Trump vows political retribution for lawmakers who vote against voter ID bill
Ahead of a lengthy Senate debate on the Save America act, Donald Trump took to social media to rally lawmakers to get the legislation passed.
A reminder that the president has threatened to not sign any further bills under the sweeping voter ID bill makes its way to his desk.
A short while ago Trump insisted that the Save America act is “one of the most IMPORTANT & CONSEQUENTIAL pieces of legislation in the history of Congress” in a post on Truth Social.
He has claimed, baselessly, that undocumented citizens are voting in droves in federal elections, which experts say is exceedingly rare. The president is also pushing for an amended version of the bill that includes, among other items, a ban on mail-in ballots and bans on transgender people participating in women’s sports and gender-affirming surgeries for minors. If this version were to pass in the Senate – which is unlikely – it would also have to go back to the House.
The current bill has already failed in the upper chamber, and is facing an uphill battle in the coming days that Senate majority leader John Thune must navigate in order to appease Trump.
“Only sick, demented, or deranged people in the House or Senate could vote against THE SAVE AMERICA ACT. If they do, each one of these points, separately, will be used against the user in his/her political campaign for office,” the president wrote. “A guaranteed loss!”
He ended his post with an all-caps promise: “I WILL NEVER (EVER!) ENDORSE ANYONE WHO VOTES AGAINST “SAVE AMERICA!!!”
Key events
Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator and one of Donald Trump’s staunch allies on matters of foreign policy, said today that he spoke with the president about Nato countries’ unwillingness to assist the US reopen the strait of Hormuz.
“I have never heard him [Trump] so angry in my life,” Graham said. “I share that anger given what’s at stake.”
The GOP lawmaker from South Carolina is a noted war hawk, and continued to defend the administration’s position on launching strikes, alongside Israel, on Tehran.
“The arrogance of our allies to suggest that Iran with a nuclear weapon is of little concern and that military action to stop the ayatollah from acquiring a nuclear bomb is our problem not theirs is beyond offensive,” Graham said, while adding that the repercussions of providing little help to the US, to keep the strait of Hormuz functioning, “are going to be wide and deep for Europe and America”.
While Graham said that considers himself “very forward-leaning on supporting alliances”, this “time of real testing” is causing him to “second guess” commitments. “I am certain I am not the only senator who feels this way,” he said.
On Capitol Hill, Donald Trump is speaking at the Friends of Island luncheon, but repeating many talking points about the success of the war on Iran.
In the last week he’s repeatedly referred to the conflict as a “little excursion” – a term he continued to use today.
“How are they [Iran] doing? Not so good,” Trump said. “They’re all gone … every one of them, they’re all gone.”
White House confirms it has received latest DHS funding counteroffer from Democrats
Senate Democrats sent over their latest counteroffer for a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with stronger guardrails on federal immigration enforcement, a White House official confirmed to the Guardian.
The official didn’t expand on any details of the latest proposal from Democrats, but noted that the White House is currently reviewing the offer.
A reminder that several agencies within the DHS have been without funding for over a month, causing thousands of employees to go without pay.
Republicans have called Democrats’ demands, which include Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to no longer wear masks while patrolling, and the need to obtain judicial warrants before entering private property, non-negotiables.
Trump says US ‘not ready to leave Iran yet’ but will be leaving ‘in very near future’
Asked whether he has a “day after” plan for Iran, Trump said that if the US left the military operation now it would take “10 years for [Iran] to rebuild”.
He added:
double quotation mark But we’re not ready to leave yet. But we will be leaving in the near future, we’ll be leaving in pretty much the very near future.
He repeated his point that the US has had “great support” from countries in the Middle East but has had “essentially no support” from Nato.
Asked about his relationship with UK prime minister Keir Starmer, Trump said Starmer “hasn’t been supportive”.
He said that Starmer was willing to send two aircraft carriers “after we won” when there was no threat for them because the war was already “won”.
double quotation mark I like him, I think he’s a nice man, but I’m disappointed.
Irish taoiseach Micheál Martin (who is still there) stepped in at this point to state that the transatlantic relationship between Europe and US is still “very, very important”.
He also vouched for Starmer, calling him an “earnest” and “sound” person that the US president has the capacity to get on with.
In response to a later question about Starmer, Trump repeated that he likes the UK prime minister but added that the US-UK relationship was always the best “before Keir came along”.
He then went on a tangent about windmills.
Trump says his meeting with China’s Xi will take place in five or six weeks
Donald Trump also confirmed that he’s “resetting” his meeting with Xi Jinping in China “in about five or six weeks”.
double quotation mark I look forward to seeing President Xi, he looks forward to seeing me – I think.
‘Iran was a threat’: Trump doubles down, claiming that Joe Kent was ‘weak on security’
Asked about the resignation of Joe Kent, his former director of national counterterrorism, who said he couldn’t remain in his job because he couldn’t support the conflict in Iran, Trump replied:
double quotation mark Well, I read his statement. I always thought he was a nice guy but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security.I didn’t know him well … But when I read his statement I realised that it’s a good thing that he’s out, because he said Iran was not a threat.
Iran was a threat, every country realised what a threat Iran was.
As Shrai reported earlier today, Kent, an Iraq war veteran and failed congressional candidate, said he “could not in good conscience” continue serving as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, due to the ongoing war on Iran.
In his resignation letter to Trump, Kent accused “high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media” of deploying “a misinformation campaign” that ultimately “sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran”.
“This echo chamber was used to deceive you,” he wrote.
‘We don’t need them, but they should’ve been there’: Trump says Nato allies making ‘a foolish mistake’ by not helping with strait of Hormuz
Donald Trump was asked what progress he’s made in getting allies to help the US with escorting oil tankers through the strait of Hormuz.
“Well, we don’t need any help,” Trump said. Nato allies “agreed” what the US did, he claimed, adding that it was very important that they remove the nuclear threat from Iran.
He repeated his usual lines that they have successfully wiped out Iran’s military, navy and air force, and killed “one of their top people” yesterday – referring to Iran’s national security chief Ali Larijani, whom Israel claims to have killed.
Then circling back to Nato, Trump said they were making “a foolish mistake” and once again framed this issue as a loyalty test for Nato. He said Nato should’ve “been there” for the US, but also that the US didn’t need them anyway. He told reporters:
double quotation mark I think Nato’s making a very foolish mistake. And I’ve long said that, you know, I wonder whether or not Nato would ever be there for us. So this is a this was a great test because we don’t need them, but they should have been there.
Trump continued to berate Nato this morning over their resistance to assist the US in its war on Iran, in particular their ruling out sending warships to the strait of Hormuz. The US president previously warned that Nato faces “a very bad future” if allies failed to help the US reopen the vital waterway.
Back in the Oval Office, asked a follow-up question on French president Emmanuel Macron’s comments that France will not join a taskforce in the strait of Hormuz until the situation is “calmer”, Trump replied that Macron will be out of office soon.
Donald Trump has been taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office as he meets with the Irish taoiseach Micheál Martin. I’ll bring you all the key lines here.
Former Trump advisor says Joe Kent is a ‘crazed egomaniac’ making ‘a splash before getting canned’
In response to Joe Kent’s resignation as the Trump administration’s top counter-terrorism official, one of the president’s former advisors branded Kent as “a crazed egomaniac” who was “often at the center of national security leaks”.
Taylor Budowich, who served as Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff for communications until he resigned in September of last year, also questioned whether Kent produced “any actual work”.
Earlier today, Kent, an Iraq war veteran and failed congressional canddidate, said he “could not in good conscience” continue serving as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, due to the ongoing war on Iran.
In his resignation letter to Trump, Kent accused “high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media” of deploying “a misinformation campaign” that ultimately “sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran”.
“This echo chamber was used to deceive you,” he wrote.
Budowich, however, slammed Kent’s decision and undermined his overall performance on the job. “He spent all of his time working to subvert the chain of command and undermine the President of the United States,” Budowich said of the outgoing counter-terrorism official. “This isn’t some principled resignation-he just wanted to make a splash before getting canned. What a loser.”
Trump continues to slam Nato allies for refusing to join war on Iran
Donald Trump continued to lambast Nato countries over their resistance to assist the US in the war on Iran. This comes after US allies in Europe and beyond ruled out sending warships to the strait of Hormuz, despite threats from the president that Nato faces “a very bad future” if members fail to help reopen the vital waterway.
“I am not surprised by their action,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street.”
He said that the member countries “will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need” before heralding the success of US forces degrading Iran’s military capabilities, naval forces, and air defenses.
“We no longer “need,” or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance – WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea,” Trump insisted on social media.
Top Senate intelligence Democrat agrees with Kent’s decision to resign
In response to Joe Kent’s decision to resign as the Trump administration’s top counter-terrorism official, the Senate’s top Democrat on the intelligence committee said that Kent is “right” about his decision to resign.
“There was no credible evidence of an imminent threat from Iran that would justify rushing the United States into another war of choice in the Middle East,” said Mark Warner, a lawmaker from Virginia.
Warner noted that Kent’s record is “deeply troubling”, and believes “he never should have been confirmed to lead the National Counterterrorism Center” to begin with, but agrees with Kent’s comments about the ongoing war on Iran.
“The United States cannot be led into conflict on the basis of politics, impulse, or a president’s desire for confrontation. We have seen where this road leads before,” Warner said in a statement.
Hugo Lowell
Joe Kent’s resignation from the office of the director of national intelligence (ODNI) is being met with derision inside the Trump administration this morning, making it unlikely that it will trigger internal splits or opposition to the war in Iran.
Several senior Trump advisers have long made clear that they have not cared about him or his views for some time, evidenced by the fact that Kent has played no role in any major operation or policy in Trump’s second term.
There does appear to be some anger towards Kent for making such a splashy resignation, however, including from his own former colleagues. DNI Tulsi Gabbard is set to face a bruising Worldwide Threats Hearing on Capitol Hill this week, where she is now certain to be asked about Kent’s resignation.
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