News
Compiled by Michael Hernandez, 2-2-25
There are so many stories making up the mosaic of national/international news that we can’t cover them all every week. The biggest stories now seem to be: the Trump transition, immigration (migrants and illegals), wars, weaponization of government (the deep state) against Trump and conservatives, our nation going bankrupt, massive inflation, climate change controversy and related expenses of government, industry attempting to address these issues, the Chinese threat, drones, national security, abortion, anti-Christian hate, terrorist attacks and Los Angeles fires. Here are just a few:
Jan. 27: Gateway Pundit By Jordan Conradson
Trump Uses Emergency Powers To Send U.S. Military Into California; Provide Water
President Trump announced on Monday night that the United States Military has entered California amid ongoing wildfires to render assistance with turning on the water. For weeks, the fires have burned across Los Angeles County, forcing evacuations, destroying more than 16,200 structures, and killing at least 29 people as of Monday.
Democrat state and local government leaders left critical aquifers empty, causing local firefighters to lose water and leaving the wildfires near-unstoppable. Despite having abundant access to water, the California Democrats have flushed annual water flow into the ocean to save a tiny endangered fish called the Delta Smelt, which they can’t even find in its natural habitat.
This is why Trump sent in the military to save the day and force California to provide water to the residents of Los Angeles instead of dumping it into the ocean. This comes after President Trump signed an executive order Friday titled “Emergency Measures to Provide Water Resources in California and Improve Disaster Response in Certain Areas.”
Jan. 27: Red State By Teri Christoph
The Acting Attorney General Just Delivered Some Brutal News To Anti-Trump DOJ Staffers
It looks like Acting Attorney General James McHenry isn’t going to waste a second of his time at the helm of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and he apparently has former Special Counsel Jack Smith on his mind.
On Monday, McHenry issued memos to at least a dozen Smith staffers informing them that their services were no longer needed at the DOJ. The subject line of the memo read “Notice of Removal from Federal Service,” and in it, the acting AG took the staffers to task for their blatant partisanship against Trump, which, he said, now rendered them useless to the federal government.
McHenry referred to Article II of the U.S. Constitution and the “laws of the United States” when informing the staffers that their jobs had been eliminated and they were hereby “removed from federal service effective immediately.” A Justice Department official told Fox News Digital that the action “is consistent with the mission of ending the weaponization of government.”
https://redstate.com/terichristoph/2025/01/27/acting-ag-fires-jack-smith-staffers-n2184883
Jan. 28: Gateway Pundit By Cristina Laila
President Trump Offering Millions Of Federal Workers Buyouts If They Resign By February 6
President Trump is offering buyouts to millions of federal workers if they resign by February 6. The federal workers who accept Trump’s offer will receive pay and benefits through September 30. Trump is offering the buyouts to make sure all federal workers are “on board with the new administration’s plan to have federal employees in office,” CNBC reported.
Only six percent of all federal workers actually work full-time in the office. Trump’s offer does not include postal workers, military, immigration officials or people in national security roles. Some 10 percent of federal employees are expected to take Trump’s buyout offer.
Jan. 29: RedState By Jennifer Oliver O’Connell
Lee Zeldin Confirmed As Administrator Of The Environmental Protection Agency
Former New York Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin has been confirmed as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency tasked with protecting human health and the environment. With a full Senate vote of 56 to 42, Zeldin received the “yes” vote for confirmation of all 53 Republican senators, with three Democrat senators crossing party lines to confirm him. Zeldin is the seventh nominee to be confirmed to President Donald Trump’s cabinet.
The 56-42 vote featured Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego of Arizona, as well as John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, giving their approval of Zeldin alongside all 53 Republicans in the upper chamber. The 44-year-old ex-congressman had flown through the Senate Environment and Public Works vetting process and passed a cloture vote on the Senate floor earlier Wednesday by the same margin and with the same three Democrats supporting him.
Jan. 29: RedState By Jennifer Oliver O’Connell
Trump Establishes Task Force To Plan America’s 250th Anniversary Celebration
President Donald Trump’s signing of executive orders continues at a rapid pace. Among Wednesday’s offerings was an EO establishing a “White House Task Force on Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday on July 4, 2026.”
Trump is the President of the United States and will be the sitting president for America’s 250th birthday. With the resounding results of the election, and the ushering in of what Trump has termed, “America’s Golden Age,” Americans are thankful that this will indeed be a celebration of America and its founding, rather than a marker of America’s demise.
Jan. 30: Gateway Pundit By Mike LaChance
Confirmed: Former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum is Now Trump’s Interior Secretary
While the media has been largely focused on the nominations of Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, and RFK Jr., other nominees such as Lee Zeldin for EPA and now Doug Burgum for Interior Secretary, have sailed through the confirmation process. Burgum was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday with bipartisan support. Like Lee Zeldin at EPA, Burgum’s confirmation is key to advancing Trump’s domestic energy policy. Burgum will be an important ally and advocate.
The Senate confirmed former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as Interior secretary Thursday in a 79-18 vote, with the majority of Senate Democrats joining every Republican in the chamber.
Burgum, a one-time candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination-turned-visible Trump campaign surrogate, has been among the president’s least controversial nominees. He advanced out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week in a nearly unanimous vote, with only Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) voting against the nomination.
As Interior secretary, Burgum will oversee environmental policy and the nation’s public lands. Trump has vowed on the campaign trail and in his early actions as president to expand oil and gas development and roll back environmental protections enacted under the Biden administration.
Jan. 30: The Western Journal By Randy DeSoto
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Agrees To Pay Trump A Huge Settlement In Censorship Lawsuit
President Donald Trump has reportedly signed a roughly $25 million settlement agreement with Meta over the social media company’s decision to suspend his accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion. In July 2021, Trump sued Facebook, Twitter, and Google to have his social media accounts reinstated. All have since done so. In February 2023, Meta restored Trump’s Facebook and Instagram pages, according to the Associated Press.
Regarding the settlement with the president, The Wall Street Journal reported, “$22 million will go toward a fund for Trump’s presidential library, with the rest going to legal fees and the other plaintiffs who signed onto the case. Meta won’t admit wrongdoing, the people said. Trump signed the settlement agreement Wednesday in the Oval Office.”
Discussions about a settlement “began after Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg flew to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to dine with him in November, according to the people familiar with the discussions. The dinner was one of several efforts by Zuckerberg and Meta to soften the relationship with Trump and the incoming administration,” the Journal said.
Jan. 31: Breitbart By John Carney
Trump Moving Forward With Tariffs On China, Canada And Mexico, Targeting Trade, Border And Fentanyl Concerns
The White House confirmed Friday that President Donald Trump will impose new tariffs on major U.S. trading partners this weekend, strengthening his administration’s efforts to protect American industry and national security.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that a 25 percent tariff will be placed on goods from Mexico and Canada, while Chinese imports will face a 10 percent duty. The move, she said, is aimed at holding these countries accountable for their role in drug trafficking and securing fairer trade terms for American workers.
“These nations have all enabled illegal drugs to pour into America,” Leavitt said. “The amount of fentanyl seized at the southern border in recent years alone has the potential to kill tens of millions of Americans, and so the president is intent on taking action.”
Trump’s first-term tariffs, which bolstered domestic manufacturing and shifted supply chains, laid the foundation for this broader strategy. This time, the administration is extending the use of tariffs beyond traditional trade concerns, linking them to broader policy objectives, including immigration and border security.
Together, Canada, Mexico, and China account for more than a third of total U.S. imports and exports, making them central to America’s trade landscape. The White House has positioned tariffs as both an economic tool and a means of securing commitments from these nations on issues ranging from drug trafficking to manufacturing policy.
Industries with cross-border supply chains—such as automobiles, agriculture, and consumer goods—are expected to face higher costs if the tariffs remain in place. Auto manufacturers in particular have been pressing the administration to reconsider, citing the complexity of supply chains that integrate production across the three countries.
Jan. 31: Gateway Pundit By Brian Lupo
Six Out Of Seven Executive Assistant Directors And 25 Special Agents In Charge Out At FBI According To FBI Whistleblower
While incoming FBI Director Kash Patel sat in front of a Senate subcommittee for his hours-long confirmation hearing yesterday, the housecleaning at the FBI was well underway. According to a CNN report, “At least six FBI leaders” have been removed or told to resign by Monday.
FBI whistleblower Kyle Seraphin revealed last night that the purge went beyond the six Executive Assistant Directors; it also included 25 Special Agents in Charge. According to Seraphin, there are three individual leadership positions at the top of the FBI: the Director, the Deputy Director, and the Associate Deputy Director. Below that, there are seven “branch heads” known as Executive Assistant Directors, while the Special Agents in Charge (SACs) lead each of 56 field offices across the country.
Feb. 1: Gateway Pundit By Cistina Laila
James O’Keefe To Drop Undercover Video Of DHS Official Revealing Plans By DHS Employees To Defy Kristi Noem’s Orders
The O’Keefe Media Group is set to release undercover video of a DHS official revealing plans by DHS employees to defy newly-appointed DHS Chief Kristi Noem’s orders.
Noem has vowed to shut down Biden and Mayorkas’ CBP One “concierge service” to facilitate mass illegal immigration, The Gateway Pundit reported. During her hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Noem promised to “make sure that our nation is a nation with borders” and that she will enforce consequences against Biden’s criminal aliens. Noem is also going to go after the NGOs that are funding the invasion.
The O’Keefe Media Group said it will actually be releasing the DHS tapes on Monday out of respect to the victims of the recent plane crash at DCA.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/stay-tuned-omg-james-okeefe-drop-undercover-video/
Feb. 2: Gateway Pundit By Cristina Laila
Trump Admin Puts Two USAID Security Leaders On Leave After They Refuse To Turn Over Classified Info To Musk’s DOGE Team
The Trump Admin put two top leaders at the US Agency for International Development on leave after they refused to give Elon Musk’s DOGE classified documents. Musk’s DOGE got the classified materials on Saturday after the two officials initially withheld the materials. The two officials, John Vorhees and Deputy Brian McGill, claimed the DOGE employees did not have the security clearance to obtain the classified materials.
David Lebryk, the top-ranking career U.S. Treasury Department official, will leave his post where he has been a top official for years. Elon Musk and the DOGE team are currently examining the treasury payment systems. Lebryk clashed with Musk over access to a “sensitive system” used to pay over $6 trillion a year in Social Security and Medicare benefits (Editor’s note: That amount is far more than the actual payments to SS and Medicare). According to Elon Musk, the payment approval officers were told to always approve payments, even to fraudulent groups or terrorist organizations!
“The DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once,” Musk wrote.
Michael Hernandez, from California is co-founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service. He is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted at [email protected] and is editor of the weekly “Stories Speak Volumes.”