the extent of Hans Asperger’s collaboration with the Nazi regime’s child euthanasia program and one that hasn’t been used clinically since 2013.) The concept of “Aspie supremacy” — a term some disability rights advocates coined for the deeply problematic idea that people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who previously would be considered as having Asperger’s are superior to both neurotypical people and other autistic people — has been around for a while. But it’s gained traction in the past few years in some very online, very right-wing spaces.

Read more:

The toxic autism politics of Trump’s second administration

From Elon Musk to RFK, the right has developed an obsession with pushing two seemingly contradictory — but equally damaging — theories on autism, writes Eric Garcia. And this obsession is bleeding into everything from Trump cabinet picks to policy

Eric Garcia13 December 2024 07:00

WATCH: Eric Adams says NYC won’t be ‘safe haven’ for criminals after Trump border czar meeting

Eric Adams says NYC won’t be ‘safe haven’ for criminals after Trump border czar meeting
Gustaf Kilander13 December 2024 06:00

US Senate chaplain Barry Black hospitalized after brain bleed

U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black has been hospitalized after suffering a bleed on his brain and is expected to have a “smooth recovery,” his office said.

Black, 76, suffered a subdural hematoma earlier this week and is at a local hospital and under the care of the Capitol’s physician, said Rev. Lisa Schultz, Black’s chief of staff. A subdural hematoma is when blood builds up between the skull and the surface of the brain, increasing pressure on the brain.

Read more:

Mary Clare Jalonick13 December 2024 05:00

From a 10-year-old to a Muppet to a president-elect, NYSE bell-ringers range from famous to obscure

The first guest invited to ring the bell to open trading at the New York Stock Exchange in 1956 wasn’t a company executive, a politician or a well-known celebrity. It was a 10-year-old boy, Leonard Ross, who received the honor by winning a television quiz show.

Since then, business titans, political giants and global film stars have all been among those ringing the opening bell at the NYSE. Ronald Reagan rang the bell as president in 1985. Billionaire businessman and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr. have also rung the bell. The list even includes famous Muppets: Miss Piggy was once a bell ringer.

Read more:

Damian J. Troise13 December 2024 04:00

White House sees ‘no evidence’ of threat from drones and says ‘many’ sightings were of ‘manned aircraft’

The White House is knocking down claims that New Jersey’s airspace has been invaded by drones controlled by hostile nations and says many of the aircraft sightings that have been cited to support such assertions are actually normal piloted airplanes.

In recent days, residents of the Garden State have been posting videos of what they describe as sightings of unmanned aircraft over the areas where the U.S. Army has a research facility as well as President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey golf club.

One Republican congressman, Representative Jeff Van Drew, claimed Wednesday during a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing that the aircraft in question were Iranian in origin and were being controlled by a “mothership” operated by Tehran off the US coast.

Read more:

Andrew Feinberg13 December 2024 03:30

Source: independent.co.uk