Trump 47

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School cancels US Education Secretary Linda McMahon's visit after parent backlash​

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MSN

 

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GOP Senators join Dem Senators to block funding package amid DHS standoff​

Eight Republicans joined every Senate Democrat to block sweeping government funding legislation from advancing Thursday amid ongoing negotiations around a potential offramp to avert a lengthy shutdown of several agencies.

The Senate voted 55-45 against moving forward with a six-bill package that would, among other things, fund the departments of Homeland Security, State and Health and Human Services, as well as the Pentagon.


The measure accounts for more than 75 percent of discretionary spending across the federal government, and programs relying on this money will shutter if Congress cannot reach a deal by 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

The House already passed these bills, then left town for recess. The Senate was on track to clear them without much drama. But then came last weekend’s killing in Minneapolis of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, at the hands of Border Patrol agents.

The incident has fueled new scrutiny of the administration’s immigration enforcement activities, including from some of President Donald Trump’s more reliable GOP allies on Capitol Hill.

Democrats now say they will oppose advancing the funding measure as long as funding for DHS is included — or until Republicans agree to legislation that would put new guardrails around ICE.

 

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Trump: "I made a lot of money building low income housing, I know more about it than anybody. I'd like to have that stopped immediately. No financing for low income housing."

Craig R. Brittain (@brittainforsenate) on Threads

Trump: "I made a lot of money building low income housing, I know more about it than anybody. I'd like to have that stopped immediately. No financing for low income housing."

www.threads.com

 

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Senior Trump officials have held meetings with the Alberta Prosperity Project, a fringe separatist group that seeks to split the province away from Canada. https://trib.al/LdPnECn

If the U.S. tries to engineer a breakup of Canada, it will only worsen an already unfavorable image on the world stage.

The New Republic (@newrepublic) on Threads

Senior Trump officials have held meetings with the Alberta Prosperity Project, a fringe separatist group that seeks to split the province away from Canada. https://trib.al/LdPnECn If the U.S. tries to engineer a breakup of Canada, it will only worsen an already unfavorable image on the world stage.

www.threads.com

 

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Trump’s tariff boasts blown up as trade deficit balloons 95% from Oct to Nov and 2025 Trade Deficit 4% higher than 2024​

The U.S. trade deficit soared in November, nearly doubling the previous month as President Donald Trump’s widespread use and threat of tariffs have led to intense trade volatility.

The trade deficit was up nearly 95 percent in November from the prior month, or $27.6 billion, hitting $56.8 billion, according to the latest data released by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

It was a sharp reversal from previous months, when the deficit had been shrinking and even hit its lowest level since 2009 in October.

Year-over-year, the trade deficit through November was four percent higher than the same period in 2024 despite the president’s attempts to use tariffs to reduce trade imbalances around the world.

Imports in November increased by five percent to $348.9 billion, while exports dipped 3.6 percent to 292.1 billion.

The drop in exports was led by a decline in pharmaceuticals, gold, consumer goods and crude oil being shipped out, while imports rose thanks to Americans buying pharmaceuticals and data center equipment.

After the monthly trade deficit fell to its lowest level in October in more than 15 years, economists cautioned that some of the decline was due to temporary shifts in trade for products such as gold and pharmaceuticals.

But Trump was quick to tout the increasing deficit on the world stage earlier this month at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“In one year, I slashed our monthly trade deficit by a staggering 77 percent,” the president bragged during his address last week.

Since taking office, the president has repeatedly argued that the U.S. trade deficit constitutes a national emergency, which he used to impose widespread tariffs last April. Since then, the president has repeatedly backed off on some of his tariffs while imposing others as he looks to negotiate deals.

To put this in perspective

US trade deficit widens by the most in nearly 34 years in November​

MSN

 

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Caterpillar flags $2.6 billion tariff hit in 2026​

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Caterpillar warned of a $2.6 billion tariff cost in 2026, including about $800 million in the first quarter, after beating Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter results on sustained demand for its power-generation equipment amid a rapid build-out of data centers.

Industrial firms were among the hardest hit by President Donald Trump's expansive tariffs last year, slashing forecasts and raising prices. While many U.S. firms have told investors this year that the tariffs are "manageable," early earnings-season commentary suggests profit margins are under pressure.

The world's largest construction and mining equipment maker said in October 2025 it expected a $1.6 billion to $1.75 billion annual tariff hit.

Caterpillar outlined two scenarios for its annual operating profit margin, echoing a trend from last year, highlighting difficulties in financial planning due to Washington's evolving trade policies.

Including tariffs, the company expects its full-year adjusted operating profit margin to be near the bottom of the target range.

The company said at its November investor day that it is targeting an adjusted operating profit margin of 15% to 19% through 2024, rising to 21% to 25% by 2030, depending on sales levels.


Caterpillar said its operating profit fell 9% in the fourth quarter to $2.66 billion, driven by $1.03 billion of unfavorable manufacturing costs, largely tied to higher tariffs.

The company reported an adjusted profit of $5.16 per share for the quarter ended December 31, up from $5.14 per share a year earlier. Revenue rose to $19.1 billion from $16.2 billion.

Analysts on average expected the company to report a quarterly profit of $4.68 per share and revenue of $17.86 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

 

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FCC chairman says "fake news" won't qualify for equal time rule exemption​

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MSN

 

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Trinidad born Nicki Minaj confirm suspicions after being gifted 'free' Trump Gold Card for fast tracked US residency after public praise of Trump over the last 2 months.​

“The Trump administration is using her, and she, in part, is using them as well,” Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross tells theGrio.

Rapper Nicki Minaj appeared to confirm suspicions behind her very public support for President Donald Trump on Wednesday, revealing that the commander-in-chief gifted her with a free Trump Gold Card for a fast-track to U.S. residency.


“Finalizing that citizenship paperwork as we speak as per MY wonderful, gracious, charming President. Thanks to the petition. I wouldn’t have done it without you. Oh CitizenNIKA you are thee moment Gold Trump card free of charge,” Minaj wrote on X after joining President Trump at an event highlighting the newly launched “Trump Accounts” for U.S. newborns.

Minaj, who later joined Trump at the White House and greeted a group of MAGA autoworkers inside the Oval Office, also shared an image of herself holding the gold card emblazoned with Trump’s face and signature.

The disgraced hip-hop star’s Trump Gold Card will almost certainly fuel public scrutiny over her controversial decision to publicly support Trump more than two months ago. Critics of the rapper, who was born in Trinidad, have suggested that her MAGA transformation was a political ploy to gain citizenship and perhaps secure a presidential pardon for her husband, Kenneth Petty, who is a convicted sex offender, and brother, who was convicted of child rape and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

 

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Trump says he wants to 'drive housing prices up' instead of lowering costs for people who 'didn't work very hard'​

In a seeming reversal from previous promises about focusing on affordability, Trump said during a Jan. 29 Cabinet meeting, "I don't wanna drive housing prices down, I wanna drive housing prices up"

NEED TO KNOW​

• President Donald Trump said in a Jan. 29 Cabinet meeting that he wants to keep housing prices up
• Of current homeowners, Trump said, "We're not gonna destroy the value of their homes so that somebody who didn't work very hard can buy a home"
• The latest promise comes just weeks after a Truth Social post in which the president detailed a plan to "drive Mortgage Rates DOWN, monthly payments DOWN, and make the cost of owning a home more affordable"

In a seeming reversal from his recent promises about increasing affordability, President Donald Trump said during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Jan. 29, that his goal is to keep housing prices up to avoid inadvertently benefiting Americans who "didn't work very hard."

"People that own their homes, we're gonna keep them wealthy. We're gonna keep those prices up," he said. "We're not gonna destroy the value of their homes so that somebody who didn't work very hard can buy a home."

Stepping back a bit, he added, "We're gonna make it easier to buy, we're gonna get interest rates down, but I wanna protect the people that, for the first time in their lives, feel good about themselves. They feel like, you know, that they're wealthy people."

Trump then circled back to his plan to increase housing costs: "There's so much talk about, 'Oh, we're gonna drive housing prices down.' I don't wanna drive housing prices down, I wanna drive housing prices up for people that own their homes, and they can be assured that's what's gonna happen."

The president's latest plan comes just weeks after he announced his intention to make housing more affordable, including backing an initiative to ban corporations from being able to purchase single-family homes.

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MSN

 

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The Dem who ran contested took 95% of the vote. The other Dem ran uncontested.

Democrats win 2 Minnesota special elections, ending GOP majority and bringing state House back to a tie​

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MSN

 

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Walmart spox refutes Trump late night Social Media claim and isn’t shutting down 250 California stores​

Trump twice shared a video titled “California Governor PANICS as Walmart Shuts Down 250+ Stores Across State.” The video, echoed by the text in one of the posts Trump shared, claimed that Walmart is preparing to shut down these stores because the retailer can’t afford California’s “$22” per hour minimum wage.

But California’s statewide minimum wage is $16.90 per hour, not $22 – and Walmart told CNN on Thursday morning that it isn’t conducting a massive store closure in California for any reason.

“This isn’t accurate information,” a Walmart spokesperson said. “In fact, we actually just recently opened a new store in California.”