Trump makes 13-year-old DJ Daniel’s dream come true in address to Congress
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump turned the nation’s attention to Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel, a 13-year-old who aspired to become a police officer but was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018, and made him an honorary member of the U.S. Secret Service.
“Joining us in the gallery tonight is a young man who truly loves our police,” Trump said after praising America’s law enforcement officers.
“The doctors gave him five months at most to live. That was more than six years ago,” the president continued. “Since that time, DJ and his dad have been on a quest to make his dream come true.”
“And tonight, DJ, we’re going to do you the biggest honor of them all. I am asking our new Secret Service director, Sean Curran, to officially make you an agent of the United States.”
DJ has been sworn in as an honorary law enforcement officer at police agencies around the country.
DJ reacted with a face of pure shock before his father hoisted him for the crowd to see. DJ proudly raised his new certificate and was met with claps, chants, and cheers.
In a rare moment that a Democrat expressed support for the president’s remarks, Rep. Laura Gillen, D-N.Y., rose from her seat and applauded for DJ.
Following this heartwarming moment, Trump proceeded to discuss childhood cancer rates, calling upon newly minted Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to “get toxins out of our environment, poisons out of our food supply and keep our children healthy and strong.”
(WASHINGTON) — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the mystery drones flown across New Jersey in late 2024 were “authorized to be flown by the FAA” in the first press briefing of President Donald Trump’s second administration.
“I do have news directly from the president of the United States that was just shared with me in the Oval Office, from President Trump directly, an update on the New Jersey drones,” Leavitt said.
“After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons. Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones,” she added. “In time, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy.”
In December, Trump suggested the Biden administration knew more than it was revealing to the public about the drones, which were spotted throughout the East Coast, though Leavitt did not say whether the drones spotted outside New Jersey were all lawful.
“They know where it came from and where it went,” Trump said. “And for some reason, they don’t want to comment. And I think they’d be better off saying what it is. Our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense.”
Ahead of his inauguration, Trump vowed to give a report on drones “about one day” into his administration while speaking with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago on Jan. 9 “because I think it’s ridiculous that they are not telling you about what’s going on with the drones.”
However, the Biden administration had on Dec. 16 said in a multiagency statement from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the FAA and the Department of Defense that though there were indeed drones flying over New Jersey, they constituted a “combination” of lawful aerial activity.
“Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones,” the joint statement said.
The drone activity, which was first reported on Nov. 19 by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, caused temporary flight restrictions in New Jersey throughout November and December, notably in Bedminster, New Jersey, where the president has a golf club, and over the Picatinny Arsenal military base.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — A group of 191 House and Senate Democrats sent a letter to Russell Vought, the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, calling on them to reverse course on actions targeting the nation’s consumer financial watchdog agency.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was created by Congress in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to safeguard Americans against unfair business practices. It has been brought to a virtual standstill after Vought, who last week was named the agency’s acting director, and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency took control of the agency. Vought has since issued a stop-work order to nearly all CFPB staff.
Democrats, in their letter, are calling for Musk’s DOGE employees, some of whom physically accessed the agency’s federal office and requested access to its industry and consumer data, to be pulled out of the CFPB.
“Your efforts to dismantle the CFPB are dangerous, and we will fight them at every turn. We ask that you remove Mr. Musk’s operatives from the CFPB, restore all internal and external systems and operations, and allow the CFPB to continue to do its job of protecting American consumers,” the Democrats wrote in their letter.
The letter is signed by all Senate Democrats and the two independents — Sen. Angus King, of Maine, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont — who caucus with them.
During remarks on Monday from the Oval Office, President Donald Trump said the CFPB was “very important to get rid of” and that the organization was “set up to destroy some very good people.”
When asked if his goal was to completely get rid of the agency, Trump answered in the affirmative.
“I would say yeah, because we’re trying to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse,” Trump said.
Democrats in their letter allege that efforts to sideline the financial watchdog will harm consumers and are potentially illegal.
“The Trump Administration has effectively fired the financial cop on the beat and declared open season for predatory lenders and scam artists working to steal Americans’ money and threaten their financial security,” Democrats said in the letter.
“No matter how badly someone has been cheated and no matter how extensive the scam, the Administration has declared that the financial cops should simply stand by and watch while giant networks of lenders cheat American consumers,” the letter continued. “This is particularly costly for people whose claims of illegal foreclosures, car repossessions, or debanking are currently under investigation by the agency.”
The letter comes as congressional Democrats, who are in the minority in both the House and the Senate, have vowed to use their limited tools to challenge what they say is illegal overreach by the Trump administration and Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency across a number of agencies, including USAID, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Institutes of Health and the CFPB.
The National Treasury Employees Union filed two lawsuits this week against Vought, challenging both the takeover of the CFPB and DOGE’s access to its records.
The letter is led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, who is the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee and helped create the CFPB after the 2008 financial crash. In the days since Elon Musk posted “RIP CFPB” on X, Warren has been a vocal defender of the agency.
Since it was established in 2011, the CFPB says it has clawed back nearly $21 billion for American consumers, addressing complaints over everything from bank fees to credit cards to student loans.
On Tuesday, Warren implored Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who was appearing before the Senate Banking Committee, to work with Congress to keep Musk’s team out of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“If the CFPB is not there examining these giant banks to make sure they are following the laws, are not cheating consumers, who is doing that job?” Warren asked Powell during the hearing.
“I can say no other federal regulators,” Powell replied.
“No one. In other words thanks to ‘co-president’ Musk and the CFPB Acting Director Vought, Wall Street banks no longer have to show the bank examiners that they’re not illegally opening accounts people didn’t ask for, like what happened with Wells Fargo, or charging illegal junk fees like Bank of America did,” Warren said.
But some Republicans on the panel pushed back on this line of questioning, saying laws that regulate banks haven’t changed and Elon Musk is simply carrying out the work Trump promised on the campaign.
“There’s been a lot of conversation, both in and out of this hearing room today, conversations about a co-president, referencing Elon Musk, referencing the work that DOGE is doing,” said Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt. “I think it’s important to remember that President Trump ran on this. I mean, he said we’re going to look for wasteful spending across our government.”
Democrats, in their letter, say they’ll fight to defend the agency.
“We beat back all prior efforts to gut this agency, and we will fight this latest attack in Congress, the courts, and the public,” the lawmakers wrote. “It will fail.”
President-elect Donald Trump is marking his historic political comeback to the White House with a signature “Make America Great Again Victory Rally” in Washington on Sunday, bringing together more than 20,000 supporters to the nation’s capital ahead of Inauguration Day.
The rally is set to be held at Capital One Arena Sunday afternoon, mirroring the Madison Square Garden rally he held in New York City last October, which served as his closing remarks to American voters a week before Election Day in November.
The Sunday rally is one of numerous festivities planned to celebrate Trump’s second inauguration, along with fireworks Saturday night at his Virginia golf club and exclusive receptions and dinners.
At the same time, it’s a move to pay a special tribute to the major role big arena rallies have played in all three of Trump’s presidential bids to galvanize his supporters and to carry that campaign spirit into his second-term presidency.
The rally is also set to feature performances by several celebrities featured during Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, including the disco band Village People — the ’70s group behind Trump’s beloved “Y.M.C.A.” and his rally dance — and country singer-songwriter Lee Greenwood, whose signature song “God Bless the U.S.A.” has served as Trump’s rally walkout song throughout his campaign.
Longtime Trump supporter and rock musician Kid Rock, country musician Billy Ray Cyrus and Liberty University’s Praise Choir are also set to perform at the rally.
On Monday, Trump and his supporters are expected to once again gather at Capital One Arena, which is expected to serve as an overflow venue with the inauguration festivities moved to a much smaller space inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda due to frigid weather.
Trump on his social media platform touted a “live viewing” of his inauguration at the arena on Monday, and promised to join the crowd after he is sworn in.
“Everyone will be safe, everyone will be happy, and we will, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote.
On Monday, following the swearing-in ceremony and the presidential parade, three inauguration balls – the Commander in Chief Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball and the Starlight Ball, all attended by Trump – are set to conclude the inaugural festivities.
