Trump administration dismisses DOJ prosecutor over refusal to lead Comey case Anadolu Ajansı
from news.google.com
02 U.S. Politics
One of the biggest problems — of many — that President Donald Trump identified under his predecessor’s regime involved the soaring cost of living to which many Americans were subjected.
By that same token, Trump also appears cognizant that one of the initiatives he supports, the investment in and proliferation of artificial intelligence, could very well lead to Americans feeling the same sort of squeeze they felt under former President Joe Biden.
Aware of that, the president took to Truth Social to issue a mandate to tech companies, saying they will not be allowed to jack up American utility bills.
Donald J. Trump Truth Social Post 06:38 PM EST 01.12.26 pic.twitter.com/kKlX348syO
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 12, 2026
President Donald Trump earlier signaled support for protests in the Islamic Republic and threatened new strikes
The US has opened a new air and missile defense coordination cell at a key airbase in Qatar amid rising tensions with Iran and President Donald Trump’s promises to assist protesters in the Islamic Republic.
In a statement on Tuesday, US Central Command said the facility at the Al Udeid Air Base, which houses some 10,000 troops, will be comprised of American and allied personnel and seeks to “enhance integrated air and missile defense.” The new cell is also intended to tighten information-sharing, threat warning, drills and joint responses for air and missile defense, US officials said.
Reuters reported, citing three unnamed diplomats, that some personnel had been advised to leave the base by Wednesday evening for unknown reasons. The agency noted that the US took the same measures ahead of strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last summer, while the Al Udeid Air Base came under a retaliatory attack from Tehran at the time.
The move comes amid soaring US-Iran tensions, with Trump offering symbolic support for the riots, which began in late December as protests over the sharp devaluation of the Iranian rial and the sanctioned country’s cost-of-living crisis. The US president, in particular, has urged Iranians to keep protesting and said “HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” while also warning of “very strong” action in case of a harsh crackdown on rioters. At the same time, Trump did not rule out talks with Iran.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Tehran did not seek war but was prepared for it, and Iranian officials have warned neighboring states that host US forces that they could face retaliation if Washington attacks. Officials in Tehran have also insisted that the US and Israel had had a “big hand” in fostering the current protests.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar have privately pressed Washington not to strike Iran, warning that a conflict could trigger severe regional instability and disrupt oil markets, the Wall Street Journal reported.
You can share this story on social media:
Follow RT on
from www.rt.com
Independent journalists Nick Sortor and Cam Higby were physically attacked by a violent mob during an anti-ICE demonstration outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Sunday night, after a far-left streamer threatened to track and harass them.
According to Sortor, agitators scuffled with them whenever they left their vehicle to film clashes between law enforcement and the anti-ICE militants.
“We did our best not to engage with them,” Higby stated on X. “Obviously they repeatedly initiated physical contact with us.”
At one point, an aggressive masked female agitator got in front of Sortor, holding up a sign to block him from filming. Sortor snatched the sign from her and threw it on the ground. The woman continued hounding the journalist, throwing punches and trying to grab his phone away. Sortor continued filming while pushing her away with his free hand. He pulled off her mask so she could be identified and face consequences for the assault, Higby explained later on X.
Federal agents deployed flash bangs, tear gas, and pepper balls to disperse the increasingly violent mob, which allowed the two to escape to their vehicle, a white Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.
The next step from the Executive Order in November where such a designation was announced (White House).
On January 13, 2026, the U.S. labeled the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood—Al Jama’a Al Islamiyya—as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, while designating its Egyptian and Jordanian branches as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. This stems from a November 2025 executive order by President Trump, based on evidence of their financial, logistical, and ideological support for Hamas. Gulf allies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE endorsed the step, though the Brotherhood called it politically motivated and plans legal challenges. The designations impose asset freezes, travel bans, and penalties for material support, marking a targeted escalation in counterterrorism without labeling the entire group.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez has declared that the communist regime would defend itself “to the last drop of blood” before making a deal with the United States.
Bermúdez responded defiantly to pressure from President Donald Trump, who urged Havana to strike a deal with Washington.
Trump addressed Cuba earlier in the day in a Truth Social post, warning the regime to negotiate while it still can and signaling a dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward the island.
“They make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump wrote.
Trump’s 25% ‘Iran tax’ goes global: Who are key trading partners now in line of fire? The Indian Express
from news.google.com
States that have sanctuary cities protecting illegal aliens and their dangerous criminal element as of February 1 will no longer receive any form of federal funding, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday during an address at the Detroit Economic Club.
The U.S. simply can’t afford to subsidize the millions of illegal aliens currently in the U.S. – especially since many of them are a threat to American citizens, Trump warned:
“Many of those people are murderers. They’re people released from jails, prisons, mental institutions, insane asylums. They’re people that are drug dealers, they’re addicts.”
If states and cities continue to protect people who break U.S. immigration laws, they’ll have to do so without the help of federal funding, Pres. Trump said:
“Starting Feb. 1, we’re not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens.”
Labour rebel threatens to trigger by-election unless Starmer drops jury reforms Nation.Cymru
from news.google.com
Nick Shirley, the viral YouTuber who exposed the fraud happening at Somali daycare centers in Minnesota, took credit for Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s resignation from the 2026 gubernatorial race.
While Walz faced national scrutiny for his handling of fraud, Shirley posted a 42-minute documentary on Dec. 26, which found that nearly a dozen Somali daycare centers funded by taxpayer dollars were not actually providing services. In response to the governor accusing Shirley of being a “conspiracy theorist” who broke into daycare centers, Shirley posted on X that he “ended” Walz’s career.
“I ENDED TIM WALZ,” Shirley wrote on X.
I ENDED TIM WALZ
— Nick shirley (@nickshirleyy) January 5, 2026
“The retirement grade determination process directed by Secretary Hegseth will be completed within forty five days.”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Monday that the Pentagon is taking administrative action against Senator Mark Kelly, a former Navy Captain, for his role in a late 2025 video in which he and other lawmakers, dubbed the “Seditious Six,” called for active duty troops to “refuse illegal orders.” Hegseth said that the Pentagon has initiated “retirement grade determination proceedings,” with a reduction in grade resulting in a reduction in retired pay.
Hegseth said, “Six weeks ago, Senator Mark Kelly — and five other members of Congress — released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline. As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice. And the Department of War — and the American people — expect justice.”
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed extradition paperwork Tuesday to seek the prosecution of a California abortionist accused of illegally shipping abortion pills into the state.
Landry is vowing to hold accountable those who undermine Louisiana’s pro-life laws and endanger women and unborn children.
“I am signing the extradition paperwork to bring this California doctor to justice,” Landry posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Louisiana has a zero tolerance policy for those who subvert our laws, seek to hurt women, and promote abortion.”
The Republican governor added: “I know Gavin Newsom supports abortion in all its forms, but that doesn’t work in Louisiana. We are unapologetically pro-life.”
The man arrested for vandalizing the Cincinnati home of pro-life Vice President J.D. Vance identifies as transgender and goes by the name “Julia DeFoor,” while his father is a surgeon who has donated to Democrats, according to reports.
William DeFoor, 26, was charged with obstructing official business, criminal damaging or endangering, criminal trespass and vandalism after allegedly smashing several windows at Vance’s home and vandalizing a U.S. Secret Service vehicle in the driveway early Monday.
DeFoor identifies as transgender, with an Instagram profile under “Julia DeFoor” using “she/her” pronouns and a Facebook account liking pages including “Heartland Trans Wellness.”
Dan Bongino served his final day as deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Saturday, returning to civilian life on Sunday after less than a year of public service.
Bongino first announced mid-December that he would be departing from the bureau in the New Year. On Saturday, Bongino made his departure official, signing off in a post on X.
‘I gave up everything for this.’
“It was a busy last day on the job,” Bongino said. “This will be my last post on this account. Tomorrow I return to civilian life.”
The following content is sponsored by Americans for Limited Government.
After years of Washington politicians lining the pockets of insurance companies and anointing them “essential partners,” President Trump has called out the insurance monopoly for what it is. “Let the money go not to the big fat cats and the insurance companies that made 1,700 percent over a short period of time,” President Trump said.
“Let the money go directly to the people, where they can buy their own health care.”
The big health insurance companies that have gorged themselves at the Obamacare trough are finally being put under the spotlight and held to account. While these companies have grown richer, patients have been left paying ever-increasing premiums and deductibles with steadily decreasing care in return.
ABC7 news helicopter footage showed officers keeping the crowd at bay as demonstrators swarmed the truck, throwing punches at the driver and thrusting flagpoles through the driver’s side window.
More than two weeks after the December 19 deadline to release records tied to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, the Department of Justice (DOJ) says it is still working through a vast backlog of unreleased material.
The DOJ acknowledges that millions of documents remain under review.
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York, the department disclosed that:
“There are more than 2 million documents potentially responsive to the Act that are in various phases of review.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson on Sept. 18, 2025, when he announced that eight people federally charged for allegedly billing for services they didn’t provide through the Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services. (Photo by Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer)
The career prosecutor overseeing the sprawling federal investigation into social program fraud in Minnesota resigned abruptly this week.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson was one of at least six senior lawyers to leave the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota on Tuesday, according to the New York Times and other outlets.
Thompson was the top lieutenant of Daniel N. Rosen, an appointee of President Donald Trump. He served as the acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota last year before Rosen’s confirmation.
At least 42 people were slaughtered and others abducted when armed bandits stormed a crowded market in Niger State, northwest Nigeria, opening fire indiscriminately, burning stalls, and looting food as terrified civilians fled. Witnesses say women and children were not spared and that security forces were nowhere to be seen as raids spread across multiple villages, with some estimating the death toll as high as 40. The massacre underscores the accelerating collapse of security across northern and central Nigeria, where mass killings and kidnappings have become routine despite repeated military operations. President Bola Tinubu has ordered authorities to hunt down the perpetrators and rescue abductees, but the bloodshed comes just weeks after more than 300 children were kidnapped from a Catholic school—grim proof that banditry is spiraling out of control while the state struggles to protect its people.
President Donald Trump suggested during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that military action against Mexican drug cartels could be coming within the next several weeks.
Trump pointed to recent U.S. military action in the lead-up to the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, which included more than two-dozen maritime strikes on Venezuelan and Colombian drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific.
“We’ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water, and we are going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico, it’s very sad to watch and see what’s happened to that country,” the president said. Trump also pointed to the cost of drug-trafficking in the United States, which has led to more than 100,000 overdose deaths on a yearly basis.
Iranian protesters are burning the tomb of Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic revolution in Iran in ’79.
🚨🇮🇷 ÚLTIMA HORA: Los manifestantes iraníes están quemando la tumba de Jomeini, el fundador de la revolución islámica en Irán en el 79.
¡¡Esto es INCREÍBLE!! pic.twitter.com/J7CoZfNgFB
— Isaac (@isaacrrr7) January 9, 2026
The leftwing media loved him.
New York Times actively promoted Ayatollah Khomeini and begged the world to “trust him” in 1979.
Do not be surprised by this. https://t.co/c5tvAn2RgW pic.twitter.com/d6DGeC0PyO
— ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) December 31, 2025
The saga of President Donald Trump’s quest for Greenland continues with a new chapter.
Over the last few days, I noted that Trump has stressed that a more robust relationship with Greenland is a national security issue. Then, both Greenland and Denmark asked to fast-track a meeting with our very busy Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
It now appears Rubio is scheduled to meet with Danish officials next week.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he plans to meet with Danish officials next week after the Trump administration doubled down on its intention to take over Greenland, the strategic Arctic island that is a self-governing territory of Denmark.
Since the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump has revived his argument that the United States needs to control the world’s largest island to ensure its own security in the face of rising threats from China and Russia in the Arctic.
The University of Maryland does not plan to change its events policies that allow it to charge security fees for events, despite pushback from a national free speech group.
The public university in College Park charged the campus Turning Point USA group nearly $150 for a security contractor to check bags during an event with Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips. The university charged the group for four hours of work, although the event only lasted an hour.
In response, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression raised concerns to the school.
However, the university stood by its policies, although a representative for FIRE said Turning Point is being treated unfairly.
It was unclear how extensive the bleeding was. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Ross’ injury, but has not yet responded to CBS News’ requests for more information. This story will be updated as we learn more.
Videos from the scene showed Ross walking away after the incident.
Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, previously acknowledged that Ross was taken to the hospital after the shooting and was released the same day. She said he was recovering from his injuries, describing him as an experienced law enforcement officer who believed he was defending himself and fellow agents.
Terrifying images are emerging from Tehran despite an IRGC-imposed internet blackout.
Iran International estimates that as many as 12,000 people have been slaughtered by the Iranian regime.
No UN sessions. No campus protests. No street marches, No celebrity posturing. Silence.
But rest assured if the USA or Israel steps in to stop the bloodbath, the left will scream bloody murder.
At least 12,000 people were killed in the largest killing in Iran’s contemporary history, carried out largely over two consecutive nights on January 8 and 9, Iran International’s editorial board concluded, based on a review of sources and medical data.
Iran is under a… pic.twitter.com/Zet5I8RlmQ
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) January 13, 2026
In the early hours of Jan. 3, 2026, President Trump directed a smooth, targeted operation to arrest Nicolás Maduro for numerous drug-related crimes.
The usual suspects (the regressive left, the Democrat party, Thomas Massie, and Sloppy Steve Bannon) are complaining that Trump took an illegal action, an act of war that requires Congress’s approval.
But here’s the truth: The United States military enforced a DOJ indictment, and the United States government has done this before.
The United States has resisted evil leaders with similar boldness.
In 2005, President George W. Bush talked about an “Axis of Evil” waging terror and rampaging war around the world: Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Twenty years later, that Axis of Evil has expanded, including China, Russia, and Venezuela.
Liberal protesters have descended upon Minneapolis following the ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good — and after viewing footage from the protests, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales can’t help but get “civil war vibes.”
“I do take them seriously that they want violence,” Gonzales says. “OK, I want to be clear. I do take them seriously that they are trying to take down America from within and that they do very much want a civil war.”
“Over the weekend, you’ve got more civil unrest, once again, you have all of these people putting their lives on the line to protest and obstruct ICE agents who are there to round up criminals. Like that’s all there is to it. They are there to cause a problem for the law enforcement officials who went out there to round up actual criminals,” she continues.
One clip from the weekend protests even shows a man screaming that he plans to buy a gun and learn how to use it because it’s “time for armed resistance against the United States of America.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is joining Democratic colleagues for a press conference on Wednesday morning in a new effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The press conference in Washington is set to begin at 11 a.m. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL) is introducing articles of impeachment against Noem, and will be joined by Omar, as well as Reps. Maxine Dexter (D-OR) and Nydia Velázquez (D-NY).
The impeachment effort was sparked by the Department of Homeland Security’s response to the killing of Renee Good last week in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
Eleven House Democrats jumped party lines to vote with their Republican counterparts in a bid to overturn regulations pushed during former President Joe Biden’s tenure.
According to Fox News, the House of Representatives voted 226-197 to overturn Biden-era regulations effectively aimed at restricting how strong shower heads could be.
Federal law already caps how much water a shower head is allowed to emit.
During the Biden administration, regulators took a broader view of that rule. They concluded that showers equipped with multiple nozzles had to be treated as a single unit, meaning the total water flow across all heads could not exceed the legal maximum.
Scores of people are once again taking to their streets this weekend to protest the Trump administration’s ongoing offensive against immigrants and those who attempt to stand up for them.
More than 1,000 demonstrations are slated for Saturday and Sunday after federal immigration agents shot three people in the past week. On Wednesday, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renée Nicole Good in Minneapolis in her vehicle, and on Thursday US Border Patrol shot a man and a woman in a car in Portland.
“The murder of Renée Nicole Good has sparked outrage in all of us,” Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of Indivisible, one of the organizations spearheading the nationwide demonstrations, told Mother Jones. “Her death, and the horrific nature of it, was a turning point and a call to all of us to stand up against ICE’s inhumane and lawless operations that have already killed dozens before Renee.”