Fired federal workers likely to be eligible for unemployment — which the government will cover
Thousands of federal workers the Trump administration has fired over the past week are likely to be eligible for unemployment benefits, which the federal government is required to pay for, along with other federal assistance the workers may now be eligible to receive, like food stamps or Medicaid.
State agencies will determine on case by case whether employees are eligible for unemployment. But generally, workers can receive unemployment benefits even when employers claim they were fired for poor performance, as the Trump administration said in letters obtained by NBC News informing thousands of federal workers of their terminations.
Sen. Rand Paul offers belated Trump endorsement
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., today offered his endorsement of Trump on X, praising his posture toward Ukraine and the actions of the Department of Government Efficiency.
"A few people may have noticed that I resisted an enthusiastic endorsement of Donald Trump during the election. But now, I’m amazed by the Trump cabinet (many of whom I would have picked). I love his message to the Ukrainian warmongers, and along with his DOGE initiative shows I was wrong to withhold my endorsement," Paul wrote.
"So today, admittedly a little tardy, I give Donald Trump my enthusiastic endorsement!" he added.
The belated endorsement follows Trump's musing about the idea of a third term, which is not allowed under the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution.
Although Paul applauded Trump's Cabinet selections, he has said he would not back Trump's labor secretary nominee, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who appeared before the Senate HELP Committee today.
Paul also reiterated in tonight's post that he opposes Trump's stance on tariffs. Both Paul and fellow Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky have opposed Trump’s tariffs, arguing that they will raise costs to Americans in their state.
Explaining his hesitance to endorse Trump, Paul said in September that Trump was partly responsible for inflation, saying: “In fact, I think some of the inflation we have now is from the deficits under the Trump administration."
Trump downplays extent of Russian interference in U.S. elections
Trump minimized the extent of Russian interference in U.S. elections in remarks at a tech summit in Miami Beach, suggesting Moscow's involvement was limited to "internet ads."
He made the remark as he bemoaned an alleged finding by the Department of Government Efficiency of a $21 million pending investment in voter turnout efforts in India by the United States.
"Wow. $21 million. I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected," Trump said. "We ought to tell the Indian government, because when we hear that Russia spent about $2 in our country, it was a big deal, right? It took internet ads for $2,000."
Before the November election, the Biden administration announced new sanctions and charges against Russia over an alleged plot to manipulate U.S. public opinion by disseminating pro-Russia content and bolstering Trump's campaign.
Russia was also accused of aiding Trump's 2016 election victory, but a special counsel report found no proof that Trump himself criminally colluded with Russia.
Trump says losing the 2024 election would have been 'dangerous' for him
Trump said tonight that losing the 2024 presidential election would have been "very dangerous in so many different ways," casting himself as being treated unfairly by the media.
"Nobody was treated like me, nobody," Trump said during the Q&A part of a tech summit in Miami Beach after having spoken for about an hour. "If I lost, it would have been very, very dangerous, actually, very dangerous in so many different ways. And I decided to do it. And said I have to win."
Trump hit the golf course before taking the stage in Miami Beach
Trump hit the links at his golf course in Florida today before his address at the FII Institute.
Trump flew to his Doral club in the morning after he left Mar-a-Lago, where he stayed over his extended holiday weekend and golfed numerous times at his Trump International golf club. Guests at Doral posted video of his rare mid-week golf trip to that club on social media.
Trump, who was expected to sign some executive orders on Air Force One as he returns to Washington, delivered a speech in Miami Beach after his golf outing touting his efforts to get federal workers back into the office.
We’ve "required that all federal employees must once again show up to work," Trump said. "I watched some of the big business leaders saying we absolutely are going back. You can’t work at home. They’re not working, they’re playing tennis, they’re playing golf, or they have other jobs, but they’re not working, or they’re certainly not working hard. You could never build a company or a country with that."
Trump’s frequent outings to his golf properties during and after his first term attracted attention because as a candidate he had frequently criticized President Barack Obama for playing golf.
He said in 2020 that his time on the course was different because Obama played “much longer rounds.”
"My ‘exercise’ is playing, almost never during the week, a quick round of golf,” he tweeted that year.
Trump continues his attacks on Zelenskyy
Trump went after Zelenskyy again this evening, referring to him as a "modestly successful comedian" and suggesting he misled the United States into supporting him after Russia invaded Ukraine.
"President Zelenskyy talked the United States of America into spending $350 billion to go into a war that basically couldn't be won," Trump said. "The only thing he was really good at was playing Joe Biden like a fiddle. He played him like a fiddle."
Trump repeated his characterization of Zelenskyy as a "dictator" and asserted without clear evidence that Zelenskyy is refusing to hold an election because he is losing the support of his citizens.
Trump also defended his administration's efforts to negotiate peace talks directly with Russia, without Zelenskyy's involvement.
"I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job. His country is shattered, and millions and millions of people have unnecessarily died, and you can't bring a war to an end if you don't talk to both sides," Trump said.
Democratic New Jersey governor praises Trump for ending NYC congestion pricing
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, applauded Trump for ending federal approval of a congestion pricing plan in New York City, arguing the short-lived policy unfairly affected New Jerseyans.
"I want to thank President Trump and Secretary [of Transportation Sean] Duffy for their efforts to halt the current congestion pricing program in Manhattan's Central Business District," he wrote today on X.
"While I have consistently expressed openness to a form of congestion pricing that meaningfully protects the environment and does not unfairly burden hardworking New Jersey commuters, the current program lines the MTA's pockets at the expense of New Jerseyans," he continued.
Murphy had long opposed the plan charging a $9 toll on most vehicles entering central Manhattan during peak hours, saying it amounted to an unfair financial strain on New Jersey commuters crossing through the borders of the congestion pricing zone into New York City.
White House confirms Trump to sign order tonight aimed at undocumented immigrants accessing federal benefits
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt this evening confirmed reporting from Fox News that Trump will sign an executive order tonight aimed at undocumented immigrants accessing federal benefits.
"Can confirm! No more federal benefits to illegal aliens," Leavitt wrote on X in response to a post from a Fox News correspondent that said “later tonight, President Trump will sign an executive order designed to terminate any & all federal taxpayer benefits going to illegal aliens."
According to the Fox News correspondent, the order "will direct every federal agency & department to identify all federally funded programs currently providing any financial benefits to illegal aliens, and 'take corrective action', ensuring that any federal funds to states and localities 'will not be used to support sanctuary policies or assist illegal immigration.'"
‘Long live the king’: Trump adds rhetoric to actions that critics say exceed his authority
Trump is branding himself a monarch.
The president of the United States made an unprecedented declaration today while applauding his administration’s decision to terminate federal approval of New York’s congestion pricing program.
“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED,” Trump wrote on his social platform Truth Social. “LONG LIVE THE KING!”
JB Pritzker swipes at Trump: 'I'm watching with a foreboding sense of dread'
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker referred in remarks this afternoon to the emergence of dictatorship in Germany in the 20th century and warned that authoritarianism is on the rise.
"The seed that grew into a dictatorship in Europe a lifetime ago didn’t arrive overnight. It started with everyday Germans mad about inflation and looking for someone to blame. I’m watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now," Pritzker said in a budget address today.
"It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours, and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic. And all I'm saying is that when the five-alarm fire starts to burn, every good person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging out of control," he added.
Pritzker, a Democrat, has been a prominent critic of Trump.
"We don't have kings in America, and I don't intend to bend the knee to one," he said.
Last month, Pritzker announced he would block those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol from working in state jobs.
Illinois joined a coalition of states last month that sued the Trump administration over a federal funding freeze that was subsequently rescinded.