‘We can’t be intimidated,’ Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey says at US Convention of Mayors
Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey has simply addressed the US Convention of Mayors at a winter assembly in Washington.
“In Minneapolis, we’ve heard them say they’ll finish this siege after we hand over voter rolls. We’ve seen them invade not simply with this occupation, but additionally with the DOJ getting used as a weapon,” Frey mentioned. “They’re investigating me and a number of other different native elected officers not as a result of we’ve carried out one thing fallacious however as a result of we’ve got exhibited one of many core duties we’ve got as mayors – talking on behalf of your constituents. I’m going to proceed to talk on behalf of my constituents. We gained’t be intimidated.”
Frey additionally advised reporters that “Our cops will do their jobs,” and “They’re not going to do any individual else’s job.” He dismissed Trump’s risk that he was “taking part in with hearth” by not imposing federal immigration legal guidelines.
Throughout his remarks, the mayor mentioned leaders of cities throughout the nation are “on the frontlines of an important battle,” including “This isn’t a time to bend our heads in despair out of concern that we could also be subsequent.”
He warned: “If we don’t converse up, if we don’t step out, will probably be your metropolis that’s subsequent.”
Key occasions
Donald Trump signed an government order at present to create a “White Home Nice American Restoration Initiative” targeted on habit remedy.
At an Oval Workplace sigining ceremony, the president appeared alongside well being secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Kathryn Burgum, who’s married to Inside Secretary Doug Burgum. The pair can be co-chairing the initiative.
Each Kennedy and Burgum have lived expertise with habit.
Kennedy, who has been open about his previous wrestle with heroin habit, emphasised that it’s “not an ethical failure, it’s a illness.”
In her remarks, Kathryn Burgum talked about being reliant on alcohol for 20 years and being in restoration for greater than 23. “Dependancy isn’t an ethical failure. It isn’t a personality flaw. And it’s not merely a behavioral concern. Dependancy is a lifelong, continual, relapsing medical illness as actual as diabetes, most cancers, and coronary heart illness. And after we fail to deal with it as such, we don’t deal with the illness,” she mentioned.
Home speaker Mike Johnson referred to as final week’s capturing of Alex Pretti “deeply regarding” in his first remarks in regards to the loss of life of the 37-year-old ICU nurse in Minneapolis.
Johnson advised reporters that an investigation is critical, whereas additionally criticizing state and native officers. “We’d like them to cooperate with federal officers,” he mentioned.
Josh Shapiro says Pennsylvania is getting ready to reply if federal brokers start an immigration operation there as they’ve in Minnesota and different states.
Talking in dialog with The Christian Science Monitor at an occasion in Washington DC, Shapiro declined to share specifics however mentioned, “we’ve got ratcheted up our preparation ought to this come, and that’s going to contain not simply legislation enforcement response however working intently with the neighborhood.”
“If the president of the USA seeks to impose his will and the federal will on the commonwealth, there could also be some issues we are able to’t cease,” he mentioned, however added that his authorities is “ready on each stage”.
Lauren Gambino
Requested about Trump’s threats to research California for fraud, Newsom ran by means of a litany of efforts the state had taken to cut back abuses of federal and state profit packages. Whereas he insisted that fraud was an actual downside and efforts to handle it needs to be taken significantly, Newsom pushed again, asking the moderator if he was conscious of a multi-billion greenback healthcare fraud scheme in Texas.
He advised that as a result of it befell in a purple state that voted overwhelmingly for Trump, the federal authorities wasn’t within the case.
“This isn’t about fraud and abuse,” Newsom mentioned. “That is about politicalization, weaponization.”
Lauren Gambino
As he has earlier than, Newsom argued that Trump was laying the groundwork to contest the result of the 2026 midterm elections in anticipation of steep Republican losses that would imperil the second-half of his presidency.
“What extra proof do we’d like on a day-to-day foundation,” Newsom requested. On Wednesday, the FBI executed a search warrant on the elections warehouse of a Georgia county on the coronary heart of Trump’s baseless stolen-election lie, Newsom famous. “All of that is a part of that very same narrative, that very same risk.”
Gavin Newsom says he has little religion that ‘border czar’ Tom Homan will de-escalate immigration crackdown in Minneapolis
Lauren Gambino
Governor Gavin Newsom mentioned he had little religion that Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, would de-escalate the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, warning darkly: “These guys are usually not screwing round.”
Talking in San Francisco at an occasion hosted by Bloomberg Information, Newsom recalled that the Trump administration closed an investigation into Homan, who was accused of accepting a bag with $50,000 in money from undercover FBI brokers.
“If Tom Holman – who was accused of a $50,000 bribe the place costs disappeared … – is the grownup within the room, we’re extra hassle than any of you assume,” Newsom mentioned.
The governor added: “None of this may be normalized, and none of this, none of those may be thought of credible within the context of any of this renewed posture of the administration.”
Donald Trump’s approval ranking has fallen to 37%, down three share factors from the autumn, in keeping with a brand new Pew ballot.
The ballot confirmed the best modifications amongst Republicans. The proportion of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who believed Trump acts ethically in workplace had fallen from 55% in the beginning of the president’s second time period, to simply 42% in January 2026. In the meantime, the share who believed the president had the psychological health to do the job had fallen from three-quarters to two-thirds of Republicans.
Pew additionally requested Individuals about their opinions concerning Trump’s immigration insurance policies. It discovered that 74% of Individuals consider it’s acceptable for abnormal folks to document video of immigration arrests. A majority (59%) additionally consider it’s acceptable for folks to share details about the place enforcement actions are taking place.
High Democrats on Senate and Home nationwide intelligence committees query why Tulsi Gabbard appeared at FBI search of Georgia election workplace
The highest Democrats on Senate and Home nationwide intelligence committees are questioning why Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of Nationwide Intelligence, appeared at an FBI search of a Georgia election workplace this week.
Gabbard was current yesterday when the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant in Fulton county, Georgia for paperwork associated to the 2020 election, which Donald Trump has falsely claimed he gained.
In a letter to Gabbard, senator Mark Warner and congressman Jim Hines wrote, “The Intelligence Group needs to be targeted on overseas threats and, as you your self have testified, when these intelligence authorities are turned inwards the outcomes may be devastating for Individuals privateness and civil liberties.”
Massachusetts governor Maura Healey introduced at present that she plans to file laws that will bar federal immigration officers from faculties, courthouses, hospitals and church buildings and make it unlawful for one more state to deploy its Nationwide Guard within the state.
Healey, a Democrat operating for reelection, additionally signed an government order that will prohibit Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from making civil arrests in personal areas of state amenities, and prohibiting the usage of state property for immigration enforcement staging.
“We have now folks proper now in Massachusetts who’re afraid to ship their kids to highschool or to daycare, folks afraid to go to church and worship, folks afraid to go to the physician’s for appointments or take their youngsters to the pediatrician’s workplace,” Healey mentioned at a press convention.
“That is all making us much less, much less secure. And as governor, I’ve a accountability to guard the folks of Massachusetts.”
El Salvador indicators commerce settlement with the US
El Salvador has signed a commerce settlement with the USA, El Salvador’s ambassador to the US Milena Mayorga and US commerce consultant Jamieson Greer introduced at present.
The US embassy mentioned it was a deal for “reciprocal commerce” which concerned “addressing quite a few non-tariff limitations together with simplifying regulatory necessities.”
In a statement, Greer mentioned: “As we speak’s signing of the primary Settlement on Reciprocal Commerce within the Western Hemisphere will additional strengthen markets for US exports and decrease commerce limitations dealing with American employees and producers. This Settlement is a crucial step within the deepening of our strategic partnerships in Latin America.”
A part of the “strategic partnerships” that the Trump administration has constructed with El Salvador was the settlement for the US to expel Venezuelan deportees to El Salvador underneath Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Deportees underneath the coverage suffered systematic and extended torture and abuse throughout their detention, in keeping with reports.
