Fiscal Hawks Draw Red Lines on Trump’s First Big Bill, Risking GOP Support

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Rep. Tim Burchett has never voted to increase the US borrowing limit in his life. And that might not change just because Donald Trump is the one to ask for his vote.

“I don’t know that I ever will,” Burchett told CNN when asked if he could support Trump’s plans for a debt limit hike.

Burchett, along with several other GOP hardliners, are drawing a clear red line when it comes to Trump’s first big policy package. They say the measure — which is expected to include a raise in the nation’s debt limit in addition to billions of dollars in spending on border security, energy projects and tax extensions — must be fully paid for, and not with accounting gimmicks that even Republicans have used in the past.

“You have to show me some reductions in spending. Some real reductions in spending. Not this stuff, ‘Oh we’re going to do this.’” Burchett said, dismissing past GOP attempts at budget reform that ultimately fizzle out. (Read more from “Fiscal Hawks Draw Red Lines on Trump’s First Big Bill, Risking GOP Support” HERE)

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Denmark Frantically Messages Trump About Security Concessions on Greenland After He Threatened to Take It Over: Report

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Danish leaders have sent private messages to President-elect Donald Trump’s team in recent days in a bid to pacify his ambitions for taking over Greenland, according to a new report.

Copenhagen is allegedly open to allowing US military presence on the autonomous island to boost security and appease Trump, who claimed “military coercion” could be deployed to bring Greenland under US rule, sources familiar with the talks told Axios.

The Danish government, which is responsible for Greenland’s defense, wants to avoid clashing with the US and hopes to assure Trump that Greenland will be safe from Russia and China without the need for American annexation, the sources added.

Copenhagen has also asked Trump’s team to clarify the incoming president’s comments after he shocked the world by suggesting that the US could invade the longstanding NATO ally.

One European diplomat told Axios that Denmark was widely seen as America’s closest ally in the European Union, and that no one could have imagined it’d be the first Trump would pick a fight with. (Read more from “Denmark Frantically Messages Trump About Security Concessions on Greenland After He Threatened to Take It Over: Report” HERE)

Steve Bannon Goes Berserk on Elon Musk, Vows to Drive Him Away From White House: ‘He Is a Truly Evil Guy’

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. . . Steve Bannon went berserk on the world’s richest man and vowed to limit his White House influence [several days ago. He] suggested Musk “should go back to South Africa” and decried his stance on H1-B visas.

“I will have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day,” Bannon, told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera last week, per excerpts translated by his former employer Breitbart. “He will not have a blue pass to the White House, he will not have full access to the White House, he will be like any other person.”

“He is a truly evil guy, a very bad guy. I made it my personal thing to take this guy down,” he went on. “Before, because he put money in, I was prepared to tolerate it. I’m not prepared to tolerate it anymore.”

Last month, just before Christmas, a war erupted within the MAGA movement between the tech bros and immigration hardliners over H1-B visas, which permit foreign workers to come to the US for specialty occupations. . .

[Bannon continued,] “Peter Thiel, David Sacks, Elon Musk, are all white South Africans,” he added. “He should go back to South Africa. Why do we have South Africans, the most racist people on earth, white South Africans, we have them making any comments at all on what goes on in the United States?” (Read more from “Steve Bannon Goes Berserk on Elon Musk, Vows to Drive Him Away From White House: ‘He Is a Truly Evil Guy’” HERE)

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‘This Policy Is Dangerous’: Democrats Fight To Roll Back City’s Sanctuary Law, Help Trump Deport Criminals

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A pair of Chicago aldermen have introduced legislation that would roll back the city’s sanctuary law currently forbidding any cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, but their efforts face stiff odds in a city council dominated by liberal members.

Raymond Lopez and Silvana Tabares, both Democrats, filed a proposed amendment to Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance, which calls for exceptions when a migrant has been arrested or convicted of certain criminal activities. The aldermen argued in a public statement that it’s in the best interest of the city’s immigrant community to work with the incoming Trump administration in situations where wanted illegal migrants are involved in heinous crimes.

“We believe that the best way to protect law-abiding non-citizens from the returning Trump Administration is by working with them in apprehending their priority targets: non-citizens that CHOOSE to engage in dangerous, illegal activity once they are in the United States,” Lopez said in a public statement. “Our current [Welcoming City Ordinance] prohibits any coordination or cooperation, even in the most heinous situations.”

“This policy is dangerous to those law-abiding undocumented and non-citizens residents because, if someone is arrested or convicted of crimes, the federal authorities aren’t notified,” he continued. “Should the federal government go looking for those specific individuals seeking to deport them, there is a high probability that other targets, law-abiding undocumented and non-citizen residents, may be apprehended and deported as collateral damage. That is an entirely unacceptable yet avoidable situation.” (Read more from “‘This Policy Is Dangerous’: Democrats Fight To Roll Back City’s Sanctuary Law, Help Trump Deport Criminals” HERE)

Federal Prison Operators Say Child Porn to Be Labeled as ‘Low Severity’ Offense

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Many people consider the abuse of children for pornography to be one of the most egregious crimes around.

A recent case in which two homosexuals were convicted of abusing their adopted sons for that purpose got them sentences that essentially amount to life in prison.

But now a video report from OMG, O’Keefe Media Group, charges that the federal Bureau of Prisons is working to categorize such offenses as “low severity.”

The organization said it has obtained documents “detailing a controversial proposal by the BOP to reclassify child exploitation offenses from ‘high severity’ to ‘low severity.'”

The OMG report said, “Additionally, the new policy would classify terrorism-related offenses for female inmates as ‘low security’ and animal cruelty as a ‘low-moderate’ offense. These changes stem from a draft of the Security Designation and Custody Classification Manual, signed by BOP Director Colette S. Peters.” (Read more from “Federal Prison Operators Say Child Porn to Be Labeled as ‘Low Severity’ Offense” HERE)

Alexander Vindman Slams Mike Waltz Plan to Clear Deep Staters From National Security Council

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Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman criticized incoming National Security Adviser Mike Waltz’s plan to clear out each “intelligence official” serving in “various departments and agencies” throughout the federal government who is “currently detailed” to the National Security Council (NSC).

In a post on X, Vindman responded to an interview Waltz had with Breitbart News’s Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle, where Waltz spoke about how intelligence officials serving in various departments and agencies under President Joe Biden’s administration would be “expected to vacate the premises by 12:01 p.m. Eastern” on January 20, when President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated.

“Yesterday, President Trump’s National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz @michaelgwaltz, announced a sweeping directive to terminate all national security staffers loaned from other departments and agencies who serve in apolitical, non-partisan senior staff roles,” Vindman wrote.

He continued:

Waltz framed this decision as a means to eliminate Biden-era appointees and enforce absolute alignment with Trump’s policy agenda. Notably, Waltz justified this move by referencing my role in exposing Trump’s abuse of power, which led to his first impeachment. Using my actions as a rationale, Waltz aims to purge scores of professionals from the Department of Defense, Department of State, CIA, and other agencies—not because of their conduct, but due to a demand for blind allegiance to Trump.

(Read more from “Alexander Vindman Slams Mike Waltz Plan to Clear Deep Staters From National Security Council” HERE)

Joe Biden’s Border Chief Grants Amnesty to 850,000 Migrants

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President Joe Biden’s pro-migration border chief has extended temporary amnesty for 850,000 illegal and quasi-legal economic migrants until 2026, further suppressing American wages and spiking their rents.

The 18-month expansion of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) amnesty was announced by outgoing border chief, Alejandro Mayorkas.

The beneficiaries include 234,000 illegal migrants from El Salvador who first got their TPS status after a 2001 earthquake that wrecked their home nation’s economy. The small nation’s economy is now growing amid the successful suppression of gang crime by the nation’s popular President, Nayib Bukele.

So Mayorkas’s press statement blamed bad weather for his refusal to send the economic migrants back home:

El Salvador’s extension of TPS is based on geological and weather events, including significant storms and heavy rainfall in 2023 and 2024, that continue to affect areas heavily impacted by the earthquakes in 2001.

(Read more from “Joe Biden’s Border Chief Grants Amnesty to 850,000 Migrants” HERE)

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Mark Zuckerberg Meets With Trump in Fla., Parks Private Jet Next to President-Elect’s Plane

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Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg parked his private jet right next to Trump Force One Friday during a visit to Palm Beach, Fla., to meet with the incoming 47th president.

Zuckerberg, 40, was dressed up in a fitted suit and tie when he was spotted boarding his Gulfstream G650 jet at Palm Beach International Airport.

The tech titan’s jet was parked in the shadows of President-elect Donald Trump’s much larger, custom Boeing 757 aircraft, which he’ll trade in for Air Force One in less than two weeks.

Earlier in the day, the billionaire Facebook founder met with Trump at his nearby Mar-a-Lago estate, a source told The Post.

It’s at least the second time Zuckerberg has convened with Trump, 78, at Mar-a-Lago since the president-elect’s landslide victory in the 2024 presidential election. (Read more from “Mark Zuckerberg Meets With Trump in Fla., Parks Private Jet Next to President-Elect’s Plane” HERE)

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Owner of ‘Miracle’ Malibu Mansion Reveals Why He Thinks House Survived Raging Fire

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The owner of a nearly $9 million Malibu mansion miraculously spared being leveled by the raging Los Angeles wildfires told The Post on Friday he was stunned to learn that when the smoke cleared, it was still standing.

“It’s a miracle — miracles never cease,” said retired waste-management exec and married dad of three David Steiner, 64, of Texas.

Steiner said he thought his stunning three-story California structure — which was vacant at the time — was a goner when a local contractor sent him video of flames and smoke engulfing his property and his neighbors’ Tuesday. . .

Steiner, a lawyer and former head of Waste Management, Inc., in Houston, said he believes that his property’s ultra-sturdy construction — likely designed to protect it from earthquakes — saved it from the Palisades Fire that destroyed the homes all around it.

“It’s stucco and stone with a fireproof roof,’’ he said, adding that it also includes pilings “like 50 feet into the bedrock’’ to keep it steady when powerful waves crash into the seawall below it. (Read more from “Owner of ‘Miracle’ Malibu Mansion Reveals Why He Thinks House Survived Raging Fire” HERE)

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Plane Scooping Water From Ocean to Fight Wildfires Grounded After Hitting Drone Illegally Flying Over Pacific Palisades

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A drone that was being illegally flown damaged and grounded a Super Scooper plane that was leased to help fight the damaging wildfires in Los Angeles.

Officials said the drone collided with the plane and left a fist-sized hole in its wing, which needed repair. Drones are not allowed to fly during firefighting efforts, and the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.

Two Super Scoopers were leased from Canada to help fight the tremendously damaging wildfires in Pacific Palisades and elsewhere in Southern California.

As of Friday morning, the Palisades wildfire had burned through more than 20,000 acres and destroyed more than 5,000 homes and businesses. Only 8% of the fire has been contained, but winds are dying down. . .

Persons convicted of flying a drone during firefighting can face a prison sentence of up to one year. The FAA said that anyone who interferes with firefighting efforts can also be fined up to $75,000. (Read more from “Plane Scooping Water From Ocean to Fight Wildfires Grounded After Hitting Drone Illegally Flying Over Pacific Palisades” HERE)

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