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Before Trump spoke in Las Vegas, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was confirmed as the next secretary of Homeland Security
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During a speech in Las Vegas on Saturday, President Donald Trump laughed it up with the crowd and spoke about his first-week victories following his return to the White House.
He boasted about having “terminated the ridiculous and incredibly wasteful green new scam.”
“Wasn’t the environment supposed to eat us up like in 12 years, but that was like 13 years ago? What happened?” he asked. “We’re still here.”
“I just came here because I wanted to thank the people of Nevada for giving us such a big win,” said Trump, referring to his 2024 victory in the state.
Earlier, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was confirmed as the next secretary of Homeland Security. She passed the final hurdle in the Senate around noon Saturday by a 59-34 vote.
Noem will now be in charge of a sweeping agency that will be an important component in the new administration’s plan to crack down on immigration.
“Thank you, Mr. President @realDonaldTrump, for the confidence in me to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security. I will work to make America SAFE again!” Noem wrote on X following her confirmation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday the U.S. has not stopped military aid to Ukraine after newly sworn in U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he would pause foreign aid grants for 90 days.
Zelenskyy did not clarify whether humanitarian aid had been paused. Ukraine relies on the U.S. for 40% of its military needs. “I am focused on military aid; it has not been stopped, thank God,” he said at a press conference with Moldovan President Maia Sandu.
The two leaders met in Kyiv on Saturday to discuss the energy needs of Moldova’s Russian-occupied Transnistria region, which saw its natural gas supplies halted on Jan. 1 due to Ukraine’s decision to stop Russian gas transit. Ukraine has said it can offer coal to the Transnistrian authorities to make up for the shortfall.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the U.S. has not stopped military aid to Ukraine after newly sworn in U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he would pause foreign aid grants for 90 days
Just six days into his second, and, theoretically final, term as president, Donald Trump once again lashed out at the free press in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
“Wow! Rachel Maddow has horrible ratings,” Trump posted on his flagging Twitter clone, Truth Social, at 1:05 am. “She’ll be off the air very soon. MSNBC IS CLOSE TO DEATH. CNN HAS REACHED THE BOTTOM. This is a good thing. They are the Enemy of the people!”
The ratings-obsessed Trump has long gone after the media when it has not treated him with the obsequiousness he prefers. Maddow, who is once again hosting her eponymous MSNBC show Monday through Friday, averaged two million viewers this past week, according to Nielsen. That’s, in fact, up from the 1.4 million Maddow averaged in the aftermath of Trump’s electoral victory in November.
CNN’s ratings declined by some 11 percent in primetime over the past week, and has announced plans to lay off roughly six percent of its staff, primarily from the television side of the operation.
As President Donald Trump tightens the nation’s immigration policies, lawmakers in Democratic-led states are proposing new measures that could erect legal obstacles for federal immigration officials and help immigrants lacking legal status avoid deportation.
The resistance efforts in California, New York and other states are a counterpoint to the many Republican-led states advancing measures to aid Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, highlighting a national divide.
In just his first week in office, Trump’s administration has halted refugee arrivals; fast-tracked deportations; sent military troops to the southern border; lifted longtime rules restricting immigration enforcement near schools, churches and hospitals; attempted to end birthright citizenship; and ordered federal prosecutors to investigate state or local officials who they believe are interfering with his crackdown on illegal immigration.
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As President Donald Trump cracks down on immigration, lawmakers in some Democratic-led states are proposing new ways to resist his efforts
President Donald Trump has wasted no time in carrying out his anti-abortion agenda.
The president signed a pair of executive orders Friday reviving two anti-abortion policies from his first term – despite his pledges that abortion should be left to the state’s discretion.
To end his first week, Trump resurrected the enforcement of the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funds from being used to pay for abortions. Former President Biden had reversed the policy after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
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At the March for Life rally, the president said he was ‘proud to be a participant’ in the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022
President Donald Trump took credit for the Saturday release of Israeli hostages as part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas – a deal reached before he took the Oval Office.
“Today the world celebrates as President Trump secured the release of four more Israeli hostages who were, for far too long, held against their will by Hamas in horrific conditions,” the White House said in a statement. “The United States will continue with its great partner Israel to push for the release of all remaining hostages and the pursuit of peace throughout the region.”
The statement was issued following the release of Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag, who were freed in return for 70 Palestinian prisoners.
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‘Today the world celebrates as President Trump secured the release of four more Israeli hostages,’ White House says
In his first working week in the Oval Office, Donald Trump has announced his return with all the drama to be expected of the noisy disruptor.
He pardoned 1,500 people who took part in the attack on Congress four years ago, including many convicted of violence against the police. He sought to cancel the automatic right to citizenship for those born in the US. He has suspended the admission of refugees. He has ordered troops to the southern border. He has scrapped all public sector diversity posts and initiatives.
He hired a sports stadium and filled it with cheering supporters who watched as he signed executive orders doing all this and more.
He has withdrawn the US from the World Health Organisation. He has repudiated – again – the Paris climate agreement. He has renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. He has changed the name of the highest mountain in the US, Denali, back to Mount McKinley.
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Editorial: The president has shown that he will be hard for America’s allies to handle in his second term – but there has been the odd surprising sign of sense
Vladimir Putin has emphasised that he is open for talks with Donald Trump on a broad range of issues including Russia’s war in Ukraine as he called for the two leaders to meet.
The Russian president also echoed his US counterpart’s claim the conflict in Ukraine could have been prevented had he been in the White House in 2022 in what was his bluntest endorsement yet of Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat in the 2020 election.
In the interview with Russian state television on Friday, Mr Putin praised Mr Trump as a “clever and pragmatic man” who is focused on US interests and said: “We believe the current president’s statements about his readiness to work together. We are always open to this and ready for negotiations.”
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Russian president also echoes new US president’s claim conflict in Ukraine could have been prevented had he been in White House in 2022
Trump said Saturday he was “very proud” to pardon the January 6 rioters.
Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was just released from his 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy following Trump’s pardons and commutations for the rioters.
Trump issued pardons on Monday for almost all of the defendants charged with taking part in the January 6 Capitol riot. Trump issued about 1,500 pardons and commuted the sentences of 14 defendants.
Trump commuted the sentence of the founder of the far-right militia the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2023 for seditious conspiracy following his actions helping to lead a plot to stop the certification of the 2020 election results.
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