Greene defies Trump in “60 Minutes” interview
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stood defiant in her first interview since announcing her resignation from Congress, making clear she’s not afraid to speak out on the issues that made Donald Trump “furious” with her, including her support for releasing all files related to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The interview was with Lesley Stahl on “60 Minutes.” She said survivors of Epstein’s abuse deserve her support. She said Republicans who show unshakable loyalty to Trump are terrified to step out of line. Greene said that while most Republican lawmakers hesitate to publicly criticize Trump, Greene insisted what they say behind closed doors “would shock people.”
Affordability downplayed as an issue by Bessent
While Donald Trump continues to insist that he has lowered prices and ended inflation even though inflation continues to move upward and prices go higher, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said something different when interviewed yesterday by CBS News. Bessent said that the U.S. will shift toward “prosperity” next year and move past today’s “affordability problem.” Bessent’s admission that there is an affordability problem and that is coming next year is a switch from what Trump has been saying. A recent Gallup poll found that 40% of Americans rated economic conditions as poor in November, up from 37% in October. A CNN/SSRS poll last month found 61% of Americans said Trump’s policies have “worsened economic conditions in this country.” A recent CBS survey found only 36% approved of Trump’s handling of the economy.
Presidential power to be considered
The Supreme Court was due today to begin examining President Trump’s power to fire the heads of independent agencies. The court was to hear arguments in a case stemming from Trump’s decision in March to fire Rebecca Kelly Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission, despite a federal law that attempts to insulate the agency from political pressure by permitting its members to be removed only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” Trump has provided no such justification for her removal. The court’s ruling is all but certain to influence other cases about presidential power, regardless of what it rules about whether Trump is or is not bound by existing law.
Zelenskyy meets with European leaders
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with European leaders in London today after days of peace talks with Trump administration officials going nowhere. Ukrainian negotiators spent the weekend in Miami trying to finalize a U.S.-backed plan to end Russia’s war, but left without a breakthrough. The Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. said “difficult issues remain … but both sides continue working to shape realistic and acceptable solutions.” As Russia vows to seize more land, Kyiv is demanding firm security guarantees to avoid giving up additional territory.
A Trump peace plan heads for collapse
Thailand launched airstrikes against Cambodia today, which CNN reports marks the potential collapse of a peace plan brokered by President Trump just two months ago. The two Southeast Asian neighbors both accused each other of launching strikes along their disputed border after weeks of simmering tension. In July, the countries fought a five-day border conflict that killed dozens of people and displaced about 200,000 on both sides of the frontier. An initial ceasefire between the two sides was agreed on July 28 after Trump spoke with their respective leaders.
First Amendment under attack
A new report by the nonprofit advocacy group Free Press shows there have been almost 200 direct attacks on free speech and the free press by the Trump administration so far during Trump’s second term in office. While Trump claimed during the campaign that it was Democrats who attacked free speech and he would reverse that, under Trump’s administration reporters have been roughed up while covering protests, international students have been detained due to political speech, federal workers have been muzzled, universities pressured, government critics targeted online, major news organizations have been restricted from covering the White House and Pentagon, TV stations have been threatened with having their FCC licenses revoked, news organizations have been sued by Trump, and campaigns were conducted against late night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.
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