{"id":848842,"date":"2025-05-16T22:11:56","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T03:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/16\/white-house-lashes-out-after-report-trump-wants-new-defense-secretary\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T22:11:56","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T03:11:56","slug":"white-house-lashes-out-after-report-trump-wants-new-defense-secretary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/16\/white-house-lashes-out-after-report-trump-wants-new-defense-secretary\/","title":{"rendered":"White House Lashes Out After Report Trump Wants New Defense Secretary"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/p>\n
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An NPR <\/span>report<\/span><\/a> that a search is underway for a new secretary of defense is being met with vehement denials from the White House.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a <\/span>post on X<\/span><\/a>, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the news that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth\u2019s job was in trouble, calling the story \u201ctotal FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAs the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind [Hegseth],\u201d Leavitt\u2019s post said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

President Trump was <\/span>asked<\/span><\/a> by a reporter at the White House Easter egg roll Monday morning, prior to the report\u2019s publication, if he had confidence in Hegseth, to which he replied, \u201cWhy would you even ask a question like that?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAsk the Houthis how much dysfunction there is. There\u2019s none. Pete\u2019s doing a great job. Everybody\u2019s happy with him. We have the highest recruitment numbers I think we\u2019ve had in 28 years,\u201d Trump <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>. \u201cNo, he\u2019s doing a great job. It\u2019s just fake news.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThey just bring up stories. I guess it sounds like disgruntled employees. You know, he was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people, and that\u2019s what he\u2019s doing, so you don\u2019t always have friends when you do that,\u201d Trump added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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President Trump on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: “Ask the Houthis how much disfunction there is. There’s none. Pete’s doing a great job. Everybody’s happy with him.” pic.twitter.com\/UDzrDYENvT<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 CSPAN (@cspan) April 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Hegseth is under fire for sharing details about U.S. airstrikes against targets in Yemen in a private Signal chat last month that included his <\/span>wife and brother<\/a>, at around the same time he shared the war plans in <\/span>another group chat<\/a> with <\/span>The Atlantic<\/i>\u2019s <\/span>editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to other reports, the Pentagon has been in <\/span>disarray for the past month<\/span><\/a>, not just because of \u201cSignalgate\u201d but also due to other sensitive leaks and mass firings. On Friday, three top Pentagon employees were <\/span>fired<\/span><\/a> over a leak investigation in the department. If the NPR report is true, the president may be getting fed up with Hegseth\u2019s constant flow of bad news. Perhaps his <\/span>narrow confirmation<\/span><\/a> was a sign that Hegseth shouldn\u2019t have gotten the job.\u00a0
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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More on Signalgate Round 2:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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MAGA Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared to mock Pope Francis\u2019s death on Monday, calling him \u201cevil.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cToday there were major shifts in global leaderships,\u201d Taylor Greene <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a> on X, alluding to the death of one of the world\u2019s most influential religious leaders without naming him directly. \u201cEvil is being defeated by the hand of God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She did not issue any clarification after coming under fire for the post.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is par for the course for a far-right congresswoman who has expressed that she thinks Catholic bishops are \u201cdestroying\u201d the country and that the Catholic Church as a whole is \u201c<\/span>controlled by Satan<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

American conservatives have maintained a fraught relationship with Pope Francis, as the first Latin American pope was <\/span>often critical<\/span><\/a> of the Trump administration and its policies.
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Vice President JD Vance met with Pope Francis Sunday, just hours before the progressive pontiff passed. Coincidence? Yes\u2014but good luck telling that to the internet, which won\u2019t stop joking that Donald Trump\u2019s antagonistic ally had something to do with it. <\/p>\n

During his 12-year papacy, the pope was an advocate for the rights of LGBTQ+ people and <\/span>Palestinians<\/a> and a <\/span>staunch critic<\/a> of Trump\u2019s MAGA agenda. He even openly spoke against Vance, who tried to refashion Catholic teaching to justify Trump\u2019s massive deportation scheme. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Suffice it to say, the internet is now <\/span>suggesting<\/a> that Vance made quick work vanquishing the Vicar of Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Not everyone was <\/span>accusing<\/a> him of doing something, just asking questions.<\/span><\/p>\n

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But people on X certainly had their theories. Specifically, that Vance might <\/span>be<\/a> <\/span>the<\/a> <\/span>Antichrist<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Others weren\u2019t quite as convinced<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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To be sure, not everyone was <\/span>suggesting<\/a> that Vance had carried out some kind of unholy hit. But he certainly <\/span>didn\u2019t help<\/a> things.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Some suggested there could be <\/span>evidence<\/a> of an emerging trend that Vance has a bad touch. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Pope Francis\u2019s death report, released Monday afternoon by the Vatican, indicated he died of a cerebral stroke, which caused him to fall into a coma and suffer \u201cirreversible cardiocirculatory collapse,\u201d The New York Times<\/i> reported<\/a>. He had long suffered from chronic lung disease and developed double pneumonia earlier this year.<\/p>\n

This story has been updated.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Read more about their meeting:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele wants to exchange Venezuelan deportees from the United States being unlawfully held in prison for political prisoners being held in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

He made the terrifying proposition to Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro via X Sunday evening. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMr. @NicolasMaduro, you have said on numerous occasions that you want the Venezuelans back and free,\u201d Bukele <\/span>wrote<\/a>. \u201cUnlike you, who have political prisoners, we don\u2019t have political prisoners. All the Venezuelans we have in custody were detained as part of an operation against gangs like the Tren de Aragua in the United States.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Last month, Donald Trump invoked the rarely used Alien Enemies Act to unlawfully <\/span>deport<\/a> more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants\u2014the majority of whom have no criminal record\u2014based on unfounded claims that they were part of Venezuela\u2019s Tren de Aragua Gang. He also ignored a court order telling him to stop the deportation. The deportees are now being held in CECOT, a notorious prison in El Salvador that has no contact with the outside world. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bukele happily agreed to hold the Venezuelan deportees captive in exchange for a $6 million payment from the U.S. government. In complete disregard for the lives of innocent Venezuelans, the self-proclaimed <\/span>\u201cworld\u2019s coolest dictator\u201d<\/a> is now proposing to trade human beings he was paid to lock up for a handpicked group of people he wants in El Salvador.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe only reason they are imprisoned is because they opposed you and your electoral fraud,\u201d Bukele said of the political prisoners he wants released. \u201cHowever, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100% of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and delivery of an identical number (252) of the thousands of political prisoners that you hold.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Among those he wants released include the son-in-law of former Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez, lawyer and activist Roc\u00edo San Miguel, journalist Roland Carre\u00f1o, four political leaders seeking asylum in the Argentine embassy, and nearly 50 detained citizens of various nationalities. <\/span><\/p>\n

Venezuela\u2019s chief prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, said in a statement that Bukele\u2019s proposal was \u201ccynical\u201d and called the 44-year-old dictator a \u201cneofascist.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe treatment received by Venezuelans in the United States and El Salvador constitutes a serious violation of international human rights law and constitutes a crime against humanity,\u201d Saab said in the statement. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bukele\u2019s alarming idea for a swap comes as the Trump administration is desperately trying to deport more Venezuelan immigrants through the Alien Enemies Act. It looks like Bukele will do everything he can to capitalize on Trump\u2019s stupidity and benefit his own authoritarian government.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Read more about the deportations:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Trump administration aide Stephen Miller thinks the United States deserves reparations for mass immigration.<\/span><\/p>\n

That was Miller\u2019s <\/span>response<\/span><\/a> to Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse\u2019s idea that the administration be held in <\/span>civil contempt<\/span><\/a> and fined $1 million for each day it refuses to follow the <\/span>Supreme Court\u2019s ruling<\/span><\/a> that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Savador, be returned to the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhere does our whole country go to get repaid for all of the wealth, all of the prosperity and security, that has been stolen from us by decades of uncontrolled, illegal mass migration?\u201d Miller said. \u201cWe all deserve reparations for what has been stolen from us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Miller didn\u2019t stop there, complaining that \u201cwe used to have a functioning public school system in this country,\u201d until it was ruined by \u201copen borders.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAn entire generation of Americans\u2014multiple generations, in fact\u2014have been robbed of educational opportunities,\u201d Miller complained, raising his voice.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The White House aide went on to blame immigrants for deaths from fentanyl, the rise of gangs, and violent crime against Americans.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhere do any of their families go to get reparations?\u201d Miller said. \u201cThere aren\u2019t enough volumes that could fit into a library to calculate the carnage that has been inflicted by the Democrat Party\u2019s policy of open borders.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Where do Americans go to get repaid for the damages inflicted by mass migration? pic.twitter.com\/lG0PUgTtJU<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Stephen Miller (@StephenM) April 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

The Trump administration has accused Abrego Garcia, with <\/span>no evidence<\/a>, <\/span>of being a violent member of the MS-13 gang <\/span>and already admitted his deportation was an \u201c<\/span>administrative error<\/a>.\u201d He has no criminal record but continues to be held in El Salvador due to a deal the Trump administration made with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, whom it is paying to hold undocumented immigrants in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Miller\u2019s absurd demand belies the fact that previous administrations, including Democratic presidents such as <\/span>Joe Biden<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Barack Obama<\/span><\/a>, deported countless undocumented immigrants. It also ignores the fact that, statistically speaking, native-born Americans commit <\/span>more crimes<\/span><\/a> than immigrants. But Miller\u2019s views have long been influenced by <\/span>xenophobia and racism<\/span><\/a>, which is commonplace in the Trump administration.
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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More on Trump\u2019s war on immigration:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed it was \u201cfake news,\u201d but purported plans to shutter huge sections of the Department of State sent shivers down the spines of U.S. diplomats over the weekend. <\/p>\n

An alleged draft order circulated through the State Department over the weekend, outlining a complete overhaul of the agency to \u201cstreamline mission delivery\u201d while eliminating \u201cwaste, fraud and abuse,\u201d according to <\/span>The New York Times<\/i><\/a>. The plan recommended eliminating the department\u2019s bureaus focusing on African affairs and all \u201cnon-essential embassies and consulates in sub-Saharan Africa.\u201d It would also shutter bureaus on democracy and human rights, refugees and migration, and one that works with international organizations. It would abolish the special envoy on climate and shrink the U.S. diplomatic presence in Canada to a \u201csignificantly reduced team\u201d overseen by Rubio himself. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The document also pitched changes to how the foreign service works, ending an \u201coutdated and disorganized generalist global rotation model\u201d for a model that promotes specialization in one particular area. The plan called to terminate the foreign service\u2019s contract to recruit fellowship candidates from Howard University, a historically Black institution. <\/span><\/p>\n

Rubio responded to the report in a <\/span>post<\/a> on X Sunday, writing that it was \u201cfake news.\u201d But the proposed changes reportedly rattled diplomats, who thought the memo could be real, according to <\/span>Politico<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot that could be reformed, but you could give infinite monkeys infinite typewriters, and they would come up with something better than that,\u201d said one U.S. diplomat who spoke to Politico. They called the plan \u201cbonkers crazypants.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Amid the massive cuts proposed by the Trump administration, it\u2019s no surprise that the radical reshuffling seemed like the real thing. Last month, <\/span>Politico<\/a> reported that the Trump administration was planning to cut the State Department\u2019s budget by nearly half, zeroing out the funding for programs to promote democratic processes and counter drug trafficking, and shuttering up to three dozen embassies. This proposal would shrink the department\u2019s budget from $54.4 billion in 2025 to $28.4 billion in 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week, a memorandum that was part of a broader budget for 2026 that is due to the Office of Budget Management <\/span>outlined<\/a> a plan to close 10 embassies and 17 consulates. This includes U.S. missions in Eritrea, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Scotland, and South Sudan, as well as five outposts in France and two in Germany. <\/span><\/p>\n

Politico reported that there was significant reason to doubt the veracity of last week\u2019s memo, which was not consistent with other communications from the Trump administration to Congress and did not follow the typical structure of an executive order.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pope Francis has died at 88. The first Latin American pope, Francis was both beloved and reviled by many for his <\/span>progressive<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>humanistic<\/span><\/a>
\n principles, repeatedly warning against the dangers of climate change
\nand creating greater acceptance of LGBTQ people within the church. He
\nalso made his deep distaste for Trump and his anti-immigrant policies
\nwell known.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are four times the pope talked about Trump and his
\ndangerous MAGA agenda:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

1. \u201cA person who only thinks about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,\u201d <\/b>the pope said<\/span><\/a>
\n in February 2016, when asked about then-candidate Trump\u2019s proposal to
\nbuild a border wall and make Mexico pay for it. \u201cThat is not in the
\nGospel.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor a religious leader to question a
\n person\u2019s faith is disgraceful,\u201d Trump replied. \u201cIf and when the Vatican
\n is attacked by ISIS, which, as everyone knows, is ISIS\u2019 ultimate
\ntrophy, I can promise you that the pope would have only wished and
\nprayed that Donald Trump would have been president.\u201d
<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Francis was also directly critical of Trump\u2019s attack on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe
\n President of the United States presents himself as pro-life and if he
\nis a good pro-lifer, he understands that family is the cradle of life
\nand its unity must be protected,\u201d Francis <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>
\n in 2017, after Trump ended the program giving legal protections to
\nabout 800,000 \u201cDreamers\u201d who entered the country as children. <\/span>\u201cI think this law comes not from parliament but from the executive.\u2026 If that is so, I am hopeful that it will be re-thought.\u201d
<\/span><\/p>\n

3. In 2025, he <\/span>criticized<\/span><\/a> Trump and border czar Tom Homan\u2019s mass deportation plans.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThe
\n act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for
\nreasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or
\nserious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many
\nmen and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of
\nparticular vulnerability and defenselessness.\u2026 What is built on the
\nbasis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every
\nhuman being, begins badly and will end badly.\u201d
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4. The
\n Pope\u2019s final public criticism of the Trump administration came in
\nFebruary 2025, when vice president and recently reformed Catholic JD
\nVance used the Catholic concept of <\/span>ordo amoris<\/i><\/span><\/a> <\/span>to justify mass deportation, isolationism, and a general resentment of immigrants.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Francis <\/span>attacked<\/span><\/a> the very logic of Vance\u2019s claim.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cChristians
\n know very well that it is only by affirming the infinite dignity of all
\n that our own identity as persons and as communities reaches its
\nmaturity. Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that
\n little by little extend to other persons and groups. In other words: <\/span>The
\n human person is not a mere individual, relatively expansive, with some
\nphilanthropic feelings! The human person is a subject with dignity who,
\nthrough the constitutive relationship with all, especially with the
\npoorest, can gradually mature in his identity and vocation,<\/span>\u201d Pope Francis wrote. \u201cThe true <\/span>ordo amoris<\/span> that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the \u2018Good Samaritan\u2019 (cf. <\/span>Lk<\/span> 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Pope Francis\u2019s death will leave us without a powerful moral barometer who always put principles over politics.\u00a0
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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More on the pope fighting with Trump and his stooges:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The entire Pentagon is in total chaos after Signalgate part two.<\/a> <\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/i> reported<\/a> Sunday that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared sensitive details of a U.S. military attack on the Houthis in Yemen in yet another Signal group chat that included his wife, brother, and others in his inner circle. It\u2019s the second time he\u2019s done so in less than a month, after he and other members of Trump\u2019s Cabinet discussed<\/a> similar classified information in a Signal group chat that happened to include The Atlantic<\/i>\u2019s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The news comes amid a wealth of other chaos at the DOD. Just hours after the Times<\/i> report, Politico <\/span>published<\/a> an opinion essay by former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot detailing the building\u2019s \u201cfull-blown meltdown\u201d spurred by Hegseth. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president\u2014who deserves better from his senior leadership,\u201d Ullyot wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

First there was Signalgate, a scandal that Hegseth tried to lie his way through, instead of owning up to. Then came <\/span>reports<\/a> that the defense secretary brought his wife to classified meetings, and news that the Pentagon arranged a top-secret briefing for Elon Musk on China, <\/span>behind Donald Trump\u2019s back<\/a>. To top it off, last week, a number of top DOD senior staffers <\/span>were fired<\/a> or left their posts amid rumors that they were leaking sensitive information, sending the building into \u201cdisarray under Hegseth\u2019s leadership\u201d Ullyot revealed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThere are very likely more shoes to drop in short order, with even bigger bombshell stories coming this week,\u201d he wrote. It\u2019s hard to imagine what\u2019s bigger than news that the man in charge of U.S. defense has shared sensitive military information over text, not once but twice. But, as Ullyot pointed out, \u201cThe Pentagon focus is no longer on warfighting, but on endless drama.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As it did with the first Signal scandal, the Department of Defense denied that Hegseth shared any classified information, and framed the whole thing as a smear campaign from the media.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnother day, another old story\u2014back from the dead. The Trump-hating media continues to be obsessed with destroying anyone committed to President Trump\u2019s agenda,\u201d Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote, in a <\/span>statement<\/a> on X. \u201cThis time, the New York Times\u2014and all other Fake News that repeat their garbage\u2014are enthusiastically taking the grievances of disgruntled former employees as the sole sources for their article. They relied only on the words of people who were fired this week and appear to have a motive to sabotage the Secretary and the President\u2019s agenda.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cThere was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story,\u201d he continued.<\/span><\/p>\n

The White House too stood behind Hegseth, despite an <\/span>outpouring of cries<\/a> from Democrats demanding he be fired to protect the safety of U.S. military personnel. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe president stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth, who is doing a phenomenal job leading the Pentagon,\u201d White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt <\/span>told<\/a> Fox News on Monday. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cAnd this is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change that you are trying to implement,\u201d she added, offering a glimpse into the shaky disarray going on behind the scenes. It seems the White House is doing everything it can to avoid admitting that choosing a 44-year-old TV presenter with allegations of alcohol abuse to lead the U.S. military may have been a bad idea after all.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Donald Trump is incensed that Harvard University won\u2019t give in to his administration\u2019s draconian demands, and is taking further action against the institution.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal<\/i><\/span> <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> Sunday night that the White House plans to pull $1 billion in federal funding for Harvard\u2019s health research, which comes after the administration <\/span>cut<\/span><\/a> $2.2 billion in grants and a $60 million contract with the university last week.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The White House is reportedly upset that the university publicly released a letter that the administration\u2019s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism sent it more than a week ago. The task force\u2019s letter had a <\/span>long list of demands,<\/span><\/a> apparently under the impression that it would simply be a starting point for negotiations. Since the letter\u2019s release, Trump has planned to treat Harvard even more harshly than Columbia University, which lost $400 million in federal funding despite giving in to the <\/span>administration\u2019s demands<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Harvard President Alan Garber had written his own letter to the university community, rejecting Trump\u2019s demands. \u201cNo government\u2014regardless of which party is in power\u2014should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,\u201d he <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump has already threatened to end the university\u2019s <\/span>tax-exempt status<\/span><\/a>, which would cost the university millions of dollars, as well as its ability to <\/span>enroll international students<\/span><\/a>, which make up 27 percent of Harvard\u2019s enrollment. Now the president expects an even more protracted fight with America\u2019s oldest university. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cInstead of grandstanding, Harvard should focus on rebuilding confidence among all students, particularly Jewish students,\u201d a White House spokesperson told the <\/span>Journal<\/i>. \u201cThe White House remains open to dialogue, but serious changes are needed at Harvard.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s attacks on academic freedom echo the right\u2019s long-standing <\/span>grievances<\/span><\/a> against higher education institutions in America, which it sees as bastions of liberal influence. Last year\u2019s protests at universities across the country against Israel\u2019s brutal war in Gaza <\/span>incensed<\/span><\/a> supporters of Israel and further drove Republicans to punish any university they perceive as failing to take action. After making an example of Columbia, Trump and his fellow conservatives are expanding their crusade.
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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More on Trump\u2019s war on Harvard:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen perfectly dismantled Donald Trump\u2019s administration\u2019s argument for ignoring the due process rights of immigrants such as Kilmar Abrego Garcia. <\/p>\n

During an <\/span>appearance<\/a> Sunday on NBC\u2019s Meet the Press,<\/i> Van Hollen was asked to respond to comments from Patty Morin, the mother of Maryland resident Rachel Morin who was raped and killed by a Salvadoran man in 2023, a tragedy that Trump administration officials regularly revisit in their justification of the president\u2019s mass deportation scheme. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Morin had criticized Van Hollen\u2019s visit to El Salvador to find Abrego Garcia, whom the Trump administration mistakenly deported in March, during a White House press briefing last week.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo have a senator from Maryland who didn\u2019t even acknowledge, or barely acknowledged, my daughter and the brutal death that she endured, leaving her five children without a mother and now a grandbaby without a grandmother, so that he can use my taxpayer money to fly to El Salvador to bring back someone that\u2019s not even an American citizen. Why does that person have more right than I do? Or my daughter?\u201d Morin asked. <\/span><\/p>\n

Van Hollen <\/span>responded<\/a> to Morin\u2019s comments Sunday. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cMy heart goes out to the Morin family. They suffered\u2014experienced an unspeakable tragedy in the murder of their daughter, and I said at the time that my heart goes out to the Morin family. And I\u2019m very glad that the killer of Rachel has been convicted in a court of law. That is how we hold guilty people accountable,\u201d Van Hollen said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe courts of law are also where people get to have their due process so we don\u2019t unfairly punish people who don\u2019t have criminal records,\u201d Van Hollen continued. \u201cAnd so, my view is you can crack down and hold guilty people accountable and also respect the due process rights of everybody who is in court. And I am not sure why Abrego Garcia\u2019s rights should be denied based on an awful murder that he had absolutely nothing to do with.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Van Hollen <\/span>returned<\/a> from El Salvador Friday after finally meeting with a \u201ctraumatized\u201d Abrego Garcia, and recounted the outrageous lengths the Salvadoran government had gone to to try to mislead the public about its treatment of Abrego Garcia. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Trump administration has claimed that Abrego Garcia, who has no criminal record, was not only a member of MS-13 but a \u201ctop leader\u201d and \u201cengaged in human trafficking,\u201d while only providing <\/span>thin evidence<\/a> that he was even affiliated with the group. In fact Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador as the result of an \u201cadministrative error.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Read more about the case:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An NPR report that a search is underway for a new secretary of defense is being met with vehement denials from the White House.\u00a0 In a post on X , White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the news that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth\u2019s job was in trouble, calling the story \u201ctotal FAKE NEWS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":848843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[5065,5064],"class_list":{"0":"post-848842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-house","8":"category-white","9":"tag-house","10":"tag-white"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}