Erika Kirk endorses JD Vance for president in 2028
Erika Kirk, widow of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance embrace on stage during a Turning Point USA event at the Pavilion at Ole Miss at the University of Mississippi, on October 29, 2025 in Oxford, Mississippi. Jonathan Ernst-Pool/Getty Images
(PHOENIX) — Erika Kirk endorsed Vice President JD Vance for president during a Turning Point USA conference in Arizona, vowing to throw one of the most influential conservative organizations in the country behind Vance in 2028.
“We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” she said during her speech on Thursday night at AmericaFest, the first major Turning Point event since her husband’s assassination.
While the endorsement is not a major surprise given Vance’s close relationship with Charlie Kirk, Erika Kirk and Turning Point, it is significant given the group’s prominence on the right.
Turning Point, founded by Charlie Kirk in 2012, played a key role in helping elect President Donald Trump and shaping the modern conservative movement, particularly among younger voters.
Vance has not yet officially said whether he will run in 2028. In an interview last month with Fox News, Vance said he was focused on the vice presidency and the 2026 midterms but would have a conversation with President Trump after next year’s elections about 2028 .
“We’re going to win the midterms, we’re going to do everything that we can to win the midterms, and then after that, I’m going to sit down with the president of the United States and talk to him about it,” Vance said. “But let’s focus on the now.”
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death, Vance credited the Turning Point founder for his own political rise and for building out President Trump’s second administration.
“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene. He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government,” Vance said in the days after Kirk was fatally shot on Sept. 10 during a campus event at Utah Valley University.
Erika Kirk’s endorsement follows Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying in an interview with Vanity Fair published this week that if the vice president were to run for president in 2028, he would support him.
“If JD Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him,” Rubio told Vanity Fair’s Chris Whipple.
Trump himself has said Vance and Rubio would be “great” options for presidential candidates.
“I’m not sure if anybody would run against those two,” Trump said in late October. “I think if they ever formed a group, it would be unstoppable.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a bid by California Republicans to block a newly redrawn congressional map backed by Democrats and endorsed by voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The move allows the state to move forward with a map enacted by Proposition 50, approved in November, that could potentially allow Democrats to flip five seats currently held by Republicans.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
U.S. President Donald Trump at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on December 22, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said in a post on his social media platform Thursday that he launched a “powerful and deadly strike” on ISIS terrorists in Nigeria, whom he claimed have been “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.”
This comes after the president posted a video in early November threatening to go into Nigeria “guns-a-blazing.” Around that time, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed Trump’s message and said in a post on X that the Department of Defense was “preparing for action.”
“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was. The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing,” Trump added in the post.
It is not yet clear the outcome of that strike or what the exact target was. ABC News has asked the White House for more information.
In a post on X, Hegseth further said there will be “more to come” and expressed his gratitude to the Nigerian government for its support and cooperation.
“The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end.
“The @DeptofWar is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas.”
Hegseth ended his post with, “Merry Christmas!”
In a post on X, U.S. Africa Command confirmed the strikes, which it said were conducted “in coordination with Nigerian authorities.”
The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja later released a statement saying that the U.S. strikes were carried out together with Nigerian authorities and are part of the ongoing security work they do with the U.S. and other partners to tackle ISIS and extremist groups.
“In line with established international practice and bilateral understandings, this cooperation includes the exchange of intelligence, strategic coordination, and other forms of support consistent with international law, mutual respect for sovereignty, and shared commitments to regional and global security,” the ministry said.
The Defense Department also reposted President Trump’s statement, along with a brief video clip labeled “unclassified” that shows a missile being launched from a ship, presumably at targets in Nigeria.
The strike against ISIS in Nigeria Thursday comes just days after U.S. strikes were launched against ISIS in Syria, following an attack on U.S. and partner forces in Syria that killed three Americans earlier this month.
Trump in November instructed the Pentagon to prepare for possible action against Nigeria after accusing the Nigerian government of not doing enough to protect Christians from violence.
Asked if there was a possibility of U.S. troops being boots on the ground in the West African country, Trump replied, “Could be.”
“They’re killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers, we’re not going to allow that to happen,” he said.
Days later, the State Department officially updated its designation for Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) for its alleged “severe violations of religious freedom” and persecution of Christians.
Last week, Nigeria was also added to the U.S. travel ban list of countries facing partial restrictions and entry limitations.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu doesn’t deny the violence against Christians in Nigeria, but says previous claims that Nigeria is religiously intolerant “does not reflect our national reality.”
Independent experts say extremist groups have targeted both Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, killing tens of thousands of civilians in recent years.
On Christmas Eve, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu posted on X, saying that he prayed “for peace in our land, especially between individuals of differing religious beliefs.”
“I stand committed to doing everything within my power to enshrine religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect Christians, Muslims, and all Nigerians from violence,” the post continued.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) looks on as senators speak to reporters following a Senate Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on December 09, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate on Thursday failed to advance two competing health care proposals aimed at addressing a spike in costs that are expected for tens of millions of Americans who receive enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits.
Both plans, one put forward by Democrats and the other championed by Republicans, failed to get the 60 votes needed.
The Republicans’ bill failed to advance by a vote of 51-48 with Republican Sen. Rand Paul as the only Republican to vote against it.
The Democrats’ bill also failed to advance by a vote of 51-48. Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan and Josh Hawley crossed the aisle to join all Democrats in supporting it.
Now, lawmakers will have only a matter of days remaining to address the expiration of the enhanced tax credits, and there’s little indication that any sort of breakthrough is on the horizon.
Here’s what the plans entailed.
Democratic plan: 3-year extension of expiring enhanced tax credits
The Democratic plan proposed a three-year extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that are otherwise set to expire on Jan. 1. The enhanced subsidies were originally put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During remarks on the floor Wednesday, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the Democratic plan the “only realistic path left” to address the looming premium spike.
“We have 21 days until Jan. 1. After that, people’s health care bills will start going through the roof. Double, triple, even more,” Schumer said. “There is only one way to avoid all of this. The only realistic path left is what Democrats are proposing — a clean direct extension of this urgent tax credit.”
Even though Democrats are in the minority, they got a vote on their proposal as part of a deal struck by a small group of Senate moderates to reopen the federal government after a 43-day shutdown, which centered around Democrats’ efforts to address the expiring tax credits.
“What we need to do is prevent premiums from skyrocketing and only our bill does it is the last train out of the station,” Schumer said.
But Majority Leader John Thune made clear Wednesday that Republicans would not support the Democratic plan.
Thune called the Democratic proposal a “partisan messaging exercise” and said that Democrats’ claim that their plan would lower health care costs represented a “tour of fantasy land.”
Republicans have for months been saying that the premium subsidies require reform. Without changes, Republicans say, the enhanced subsidies create opportunities for waste, fraud and abuse and have driven up the overall cost of premiums.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the Senate Democrats’ proposal would add nearly $83 billion to the federal deficit over the next decade. CBO also estimates that enacting the Democrats’ legislation would increase the number of people with health insurance by 8.5 million people by 2029.
Pointing to the cost of extending the subsidies, Thune said Democrats ought to put forward a program that makes modifications to the program.
“That’s not what they did … No changes,” Thune said. “Just continue to run up the cost. Run up the cost in the individual marketplace like that — but have the American taxpayers pay for it and then go tell people that you’re trying to keep their premiums down,” Thune said. “This does nothing, nothing, to lower the cost of health insurance.”
Republican plan: Do away with the enhanced tax credits and create HSAs
Republicans offered an “alternative” plan on the Senate floor on Thursday.
The Republican proposal, championed by Senate Health Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, would do away with the enhanced tax credits and instead take the extra money from those tax credits and put it into health savings accounts for those who purchase bronze-level or “catastrophic” plans on the ACA exchanges. Republicans say this will help Americans pay for out-of-pocket costs.
Under the plan, individuals earning less than 700% of the federal poverty level would receive $1,000 in HSA funding for those between age 18 and 49 and $1,500 for those age 50-64. Republicans say these funds could be used to help cover the higher deductibles on lower cost plans.
Republicans said that their plan will reduce premiums through cost-sharing reductions and tout that the plan stops payments to insurance companies. Thune called it a “very different business model” than what Democrats proposed.
“The question is do you want the government deciding this, ordo you want to put this power and these resources in the hands of the American people?” Thune said on the Senate floor on Wednesday. “American taxpayers. Patients. That’ what we’re about.”
Schumer had called it “dead on arrival.”
“I want to be very clear about what this Republican bill represents, junk insurance,” Schumer said. “Let me tell my Republican colleagues: it is dead on arrival. The proposal does nothing to bring down sky-high premiums; it doesn’t extend the ACA premiums by a single day. Instead, Republicans want to send people $80 dollars and pretend that is going to fix everything.” Schumer said.
Cassidy called Schumer’s categorization of his plan as a “junk plan” “so ironic.”
“These are Obamacare plans. These are the plans they put in place, except that when they did the plans, they’ve got $6,000 deductibles, or $7,500 deductibles. We addressed that deductible. We make these plans better,” Cassidy said. “We Republicans are trying to make it better. We want money in your pocket for your out-of-pocket [costs], and they want you to front the whole thing.”
Democrats also took umbrage with provisions in the GOP bill that prevent funds from being used for abortions. Schumer, on the Senate floor, called it a “poison pill.”
Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate appropriations committee, was asked if she saw any way that Democrats could support the bill.
“Not with the choice issues in it, where they have made it that women cannot get access to an abortion through their plan,” Murray said. “I don’t see any way that this helps the people that are being hurt right now by the tax credits going away.”
