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Trump Threatened Canada Bridge After Call With Billionaire Buddy
Donald Trumpâs outrageous threat to close a new bridge between Michigan and Canada appears to have been at the behest of a billionaire who operates another bridge between the two countries. Just hours before Trump published a scattered tirade Monday night against the new Gordie Howe International Bridge, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick met with Matthew Moroun, whose family operates the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, two officials told The New York Times Tuesday.Morounâs family has spent years mounting legal challenges against the new six-lane bridge, which threatens to dilute trade across the Ambassador Bridge. After the meeting, Lutnick called Trump and the two discussed the matter, officials told the Times. Shortly after their call, Trump posted on Truth Social that he would block the Gordie Howe opening unless Canada âfully compensatedâ America âfor everythingâ and gives him what he wants: âat least halfâ ownership of the bridge. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was forced to clarify that Michigan already has an ownership stake in the bridge, and thatâdespite Trump claiming otherwiseâthe construction was made with U.S. steel and labor.Speaking at a White House press briefing Tuesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that the sudden opposition to the bridge was âjust another example of President Trump putting Americaâs interests first.â Rather, itâs just another example of Trump apparently taking orders from billionaires. Since 2019, Moroun has donated more than $605,000 to Trump and the Republican Party.House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia swiftly launched an investigation into Lutnickâs conspicuous act of crony capitalism.In a letter addressed to Lutnick Wednesday, Garcia wrote: âIt is flatly unacceptable and undeniably corrupt to allow a wealthy donor to dictate our foreign and economic policy in order to protect his personal business interests, and the public deserves to know if you or President Trump stand to receive additional benefits from Mr. Moroun in exchange for your sudden interference.ââYour interference could increase traffic congestion, reduce economic opportunity, and damage trade between the United States and Canada,â Garcia wrote. âAs such, I request information regarding any communications and undue influence the Moroun family may have had with the Trump Administration.âThis story has been updated.
The End of United Healthcare For All
There's been good news in Healthcare reform this week, and our guest is right in the middle of the fight for positive change.
Democrats Are Pissed After DOJ Attempt to Indict Them
The Department of Justice tried and failed to indict Democrats in Congress who made a video urging troops not to obey illegal orders. Now the legislators are triumphant, but also furious. A federal grand jury on Tuesday refused to indict the members of Congress in the video: Representative Jason Crow, Senator Mark Kelly, Representative Maggie Goodlander, Senator Elissa Slotkin, Representative Chris Deluzio, and Representative Chrissy Houlahan. Itâs not clear if all the lawmakers or only some of them were referred to the grand jury, but theyâre all pissed.âTonight we can score one for the Constitution, our freedom of speech, and the rule of law,â Slotkin said in a post on X Tuesday. Kelly, a former Navy captain who has also been targeted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, called the attempted indictment an âoutrageous abuse of power.â âIt wasnât enough for Pete Hegseth to censure me and threaten to demote me, now it appears they tried to have me charged with a crimeâall because of something I said that they didnât like. Thatâs not the way things work in America,â the Arizona senator said in a statement. On X, Deluzio said, âI will not be intimidated for a single second by the Trump Administration or Justice Department lawyers who tried and failed to indict me today.â Crow said that Americans âshould be appalled by the fact that Donald Trump and his goons at Department of Justice and everywhere else are weaponizing their justice system just to try to silence dissent and to crush political opponents.â âNot only should Americans be angry at thatâthey have chosen the wrong people. If these fuckers think that theyâre going to intimidate us and threaten and bully me into silence, and theyâre going to go after political opponents and get us to back down, they have another thing coming,â Crow said, adding that the âtide is turningâ with Americans ârising up against the corruption and the rank abuse of this administration.â In a statement on X, Houlahan said, âThis is good news for the Constitution and the free speech protections it guarantees. The grand jury upheld the rule of lawâthis is a win for all Americans.â Goodlander vowed in a statement that âno matter the threats, I will keep doing my job and upholding my oath to our Constitution.â President Trump had accused the lawmakers of sedition âpunishable by deathâ simply for exercising their First Amendment rights. Now it seems that he and the DOJ wanted to prosecute them as some kind of petty attempt to prevent criticism of his administrationâs disregard for the law. While it failed this time, how much further will Trump go in breaking the law and punishing those who point it out?
WTF Is the FAA Doing in El Paso?
The Federal Aviation Administration will now reopen the El Paso Texas Airport and surrounding airspace, after initially planning to close it for 10 days, a bizarre reversal of an even more bizarre move that would have a massive negative impact on the communities and businesses in the region.âThe temporary closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted,â the FAA wrote on X Wednesday morning. âThere is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal.âBut the FAA had just said late Tuesday that the flight restrictions were being imposed for âspecial security reasons.âA Trump administration official told NBC News on Wednesday that the planned 10-day closure was actually because Mexican cartel drones had entered U.S. airspace, but they have since been disabled.There has been no additional explanation for the decisionâor the sudden reversalâbut there were multiple theories about why Trumpâs FAA would halt all aviation activity above this southern border town of 700,000.Other possibilities that were floated included a planned military action or exercise, a credible security threat, or a very sensitive package or person that needed to be transported.âImportant context: the El Paso TFR is not like the 9/11 nationwide airspace shutdown. DC & NY restrictions were created later,â CNNâs Pete Muntean said. âA ban on all flights over a U.S. cityâincluding medevac and police helicoptersâhas no modern precedent.âWhat could have merited shutting down a major airportâand a hub of U.S.-Mexico tradeâfor 10 whole days?âThe highly consequential decision by FAA to shut down the El Paso Airport for 10 days is unprecedented and has resulted in significant concern within the community,â said Representative Veronica Escobar, who represents the El Paso region. âFrom what my office and I have been able to gather overnight and early this morning there is no immediate threat to the community or surrounding areas.âThis story has been updated.
DR Congo inks AI deal with US firm to map countryâs critical minerals
Atlas Park will use existing data on the countryâs mineral deposits and conduct new geological surveys.
Meet the DSA endorsed candidate taking on Elon Musk in South Texas
"Devastating": Trump EPA to Scrap Landmark Climate Finding in Pro-Fossil Fuel Deregulatory Push
In a victory for the fossil fuel industry, a set of Obama-era rules that required the federal government to regulate the emissions of six greenhouse gases is being reversed by the Trump administration. The changes would undo the legal basis of the fight against global warming, as well as remove industrial reporting obligations and roll back emissions standards for cars and trucks. Environmental engineer Gretchen Goldman helped author those emission standards while working for the Department of Transportation under the Biden administration. Now as the president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, she says their repeal will not only increase what drivers pay at the pump but also set U.S. innovation back on the world stage. “We’re really seeing the abdication of U.S. leadership on climate, and that has huge implications, both for our immediate ability to reduce heat-trapping emissions globally ⌠but also in terms of our standing and contribution in the world.”
African e-commerce site Jumia maintains growth as it shutters in Algeria
The move is part of a cost-cutting strategy as it comes under mounting pressure from Chinese competitors Temu and Shein.