Trump makes good on deportation promise

Days into his presidency, Donald Trump is delivering on one of the campaign promises that no doubt led to his re-election.

“Deportation flights have begun,” Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, wrote on X, along with photos of illegal migrants handcuffed and boarding military planes. “President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences.”

The deportations are part of sweeping immigration changes Trump has implemented since being sworn-in as commander-in-chief on Monday. Remember that immigration was consistently top of mind for voters during the last cycle. Per the AP:

After declaring a national emergency and describing immigration at the southern border as an invasion, Trump sent military troops to the border; lifted longtime rules restricting immigration enforcement near schools and churches; indefinitely suspended the refugee program; and halted key Biden-era immigration pathways.

The Hill, however, reports these deportations are nothing new — and that they were already happening during President Joe Biden’s administration. The publication quotes Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, who claims Trump is “slap[ping] a ‘mass deportation’ sticker on the side of normal ICE operations.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , meanwhile, made headlines this week for objecting to portions of the Laken Riley Act — the first bill Trump is set to sign into law —that would require law enforcement officers to detain immigrants accused of crimes and enable for quicker deportations.

According to AOC:

In the wake of tragedy we are seeing a fundamental erosion of our civil rights in this bill.  If a person is so much as accused of a crime, if someone wants to point a finger and accuse someone of shoplifting, they will be rounded up and put into a private detention camp and signed and sent out for deportation without a day in court.

That is what is inside this bill, a fundamental suspension of a core American value. If you’re a dreamer, all someone has to do is point a finger and you will be rounded up.

Also, the phrase “mass deportations” is being abused, notably and not surprisingly by the histrionic AOC herself. An interesting read on the history of real mass deportations and why it’s a “propaganda term” appeared at City-Journal today.

-Teresa Mull

On our radar

BIBI UNWELL Court documents filed in Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption case reveal he suffered a severe infection following the removal of his prostate gland that has affected his ability to work.

PUTIN WANTS TO TALK Russian president Vladimir Putin said he would like to “talk calmly” with President Donald Trump “on all those areas that are of interest to both the United States and Russia.”

PANDAS! Two giant pandas — Bao Li and Qing Bao — can now be viewed at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. You can also see the balls of fur on the Giant Panda Cam.

Trump’s long-distance phone calls

President Donald Trump is wasting no time in calling his counterparts abroad now that he’s in office.

While the then-incoming president’s meeting with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau helped spark the latter’s ouster, his conversations thus far have been far less confrontational and controversial. 

Trump’s first phone call as president this time around was with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The two had no shortage of topics for discussion: the Middle Eastern kingdom pledged over half a trillion dollars of investments into the United States; Trump recently redesignated the Houthis as a terrorist organization; and Trump could cement his legacy as a peacemaker if he is able to convince the Saudis to join his Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel.

While the Saudis pay homage to the need for a Palestinian state for that to happen, the first Trump term suggested that most Arab nations are open to eschewing their interest in Palestine when they can directly benefit themselves financially and on the international stage by normalizing their relations with Israel. The possibility of a Palestinian state took a huge blow when Trump named pro-Israel hardliners like Mike Waltz and Marco Rubio to top jobs in his administration. 

In another call, with El Salvador’s pro-cryptocurrency president Nayib Bukele, Trump discussed cracking down on international gangs like Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that has quickly expanded throughout Latin America and even into American cities like Aurora, Colorado. Bitcoin prices surged in anticipation of the phone call between the leaders — and perhaps with good reason. Trump declared that he wants America to be the world’s crypto capital.

Trump had no problem bullying the likes of Trudeau during meetings before he returned to office; his first calls as president present the flip-side — that he’s happy to be warm with leaders who align with him and who promise to send billions of dollars of investments to America.

–Matthew Foldi

Hegseth awaits his fate

Friday is here, and the Senate is expected to take the final vote tonight to determine if Pete Hegseth will become the Pentagon’s head. Yesterday, Hegseth cleared a key procedural hurdle, after fifty-one Republican senators voted to advance his nomination.

Following the win, accusations of misconduct skyrocketed. Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat, said on X that the nominee admitted to paying $50,000 to silence a woman “who accused him of rape,” urging against rushing the vote.

Just before yesterday’s vote, per NBC News, Hegseth’s former sister-in-law claimed the nominee demonstrated “erratic and aggressive behavior” in his second marriage. Samantha Hegseth, however, the ex-wife in question, told NBC: “I do not believe your information to be accurate.” Timothy Parlatore, Hegseth’s lawyer, accused the sister-in-law of having an “ax to grind.”

President Trump’s nominee for agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, had her confirmation hearing Thursday. Acknowledging the impacts deportations and tariffs might have on farmers, Rollins stood behind the president’s proposals.

President Trump believes tariffs are “a very important tool in his toolkit to continue to bring America back to the forefront of the world and to ensure that we have a thriving economy,” Rollins said. “But just as he did and we did in the first administration, he also understands the potential devastating impact to our farmers and our ranchers.”

The first confirmation hearing of Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will take place before the Finance Committee Wednesday, with the second before the Health Committee the following day.

Trump’s pick to head the Small Business Administration, Kelly Loeffler, will also have her hearing Wednesday. As for Kash Patel, Trump’s pick for FBI director, and Tulsi Gabbard, his pick for director of National Intelligence, are set to visit the Hill Thursday. 

–Juan P. Villasmil