Taylor Alert – Trump says Education Department must be shut down NOW after ‘con job’: Live updates

The United States Justice Department sued New York, its governor Kathy Hochul and other state leaders on Wednesday as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

Newly sworn-in Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the lawsuit at her first press conference at the Justice Department.

Bondi said they also filed charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and Mark Schroeder, the current commissioner for the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

‘This is a new DOJ and we are taking steps to protect Americans,’ Bondi declared at her press conference.

She accused New York of prioritizing illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens, stating ‘it stops today.’

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor weighed in on the limits of presidential powers on Tuesday while speaking in Florida as President Trump’s allies attack the courts.

The liberal justice said during the event that the founders created a ‘pretty incredible checks and balances system.’

‘Our founders were hellbent on ensuring that we did not have a monarchy,’ Sotomayor said.

She explained that they did it by giving Congress the ‘power of the purse,’ the presidency the ‘power of the military’ including armed forces and law enforcement, and the courts the ‘power to interpret.’

When it came to obeying court orders, Sotomayor argued one person choosing not to abide by then ‘doesn’t change the foundation that it’s still a court order that someone will respect at some point.’

‘That’s the faith I have in our system. And that other actors in the system, whether it’s Congress or others will follow the law because it’s what we all take an oath of office to do,’ she added.

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent

Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard was sworn-in Wednesday as President Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence.

She was sworn-in by Attorney General Pam Bondi and alongside husband Abraham.

Trump called her an American of ‘extraordinary courage and patriotism.’

The president spoke of Gabbard’s military service – as she was thrice deployed as a member of the Army National Guard – and how at age 21, she was the youngest member ever elected to Hawaii’s state legislature.

He also had a laugh about her split political past.

‘She is a former Vice Chair of the National Democratic Party. Can you believe that? And here she is. But she was never a Democrat,’ the Republican president said.

Gabbard left her position at the DNC to support progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid against eventual nominee Hillary Clinton.

In a major about-face she endorsed Trump for president in August, helping him win disaffected Democrats and independents on Election Day.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned reporters that if they ‘lie’ about President Donald Trump’s administration they will face the consequences.

Leavitt was asked about the White House’s decision to ban the Associate Press from two events on Tuesday after the news outlet refused to call the Gulf of Mexico the ‘Gulf of America.’ Trump renamed the body of water on Sunday, using an executive order.

‘It is a privilege to cover this White House,’ she replied. ‘It’s a privilege to be the White House press secretary, and nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask the President of the United States questions. That’s an invitation that is given.’

‘I was very upfront in my briefing on day one, that if we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable,’ she added.

The Associated Press was in Leavitt’s briefing on Wednesday with a correspondent seated in its front row seat. Leavitt did not call on the AP reporter for a question.

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent

President Donald Trump also spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday after talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

‘The conversation went very well. He, like President Putin, wants to make PEACE,’ Trump posted to Truth Social.

Trump confirmed that Zelensky will be meeting in Munich on Friday with Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

‘I am hopeful that the results of that meeting will be positive,’ the president said.

‘It is time to stop this ridiculous War, where there has been massive, and totally unnecessary, DEATH and DESTRUCTION. God bless the people of Russia and Ukraine!’

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Luxury hotels are losing out on millions the federal government already paid to house illegal migrants in New York City .

The Department of Homeland Security has the authority to pull back the $59 million in funds distributed to the hotels last week by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

These four and five-star hotels were paid by the government to house illegals against President Donald Trump ‘s recent executive orders.

But those funds are being returned to FEMA after a clawback order was issued this week, a DHS official told DailyMail.com.

‘Secretary Noem has clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels,’ DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday advanced President Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

It set up a likely vote on awarding him the position in coming days.

The Senate voted 53-47 along party lines to limit debate on Kennedy’s nomination amid staunch opposition from Democrats and many public health experts.

Detractors objected largely because of his record over several decades opposing vaccines.

Vladimir Putin invited Donald Trump to visit Russia when they spoke on the telephone today, the Kremlin said.

Trump later said he had also invited the Russian leader to visit the United States.

He confirmed that they will visit each other’s countries.

The Kremlin said Putin and Trump had spoken for nearly 90 minutes, and that the two men had agreed to meet.

By Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent

President Donald Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine, he announced on social media.

He said they will visit each other’s countries soon.

‘We want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine. President Putin even used my very strong Campaign motto of, “COMMON SENSE.” We both believe very strongly in it. We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations,’ Trump wrote.

‘We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now,’ he added.

‘Millions of people have died in a War that would not have happened if I were President, but it did happen, so it must end. No more lives should be lost!,’ he said.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

House Republicans have finally unveiled their budget blueprint weeks after they anticipated its release.

This resolution is critical to get the House and Senate on the same page for how they will implement Trump’s sweeping MAGA agenda.

The blueprint enables lawmakers and Trump to approve $4.5 trillion in tax cuts while also reducing spending by $1.5 trillion over the coming decade.

It also includes $300 billion for defense spending and border security.

With the framework, Republicans will also be able to increase the debt limit by $4 trillion, something Trump himself has called for.

The House Budget Committee will hammer out the details in a hearing on Thursday.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

President Donald Trump’s new Attorney General Pam Bondi is holding her first press conference at the Department of Justice on Wednesday.

Bondi told reporters when leaving the White House that there is ‘not yet’ a topic for the 4:30 p.m. press event.

She was sworn-in last week by Supreme Court Justiuce Clarence Thomas during an Oval Office ceremony with Trump, her husband and her mother.

The White House provided a readout of President Donald Trump’s meeting on Tuesday with King Abdullah of Jordan.

The two leaders discussed the situation in Gaza.

‘The President reiterated that Hamas must release all hostages, including all Americans, by Saturday, and asked for the King’s assistance in ensuring that Hamas, as well as the leaders of the region, understand the severity of the situation,’ the White House noted.

‘The two leaders also discussed the President’s goal of ensuring that Gaza is rebuilt beautifully after the conflict ends, and providing options for the people of Gaza that allow them to live in security and dignity, and free of Hamas’s tyranny.’

A new poll shows that 52 percent of American voters believe Vice President J.D. Vance is doing a good job.

He is in Europe this week, making his international debut representing the Trump administration at an A.I. Summit followed by the Munich Security Conference at the end of the week.

Vance was deployed as Trump’s attack dog during the campaign, delighting the MAGA world but triggering a cascade of negative headlines elsewhere.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

Democrat John Larson has revealed what medical condition caused him to suffer a bizarre freezing episode while speaking on the House floor Monday.

The 76-year-old Connecticut congressman shared that he experienced a ‘complex partial seizure.’

Speeches on the House floor are televised live, and clips of the freezing incident quickly went viral on social media.

In the video Larson can be seen giving an animated address about Social Security before pausing silently for seconds before trying to finish his speech. But his words appeared to trickle out with much difficulty, and something clearly seemed wrong.

Soon after the incident, Larson’s team explained that the episode was likely caused by an ‘adverse reaction to a new medication,’ though after getting evaluated it has since been learned that the partial seizure was to blame.

‘Yesterday, at around noon, I experienced a medical incident on the House floor, when my speech momentarily paused,’ a statement on Larson’s X account reads.

‘Following the incident, I saw the House Attending Physician, Dr. Monahan, who referred me for further evaluation.’

‘After a round of tests, it was determined that the cause of the brief pause in my speech was a complex partial seizure,’ the Democrat revealed.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

The Trump administration is reportedly going to release Alexnder Vinnik in exchange for Russia’s release of American school teacher Marc Fogel, who was returned to the U.S. on Tuesday.

Vinnick’s release by the Trump administration was first reported by the New York Times, which cited conversations with several anonymous officials aware of the deal.

Vinnik pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

He was involved with a high-profile crypto organization that oversaw billions worth of transactions.

‘According to court documents, Alexander Vinnik, 44, was one of the operators of BTC-e, which was one of the world’s largest virtual currency exchanges,’ the Justice Department wrote last year.

‘From its inception in or around 2011 until it was shut down by law enforcement in or around July 2017 contemporaneous with Vinnik’s arrest, BTC-e processed over $9 billion-worth of transactions and served over one million users worldwide, including numerous customers in the United States,’ the DOJ release stated.

President Donald Trump ramped up his attacks on the judicial branch after a federal judge said the administration had violated his order halting a the freeze on federal funding and ordered the government to ‘immediately restore frozen funding.’

Trump slammed the ‘activist’ judge, claiming Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency had found fraud and abuse and its work was being restricted.

‘DOGE has found massive amounts of FRAUD, WASTE, INCOMPETENCE, AND ABUSE, but even knowing this, a highly political, activist Judge wants us to immediately make payment, anyway,’ the president wrote on his Truth Social account.

‘In other words pay, even though you know the payment was fraudulently requested to be made. DOGE caught them – The Judge just doesn’t care. It doesn’t make sense!!!’

Meanwhile, Democrats fear the Trump administration will simply ignore any orders from the judicial branch, taking away their only path to fighting the president’s agenda.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Worries are emerging among older Americans as Elon Musk hinted at what agency could face slashes next.

Musk said alongside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday that his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) found that people who are ‘probably dead’ are still receiving Social Security checks.

The latest revelations sparked fears the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) administration could be the next to face the wrath of DOGE’s merciless slashes to federal government programs.

But others are glad that an audit or examination of SSA might crack down on fraud or mistakes and in turn yield taxpayer money back to the federal government for use elsewhere.

‘Reexamination of Social Security – we’ve got people in there that are 150-years-old,’ Musk lamented during an impromptu press gaggle at Trump’s executive order signing.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

Donald Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan gave an eye-raising answer when asked if ‘leftist groups’ who support illegal immigrants could get rounded up by federal authorities.

While speaking outside of the White House on Tuesday Homan was questioned if these groups and protestors waving foreign flags at anti-deportation rallies could face consequences for aiding illegal migrants.

Since Trump took office hordes of protestors have descended on Los Angeles and other major cities waving Mexican flags and those of other Central and South American countries to decry the president’s illegal immigration crackdown.

Some of the groups seen protesting include Centro CSO, an undocumented immigrant advocacy organization, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

A second American hostage is expected to be released from Russia today, following the release of teacher Marc Fogel, as President Donald Trump revealed what he had to give Vladimir Putin in exchange for his freedom.

Last night, Special Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler and Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CNN: ‘We have another American coming in [Wednesday].’

Neither official would confirm the identity of the soon-to-be-released hostage, or where they were located.

Elon Musk joked in the Oval Office Tuesday that the scrutiny DOGE is receiving is like receiving a ‘daily proctology exam’ but vowed to root out the highest-paid D.C. bureaucrats.

Musk and his son X took over the Oval Tuesday afternoon to mark President Donald Trump signing a DOGE-centric executive order.

The order is intended to ‘significantly’ scale back the federal workforce, pushing agencies to hire ‘no more than one employee for every four employees’ that exit.

Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

Donald Trump hosted Marc Fogel at the White House Tuesday night just hours after the American teacher was released from Russian custody.

‘I’m so excited,’ Fogel told Trump of being back in the U.S. after arriving at a snowy White House with an American flag draped around his neck.

As he shook the president’s hand, Trump rubbed Fogel’s arm and gave him a cordial embrace.

Melania Trump hasn’t been seen in public since January 24th, when she accompanied Donald Trump to North Carolina and California to visit devastated areas in the state.

While President Trump has come into office full throttle – signing executive orders, holding press conferences, and cutting the federal government – Melania Trump has been largely absent.