President Donald Trump slammed a reporter on Friday who questioned his authority to deport illegal alien gang members before they have had the chance to appear in court.
The question came after the administration deported hundreds of members of the hyper violent Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua despite a federal judge trying to stop the deportations from happening.
&#8220;Mr. President, do you think you have the authority, the power to round up people &#8230; and that you&#8217;re under no obligation to a court to show the evidence against them?&#8221; a reporter asked.
&#8220;Well, that&#8217;s what the law says,&#8221; Trump noted. &#8220;And that&#8217;s what our country needs, because we were unfortunately, they allowed millions of people to come into our country, totally unvetted, totally unchecked.&#8221;
&#8220;So you ought to ask, did Biden have the authority to allow millions of people in?&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;Did Biden have the authority to do something that&#8217;s unthinkable? Have open borders where millions of people poured into our country totally unvetted and totally unchecked, just as you would say. And many of those people were criminals. Many of them were from jails and prisons and mental institutions and gang members and drug dealers and very dangerous people.&#8221;
Trump highlighted how many of the illegal alien gang members were murderers and are involved in committing serious crimes across the country, including attacks on law enforcement.
&#8220;Biden allowed that to happen to our country, and his people that really ran the country, and the person that operated the autopen, I think we ought to find out who that was, because I guess that was the real president,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;So when you ask me if we have the authority, did Biden have the authority to allow millions of people to come into our country, many of these people hardened criminals who have caused tremendous damage in our country?&#8221;
The president concluded by saying that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the authority to remove any noncitizen that he wants from the United States.
&#8220;Marco Rubio has a lot of big decisions to make, and he&#8217;s a fantastic person, a great man,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;I think he has a chance to be our best Secretary of State. He&#8217;s been doing incredibly. He worked so hard. He&#8217;s gone to so many different countries already, and he&#8217;s got the authority to get bad people out of our country, and you can&#8217;t stop that with a judge sitting behind a bench that has no idea what goes on, who happens to be a radical Left lunatic.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
REPORTER: Do you think you have the power to arrest illegal immigrant criminals and deport them?<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: That&#8217;s what the law says. You should be asking, &#8216;Did Biden have the authority to open the border and let millions of totally unvetted people into our country?&#8217; <a href="https://t.co/VnwlLvCGiJ">pic.twitter.com/VnwlLvCGiJ</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1903115216801374469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2025</a></blockquote>

President Trump And Defense Secretary Hegseth Speak In The Oval Office

Trump Torches Reporter Over Question On Illegal Immigration: ‘That’s What The Law Says’

Donald Trump

Illegal Immigration

Marco Rubio

Media

Politics

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that an illegal alien fugitive accused of killing a 21-year-old woman while street racing and driving under the influence has been extradited to the United States from Honduras.
Rubio <a href="https://www.state.gov/justice-for-sarah-root/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that Eswin Mejia, who fled the United States after being charged in the death of Sarah Root, would soon be facing American justice. Root was killed in 2016 on the night of her college graduation after police <a href="https://www.ketv.com/article/one-year-after-her-death-sarah-roots-family-still-vows-to-seek-justice/8661500" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that Mejia drunkenly crashed his vehicle into her vehicle at a stoplight as he was street racing in Omaha.
Mejia fled the country in 2016 after he was charged and released on a $5,000 bond, but was <a href="https://www.ketv.com/article/douglas-county-authorities-confirm-arrest-sarah-root-motor-vehicle-homicide-case/63984100" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> in Honduras late last month.
“President Trump has never forgotten or stopped fighting for justice after Sarah Root was tragically murdered in 2016 by an illegal alien who was driving under the influence and became a fugitive from justice,” Rubio said in a statement.
“Today, nine years after Sarah’s passing the night of her college graduation, her parents will know that their tireless advocacy was not in vain. Justice and accountability under the Trump Administration prevailed as the culprit of Sarah’s death has been extradited from Honduras to the United States so he can face justice once and for all,” Rubio added, thanking the Honduran government for its cooperation.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem posted a picture on X showing Mejia in American custody.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The extradition and arrest of this criminal alien is the culmination of a decades-long battle for justice for Sarah Root and her family.
Thanks to the hard work of our Homeland Security Investigation and our interagency law enforcement partners, Eswin Mejia, who fled the US to… <a href="https://t.co/CDXHMmwcro">https://t.co/CDXHMmwcro</a> <a href="https://t.co/J3eHKW5EU0">pic.twitter.com/J3eHKW5EU0</a>
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sec_Noem/status/1903152124751441943?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“Thanks to the hard work of our Homeland Security Investigation and our interagency law enforcement partners, Eswin Mejia, who fled the US to evade prosecution, will finally face justice for the killing of Sarah Root,” Noem said. “Sarah should still be here today and this illegal alien should have never been in our country in the first place.”
Sarah’s parents, Scott and Michelle Root, have been outspoken advocates for tougher immigration laws since the tragic death of their daughter.
&#8220;Nobody in our family thought we were ever going to see justice for Sarah,&#8221; Michelle <a href="https://www.ketv.com/article/honduran-police-arrest-man-charged-in-sarah-roots-death/63993996" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> KETV after Mejia was first arrested last month. “Yesterday was unreal, surreal, it was emotional as people can imagine.”
&#8220;Until we get to hug our daughter again up in heaven, we don&#8217;t get that closure. But it closes another piece of that unfortunate puzzle that we were trying to accomplish,&#8221; Michelle added.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.ernst.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ernsts-sarahs-law-signed-by-president-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> a measure known as “Sarah’s Law” into effect. The measure, which requires illegal aliens who have committed violent crimes against Americans to be detained, was added as an amendment to the Laken Riley Act.
“The Trump administration never forgot Sarah Root’s story. Together, we fought for justice to hold the illegal immigrant who took her life accountable. Iowans and every American know that this administration will always put our citizens first,” said Senator Joni Ernst, who advocated for Sarah’s Law, after the announcement of the extradition.
Other Republicans also celebrated the extradition of Mejia.
“President Trump and Secretary Rubio are showing that if you harm an American citizen there is no place you can run and hide,” the House Foreign Affairs Committee <a href="https://x.com/HouseForeignGOP/status/1903140541916909843" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on X. “No matter how long it takes, we will hunt you down and get justice.”

MixCollage-21-Mar-2025-02-19-PM-8578

Illegal Alien Fugitive Extradited To Face Justice ‘Once And For All’ For Killing Sarah Root

Department of Homeland Security

Drunk Driving

Illegal Immigation

Kristi Noem

U.S.

Violent Crime

The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it had secured the release of 66-year-old George Glezmann, a U.S. citizen who has been held captive by the Taliban since 2022.
&#8220;Today, after two and a half years of captivity in Afghanistan, Delta Airlines mechanic George Glezmann is on his way to be reunited with his wife, Aleksandra,&#8221; Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
&#8220;George joins American Ryan Corbett and William McKenty, who were released from Afghanistan on the night of President Trump’s inauguration and returned home to their families,&#8221; he continued.
Glezmann was visiting Kabul as a tourist when he was detained by the Taliban on December 5, 2022, and held without cause or being charged, according to the <a href="https://jamesfoleyfoundation.org/hostage/george-glezmann/#gsc.tab=0">Foley Foundation</a>. He was in Afghanistan to fulfill his dream of visiting every country, having already been to &#8220;well over 100,&#8221; the group said.
A resident of Atlanta, Georgia, Glezmann has had very limited contact with his family while in captivity, and his health has &#8220;deteriorated significantly while he had been in detention, and he has medical issues that require immediate care.&#8221;
Rubio said that Qatar played an &#8220;instrumental&#8221; role in getting Glezmann released after he was detained by the Taliban nearly a year and a half after former President Joe Biden&#8217;s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
&#8220;George’s release is a positive and constructive step,&#8221; Rubio added. &#8220;It is also a reminder that other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan. President Trump will continue his tireless work to free ALL Americans unjustly detained around the world.&#8221;
Former US Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, who assisted in the effort, said that the Taliban decided to free Glezmann as &#8220;a goodwill gesture&#8221; to President Donald Trump and the American people.
&#8220;@realDonaldTrump has made the freedom and homecoming of Americans held abroad a high priority,&#8221; he <a href="https://x.com/realZalmayMK/status/1902720314989064667">posted</a> on social media. &#8220;It is an honor to assist in this important effort.&#8221;

President Trump Participates In A Kennedy Center Board Meeting And Tour

Trump Admin Secures Release Of U.S. Citizen Held Captive By The Taliban

Afghanistan

Global Politics

Taliban

Canadian liberal MP Charlie Angus dramatically declared President Donald Trump&#8217;s suggestion that Canada would be better off joining the United States as &#8220;an act of war&#8221; despite the northern neighbor&#8217;s military being less than 5% the size of America&#8217;s armed forces.
&#8220;When you say that someone doesn&#8217;t have a right to have a country, that&#8217;s an act of war,&#8221; Angus stated during an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG3dZYfipOs">interview</a> with the left-wing MeidasTouch Network, where he also lamented the Trump administration attempting to &#8220;rip up&#8221; trade agreements and &#8220;break a country.&#8221;
Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a more measured response when questioned about the tensions, <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-remarks-to-the-press-at-fairmont-le-manoir-richelieu-charlevoix-canada/">stating</a>, &#8220;The President has made his argument as to why he thinks Canada would be better off joining the United States for economic purposes. There&#8217;s a disagreement between the President&#8217;s position and the position of the Canadian government. I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s a mystery &#8230;&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Canadian MP Charlie Angus: Well, I think Marco Rubio probably needs to be sent back to school because when you say that someone doesn’t have a right to have a country, that’s an act of war. When you arbitrarily rip up trade agreements, threaten a country, and say you’re going to… <a href="https://t.co/EadhvUlorw">pic.twitter.com/EadhvUlorw</a>
&mdash; Acyn (@Acyn) <a href="https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1902396729506590825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Angus has been conducting what he calls an &#8220;elbows up resistance tour&#8221; across Canada&#8217;s industrial belt, claiming Canadian citizens are responding with significant boycotts against American businesses and travel.
The MP believes that his campaign is succeeding, claiming in the interview that “the United States has become a much weaker force on the stage of the world.”
Angus&#8217;s characterization of Trump&#8217;s comments as &#8220;an act of war&#8221; appears particularly hyperbolic when considering Canada&#8217;s military consisting of approximately <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/proactive-disclosure/nddn-supplementary-estimates-b-2023-2024/background-notes/personnel.html">70,000</a> active personnel compared to the United States&#8217; <a href="https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-troops-are-in-the-us-military/country/united-states/">1.3 million</a>.
When asked by reporters last week if the administration still considered Canada an “ally,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that they have always been an “ally,” but that “Canadians would be served better economically, militarily if they were to become the 51st state of America.&#8221;

Sarnia, Canada – June 11, 2017. Trucks and cars make their way across the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia Canada. Opened in 1938 the bridge connects Canada to the United States.

Canadian Liberal Lawmaker Labels Trump’s 51st State Comments As An ‘Act Of War’

Canada

Justin Trudeau

Tariffs

Trade War

Trump Administration

United States

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday directing all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices to be removed from the foreign service. 
The order, which builds off previous DEI-related executive orders, directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio to remove any reference to DEI from the Department of State’s hiring and promotion practices. Instead, Trump said that the only hiring criteria should be merit. 
“Over the last 4 years, divisive and discriminatory policies were systematically embedded into every part of the Federal Government, including hiring processes and employee performance evaluations in the Foreign Service,” the executive order said. “It is the policy of the Federal Government that hiring in foreign policy positions, like hiring in all other parts of the Government, shall be based solely on merit.&#8221;
The order said that Rubio should remove DEI from the Decision Criteria for Tenure and Promotion in the Foreign Service, a <a href="https://pathtoforeignservice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2022-2025-Core-Precepts.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">manual</a> put out by the Biden administration that included DEI as a factor in the promotability of U.S. Foreign Service employees.
This manual stipulated that Foreign Service employees advance &#8220;diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in words and actions&#8221; and focus on hiring &#8220;diverse&#8221; candidates for key roles.
Trump’s executive order stated that Foreign Service recruitment, hiring, and promotion should not consider a person’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. 
Additionally, the order said that all Foreign Service employees are prohibited from promoting a “discriminatory equity ideology” while in their official capacities. The Trump administration defined this ideology as treating “individuals as members of preferred or disfavored groups, rather than as individuals, and minimizes agency, merit, and capability in favor of immoral generalizations.”
Rubio and several other cabinet leaders including Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins are also directed in the order to determine if any current Foreign Service employees have purposely &#8220;engaged in unconstitutional or otherwise illegal discrimination based upon race or other protected characteristics, including actions motivated by discriminatory equity ideology.”
If so, they are told to take “appropriate action,” which was not directly specified. 
Trump has already signed numerous DEI-related executive orders, including one to cut off funding for schools that push DEI and one to eliminate DEI preferences in federal contracting. On his first day, Trump signed an order stipulating that all federal hiring be based on merit, practical skills, and devotion to the Constitution.

President Trump Meets With NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte In The Oval Office Of The White House

Trump Ends Biden’s DEI-Focused Foreign Service Hiring And Promotion Practices

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Executive Orders

Secretary of State

State Department

On Friday, the Board of Directors of the U.S. Institute of Peace informed the group&#8217;s president, George Moose, that he was relieved of his duties. The same day, Moose&#8217;s replacement, Kenneth Jackson, arrived at the office for the congressionally funded nonprofit to assume his new role.
There was one problem: Moose refused to go.
A source intimately involved in the situation told The Daily Wire that Moose put the building on lockdown when Jackson and his team were en route. When they arrived, they were astonished to find that the doors were locked and they were unable to gain entry.
&#8220;They treated us, quite frankly, like criminals,&#8221; a person who was with the group shared with The Daily Wire.
Jackson encountered similar behavior on Monday. He was ultimately able to enter USIP with the help of the Metropolitan Police Department, and ordered all unauthorized personnel to leave — including Moose, who confirmed to The Daily Wire that he was escorted out by police.
When Jackson and the rest of his group were finally able to get into the building, they found things in turmoil. The shades were drawn, with white noise playing when they arrived. USIP employees were using walkie talkies to communicate within the building, according to the person who was with Jackson. As of Tuesday, none of the phone systems in the building were working, nor were the elevators, and the internet was down, The Daily Wire has learned. 
&#8220;I&#8217;ve never seen something so broken,&#8221; the source familiar with the situation told The Daily Wire. Moose did not respond to inquiries into whether he and his colleagues tampered with these systems.
Colin O&#8217;Brien, the chief security officer at USIP under Moose, told The Daily Wire on Tuesday evening that the systems likely were not working because the building had been placed on lockdown at Moose&#8217;s orders, meaning that all the systems would shut down. O&#8217;Brien and other employees were told to exit the building, and he said he hadn&#8217;t been in contact with anyone on Tuesday, though he believes he is still employed by USIP.
O&#8217;Brien said that Moose ordered that members of DOGE were not to be admitted into the building, and that members of USIP were under the impression that there was an ongoing dispute with DOGE about who the leadership of the USIP was — &#8220;something that, in my understanding, was going to be litigated,&#8221; he said. He disputed the notion that DOGE had the authority to enter the building.
<div id="attachment_893793" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doge-standoff-how-the-publicly-funded-u-s-institute-of-peace-defied-the-white-house/doge-reportedly-enters-u-s-institute-of-peace" rel="attachment wp-att-893793"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-893793" class="wp-image-893793 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205705531-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205705531-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205705531-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205705531-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205705531-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205705531-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205705531-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2205705531-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>United States Institute of Peace headquarters (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)</div>
This story, based on accounts from individuals who were on the scene as Jackson attempted to gain access to the organization he’d been put in charge of, shows how federally-funded bureaucrats worked to sabotage operations to stop the Trump administration from taking control. 
Moose, who allegedly “barricaded” himself in his office until police arrived, has told the media that members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) broke into the office without warning. But a review of events and internal emails show not only that USIP leadership blocked Moose&#8217;s replacement from entering the building, but that it was preparing to resist changes for weeks ahead of their arrival.
USIP describes itself as an independent nonprofit corporation that works with the Defense Department to help broker peace deals internationally — to &#8220;promote international peace and the resolution of conflicts.”
But the behavior of USIP staff, which has allegedly included locking doors, changing locks, distributing photos of incoming USIP leadership, prepping staff for how to interact with any &#8220;external entities requesting access to USIP,&#8221; and even blocking a security guard from leaving the building, raises questions about what exactly the publicly-funded organization was up to.
When The Daily Wire asked O&#8217;Brien why USIP was allegedly distributing photos of DOGE team members to help USIP members identify what the team members looked like, O&#8217;Brien said he had to take a call from his wife and hung up.
Gonzalo Gallegos, the director of communications for USIP, then gave The Daily Wire a call. He also ended the conversation when asked about the photographs.
&#8220;Something shady was going on at that organization,&#8221; Elon Musk said in a statement posted on X.
A White House official told The Daily Wire that “rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage.”
“The Trump administration will enforce the President’s executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people,” said Anna Kelly, the White House deputy press secretary.
“President Trump signed an executive order to reduce USIP to its statutory minimum,&#8221; Kelly said. &#8220;After noncompliance, 11 board members were lawfully removed, and remaining board members appointed Kenneth Jackson acting president.&#8221;
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, the police shared that they were contacted by the United States Attorney&#8217;s Office on Monday at 4:00 p.m. and informed that at least one person was refusing to leave USIP. Police then got in touch with Jackson, who showed police proof that he was, in fact, the head of USIP, &#8220;with all powers delegated by the USIP Board of Directors to that role.&#8221; He also told the police that there were &#8220;unauthorized individuals inside of the building that were refusing to leave and refusing to provide him access to the facility.&#8221;
Police got in contact with the individuals in the building, who allowed the police to enter, and Jackson requested that &#8220;all the unauthorized individuals inside of the building leave.&#8221; No arrests were made, the police said.
Moose told The Daily Wire in a text message that he remained in his office until the police arrived and &#8220;was escorted out of the building.&#8221; He also pushed back on the claim that he was barricaded in his executive suite.
But he told the Associated Press that it was “an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit, arguing that the building is not federally owned and that its operations are not under DOGE&#8217;s control.&#8221;
A February 11 email reviewed by The Daily Wire shows USIP leadership instructing employees on how to handle the arrival of &#8220;external entities requesting access to USIP,&#8221; stating: &#8220;The purpose of this procedure is to outline response actions that will take place in the event that an external organization presents to USIP and requests to meet regarding government efficiencies.&#8221;
In the event that an organization showed up at the main entrance to USIP, its security team was instructed to &#8220;appropriately identify the individuals,&#8221; screen them, &#8220;immediately&#8221; contact the on-duty lieutenant, contact security leadership, contact the CEO and the COO, contact the USIP legal team, and meet with the visitors in a designated room.
The guidance also includes a specific message that leadership should share with visitors, specifically suggesting that the USIP can do whatever it wishes with the building.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doge-standoff-how-the-publicly-funded-u-s-institute-of-peace-defied-the-white-house/screenshot-2025-03-18-at-6-24-52-pm" rel="attachment wp-att-893799"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-893799 " src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-6.24.52%E2%80%AFPM-445x576.png" alt="" width="402" height="520" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-6.24.52%E2%80%AFPM-445x576.png 445w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-6.24.52%E2%80%AFPM-232x300.png 232w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-6.24.52%E2%80%AFPM-768x994.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-6.24.52%E2%80%AFPM.png 1028w" sizes="(max-width: 402px) 100vw, 402px" /></a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doge-standoff-how-the-publicly-funded-u-s-institute-of-peace-defied-the-white-house/screenshot-2025-03-18-at-6-24-58-pm" rel="attachment wp-att-893801"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-893801 " src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-6.24.58%E2%80%AFPM-455x576.png" alt="" width="400" height="506" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-6.24.58%E2%80%AFPM-455x576.png 455w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-6.24.58%E2%80%AFPM-237x300.png 237w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-6.24.58%E2%80%AFPM-768x972.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-18-at-6.24.58%E2%80%AFPM.png 1038w" sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></a>
“Before we go through any questions you have, I want to highlight a few points about our organization,&#8221; leadership was told to say. &#8220;First, Congress established the United States Institute of Peace as an independent nonprofit corporation. The Institute is a federal entity, but we are not an executive agency, or an agency as defined by section 551 of title 5. As part of that independence, the Institute owns this building and maintains discretion over access to both the facility and our systems.With that in mind, I’m happy to take your questions once counsel arrives.”
The email shows that some of the USIP employees have emails ending in &#8220;usip.gov&#8221; addresses, while others have addresses that ended in &#8220;usip.org.&#8221; It was sent just over a week before Trump, on February 19, reduced USIP to its statutory minimum through executive order. The employees copied on this email did not show up for work on Tuesday, The Daily Wire has learned.
On Monday, Jackson arrived at USIP around 2:15 p.m. and again was not able to get into the building. Moose was &#8220;barricaded&#8221; in his office, and it took roughly three hours — and the arrival of police — for him to let himself out of the executive floor suite, The Daily Wire&#8217;s source shared.
Though it had been almost four days since he was removed as president of USIP, Moose put out a statement as though he retained that title, claiming at 6 p.m. on Monday evening: &#8220;DOGE has broken into our building.”
&#8220;George is not the Acting President,&#8221; the White House’s Kelly said in a post on X on Monday evening.&#8221;He was removed from his position on March 14, and Kenneth Jackson was appointed Acting President.&#8221;
&#8220;George is actually a career bureaucrat who wants to be unaccountable to the American people,&#8221; Kelly added. “The Trump administration won’t let him.&#8221;
Moose also claimed that “what has happened here today is an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit,” in a statement to the Associated Press, arguing that the building is not federally owned and that its operations are not under DOGE&#8217;s control, since its employees don&#8217;t work for the executive branch.
DOGE said in a late Monday night statement that, &#8220;Mr. Moose denied lawful access to Kenneth Jackson, the Acting USIP President (as approved by the USIP Board),&#8221; confirming that police arrived on site and escorted Jackson into the building. 
&#8220;The only unlawful individual was Mr. Moose, who refused to comply, and even tried to fire USIP’s private security team when said security team went to give access to Mr. Jackson,&#8221; the statement said.

US Institute Of Peace Says DOGE Arrives After Trump Administration Guts Board

DOGE Standoff: How The Publicly-Funded U.S. Institute of Peace Defied The White House

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Pete Hegseth

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called out those who are supporting pro-Hamas activist Mahmoud Khalil on First Amendment grounds while many of them have advocated for censorship online in the past.
Rubio made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; with Margaret Brennan when asked about the matter after Khalil was arrested by federal immigration authorities two weeks ago.
&#8220;I find it ironic that a lot of these people out there defending the First Amendment speech, alleged free speech rights of these Hamas sympathizers they had no problem, okay, pressuring social media to censor American political speech,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So I think it&#8217;s ironic and hypocritical.&#8221;
&#8220;But the bottom line is this, if you are in this country to promote Hamas, to promote terrorist organizations, to participate in vandalism, to participate in acts of rebellion and riots on campus, we never would have let you in if we had known that,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;And now that we know it, you&#8217;re going to leave.&#8221;
He pushed back on those trying to block the administration from making the country safer by removing dangerous individuals from the country.
&#8220;We don&#8217;t want terrorists in America,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know how hard that is to understand. We want people – we don&#8217;t want people in our country that are going to be committing crimes and undermining our national security or the public safety. It&#8217;s that simple especially people that are here as guests. That is what a visa is.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
On <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FaceTheNation</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/margbrennan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MargBrennan</a> v <a href="https://twitter.com/marcorubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarcoRubio</a> on case of Mahmoud Khalil. Rubio: “I find it ironic that a lot these people out there defending the first amendment speech, alleged free speech rights of these Hamas sympathizers, they had no problem pressuring social media to censor… <a href="https://t.co/x557ko0Ecw">pic.twitter.com/x557ko0Ecw</a>
&mdash; Brent Baker 🇺🇲🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrentHBaker/status/1901288684374163471?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Senate Holds Confirmation Hearing For Secretary Of State Nominee Marco Rubio

Rubio Rips Censorship Advocates For Saying Pro-Terrorist Foreigners Have First Amendment Rights

Pro-Hamas

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said over the weekend that President Donald Trump&#8217;s strikes on the Houthis are much different than the strikes from former President Joe Biden because Trump&#8217;s strikes are meant to establish deterrence while Biden&#8217;s strikes were only retaliatory.
The remarks came during a segment on CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; with Margaret Brennan while discussing the attacks that the Trump administration launched against the Iranian-backed terrorist group over the weekend.
&#8220;In the last year-and-a-half, last 18 months, the Houthis have struck or attacked 174 Naval vessels of the United States, attacking the U.S. Navy directly 174 times,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And 145 times, they have attacked commercial shipping.&#8221;
&#8220;So we basically have a band of pirates with guided precision anti-ship weaponry and exacting a toll system in one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. That&#8217;s just not sustainable,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;We are not going to have these people controlling which ships can go through and which ones cannot.&#8221;
Rubio stopped Brennan from claiming that the strikes were similar to Biden-era strikes on the terror group.
&#8220;Those strikes were retaliation strikes,&#8221; Rubio said of the Biden administration&#8217;s strikes. &#8220;So they launch one missile, we hit the missile launcher, or we sent something to do it. This is not a message. This is not a one-off.&#8221;
He said that the Trump administration&#8217;s efforts were aimed at denying them &#8220;the ability to continue to constrict and control shipping.&#8221;
&#8220;I can tell you that, as of last night, some of the key people involved in those missile launches are no longer with us,&#8221; Rubio added, highlighting how the U.S. eliminated some of the groups&#8217; leaders. &#8220;And I can tell you that some of the facilities that they used are no longer existing. And that will continue.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The U.S. airstrikes against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen &quot;will continue&quot; until &quot;their ability to control global shipping&quot; is taken away, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says.
&quot;We&#39;re doing the entire world a favor by getting rid of these guys and their ability to strike… <a href="https://t.co/YIK1JUcAvO">pic.twitter.com/YIK1JUcAvO</a>
&mdash; Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1901309094633292213?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Rubio Explains How Trump’s Strikes On Houthis Are Different Than Biden’s

Houthis

Joe Biden

Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that Ebrahim Rasool, South Africa&#8217;s Ambassador to the United States, was no longer welcome in the country this week after he claimed that President Donald Trump was &#8220;mobilizing&#8221; white supremacy around the world.
&#8220;South Africa&#8217;s Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country,&#8221; Rubio wrote Friday on X.
&#8220;Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.&#8221;
Declaring that someone is persona non grata is a formal designation that indicates a particular diplomat or politician is no longer welcome in the host country and that they need to leave.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEWS
The United States has declared South Africa’s Ambassador to the U.S. persona non grata (PNG).
Secretary Marco Rubio announced the decision, citing this clip and referring to Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool as a “race-baiting politician who hates America and [President Trump].”… <a href="https://t.co/Dckvf8pxN3">pic.twitter.com/Dckvf8pxN3</a>
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) <a href="https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1900671874998354345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
Max Meizlish and Richard Goldberg, national security experts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/5111731-south-africa-foreign-policy-rejection/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">encouraged</a> Trump in January to revoke Rasool&#8217;s credentials, citing his extremist views:
<blockquote>Rasool’s track record represents all that is wrong with South Africa’s foreign policy under the [African National Congress]. He has hosted senior Hamas operatives. He has reportedly praised Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin as “one of the greatest inspirations.” Just two weeks before the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack against Israel, Rasool gloated about receiving a signed keffiyeh from the group’s former political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, whom Israel assassinated last July.</blockquote>
Rasool has also defended Iran, worked to strengthen the country&#8217;s ties with Russia, and has supported the anti-Western BRICS economic alliance.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID) praised Rubio for the move.
&#8220;I applaud @secrubio for calling out the South African ambassador’s disgraceful, anti-American hate speech,&#8221; Risch said. &#8220;Suffice it to say that he is not cut out for diplomacy.&#8221;

Sen. Marco Rubio

Rubio Bans South Africa’s Ambassador To U.S. From Entering Country

South Africa

The United States will resume providing military aid and intelligence to Ukraine after it agreed to a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the war against Russia.
Ukraine agreed to the Trump administration&#8217;s proposal during talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this week. Secretary of State Marco Rubio led negotiations for the United States, and the two sides issued a <a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/spilna-zayava-za-pidsumkami-zustrichi-delegacij-ukrayini-ta-96553" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joint statement</a> afterward that said the proposal would be presented to Moscow.
“We’re going to tell them this is what’s on the table: Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now it&#8217;ll be up to them to say yes or no,” Rubio said after the talks, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/03/11/nx-s1-5324651/ukraine-us-saudi-arabia-talks-russia-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NPR</a>. “I hope they’re going to say yes. And if they do, then I think we’ve made great progress. If they say no, then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.”
The negotiations in Jeddah also touched on other topics, such as humanitarian assistance and an exchange of prisoners.
“The delegations also discussed the importance of humanitarian relief efforts as part of the peace process, particularly during the abovementioned ceasefire, including the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children,” The joint statement said.
“[B]oth countries’ presidents agreed to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine’s critical mineral resources to expand Ukraine’s economy and guarantee Ukraine’s long-term prosperity and security,” the statement said.
The United States cut off assistance to Ukraine after a White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ended in a chaotic argument between the two leaders and U.S. Vice President JD Vance. Zelensky traveled to D.C. and met with Trump on February 28 under the auspices of signing a minerals agreement.
Zelensky pushed Trump to offer security guarantees to Ukraine during a press conference with reporters, leading to a chaotic end to the meeting and Zelensky returning to Ukraine empty handed.
Amid fallout from the meeting, the Ukrainian president days later said he was willing to sign the minerals deal without other preconditions.

Mike Waltz, Marco Rubio

United States To Resume Military, Intelligence Assistance To Ukraine After Peace Talks

Russia

Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky

Secretary of State Marco Rubio strongly pushed back on claims that the United States did something wrong after he stripped a foreign national of their student visa because of the individual&#8217;s support for Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, and his participation in anti-Semitic activities at Columbia University.
Rubio told reporters on Wednesday that the individual came into the U.S. on a visa, which means they are a visitor in the country.
&#8220;We can deny you that visa,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We can deny you that if you tell us when you apply, &#8216;Hi, I&#8217;m trying to get into the United States on a student visa. I am a big supporter of Hamas, a murderous, barbaric group that kidnaps children, that rapes teenage girls, that takes hostages, that allows them to die in captivity, that returns more bodies than live hostages.'&#8221;
&#8220;If you tell us that you are in favor of a group like this, and if you tell us when you apply for your visa, &#8216;and by the way, I intend to come to your country as a student and rile up all kinds of anti-Jewish student, anti-Semitic activities, I intend to shut down your universities,'&#8221; he continued. &#8220;If you told us all these things when you applied for a visa, we would deny your visa.&#8221;
Rubio explained that anyone in the U.S. on a visa who engages in that type of activity will be removed from the country.
&#8220;This is not about free speech,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This is about people that don&#8217;t have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card, by the way. So when you apply for a student visa or any visa to enter the United States, we have a right to deny you for virtually any reason.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a> on arrest of Mahmoud Khalil: &quot;This is not about free speech. This is about people that don&#39;t have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/eej8vyBLKm">pic.twitter.com/eej8vyBLKm</a>
&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1899839445857100023?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
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US-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-MIDDLE EAST-CONFLICT

Rubio: Pro-Terrorist, Anti-Semitic Visa Holders Will Be Removed From U.S.

Anti-Semitism

Columbia University

Immigration

Protest

President Donald Trump might have moved closer to achieving his goal of acquiring Greenland after two political parties that favor independence from Denmark won in the country’s parliamentary elections this week.
The country&#8217;s center-right Demokraatit Party, which favors a gradual independence from Denmark, won 29.9% of the vote, meaning it will have to form a coalition with other parties to form a government.
The top opposition party, Naleraq, which has a positive view of Trump and favors rapid independence from Denmark, came in second place with 24.5% of the vote, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/12/europe/greenland-election-polls-close-demokraatit-intl-hnk/index.html">CNN</a>.
Inuit Ataqatigiit, the leftist incumbent ruling party, came in third with 21.4% of the vote, while another left-wing party, Siumut, came in fourth with 14.7%, the report said.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Demokraatit&#8217;s leader, said people in his country wanted &#8220;change,&#8221; but that does not mean they want &#8220;want independence tomorrow&#8221; and instead want to wait that there is a &#8220;good foundation&#8221; set before the island becomes fully independent from Denmark.
Acquiring Greenland has been a top foreign policy objective for Trump as he seeks to expand the U.S. for economic and national security reasons.
During his address to Congress last week, he said, &#8220;One way or the other, we&#8217;re going to get it.&#8221;
Greenland is located in the Arctic Circle, which is a strategic location for missile defense systems, as incoming ballistic missiles from adversaries like Russia would travel through the region to hit the U.S.
The region is also becoming critical for shipping lanes as some of the ice melts, making the waters more navigable.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in January that communist China was trying to stage operations in Greenland to take control of shipping lanes the same way that it has in the Panama Canal.
Rubio said that they are installing facilities that give them access to the Arctic under the cover of a Chinese company, but that, in reality, “serve a dual purpose, that in a moment of conflict, they could send naval vessels to that facility and operate from there.”
“And that is completely unacceptable to the security of the world and the national security of the United States,” he said.
“So the question becomes, if the Chinese begin to threaten Greenland, do we really trust that that is not a place where those deals are going to be made? Do we really trust that that is not a place where they would not intervene, maybe by force?”
Rubio noted that Denmark is unable to stop China because they are too weak and already relies on the U.S. to do so.
“If the United States is on the hook to provide, as we are now, we have a defense agreement with them to protect Greenland if it becomes under assault,” he said. “If we’re already on the hook for having to do that, then what we might as well have more control over what happens there. And so I know it’s a delicate topic for Denmark, but it’s, again, a national interest item for the United States.”

US-IRELAND-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY-TAOISEACH

Parties Favoring Independence From Denmark Win Greenland’s Parliamentary Elections

Denmark

Elections

Greenland

World