Why is Trump Criticizing Gavin Newsom?

 https://www.newsweek.com/why-trump-attacking-gavin-newsom-over-delta-smelt-fish-2012245

Trump's recent attacks stem from his belief that Newsom's environmental priorities, particularly the protection of the delta smelt, have contributed to water shortages that allegedly hampered firefighting efforts in Los Angeles.

However, state officials dispute this claim. Most water used in Los Angeles does not come from Northern California but rather from local aqueducts and groundwater. Moreover, the fires' severity was compounded by high winds and smoke, not water shortages.

Trump's criticism also appears rooted in broader political and ideological differences. During his presidency, Trump pushed for policies favoring Central Valley farmers, often at the expense of ecological protections. Newsom, by contrast, has supported policies aiming to balance water use with environmental conservation.

Trump's California claims during LA area fires

 https://www.wxii12.com/article/trump-california-claims-truth-social-la-fires-newsom/63375415

Claim: "Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way."

This is false. State officials along with Republican sources in California's legislature confirmed to sister station KCRA on Wednesday that there was never a "water restoration declaration" placed in front of Newsom. Since Newsom has been in office, there has not been legislation that would do what Trump is describing.

In a statement, Newsom's spokesman Izzy Gardon said, "There is no such document as the water restoration declaration – that is pure fiction. The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need."

The Trump Sanewashing Begins Anew

 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-trump-sanewashing-begins-anew/ar-AA1xbQh2?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=NMTS&cvid=a497dd1947454b5ebefd0c6cb85d2f51&ei=14

I made the mistake of turning on the television Tuesday afternoon during Donald Trump’s unhinged press conference. It sounded like the greatest hits of his failed presidency – complaining about the pressure in showers and toilet bowls designed to save water and the danger of windmills. I switched it right off. Apparently I missed some newly malignant Trumpisms, including threatening to use military force to annex Greenland and take back the Panama Canal (it wasn’t clear if that threat extended to his plan to make Canada our 51st state) and a pledge to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

Trump sparks political fight as Los Angeles wildfires rage

 https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5075334-trump-sparks-wildfires-battle/

Newsom’s office pushed back on the president-elect’s claim, contending it was “pure fiction” and that “no such document” as the one Trump had alluded to exists.

Later Wednesday, Trump said in another social media post: “NO WATER IN THE FIRE HYDRANTS, NO MONEY IN FEMA. THIS IS WHAT JOE BIDEN IS LEAVING ME. THANKS JOE!”

In fact, Biden had by that stage already put in place measures that will enable the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to reimburse California for its firefighting costs.

Authorities in Los Angeles say the water supplies had been strained by levels of demand about four times greater than normal over a period of many hours.

Trump shares inflammatory video with crude reference to Netanyahu

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/08/trump-video-crude-reference-netanyahu

Donald Trump has shared inflammatory video content calling Benjamin Netanyahu a “deep, dark son of a bitch” just weeks after the Israeli leader claimed the two had a “very friendly, warm” discussion about hostage negotiations and Syria policy.

The president-elect posted the clip to Truth Social featuring economist Jeffrey Sachs, who accuses Netanyahu of manipulating US foreign policy and orchestrating “endless wars” in the Middle East.

In the video, Sachs – who is being interviewed by Tucker Carlson – claims Netanyahu has pursued a systematic strategy since 1995 to eliminate Hamas and Hezbollah by targeting their supporting governments in Iraq, Iran and Syria.

“[Netanyahu’s] gotten us into endless wars and because of the power of all of this in US politics, he’s gotten his way,” Sachs says in the interview, referring to the influence of pro-Israel lobbying groups.

Trump’s aim in promoting the video was not immediately clear.

Mexican President Hits Back at Trump With New Name for North America

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/mexican-president-hits-back-at-trump-with-new-name-for-north-america/

Mexico’s president has signaled to Donald Trump that she can play the regional renaming game, too.

Claudia Sheinbaum chided Trump on Wednesday for claiming her nation was run by drug cartels and proposing that the Gulf of Mexico—as its been named since the 17th century—be renamed the “Gulf of America.”

Sheinbaum brandished a massive map of North America from 1607 that labeled the continent as “América Mexicana,” or “Mexican America,” at a news conference. She then joked that maybe Mexico should start referring to the continent as such.

“Why don’t we call it Mexican America?” Sheinbaum said as she pointed to the map and smiled. “It sounds pretty, no?”

Jimmy Carter's engagement with Ruhollah Khomeini

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter%27s_engagement_with_Ruhollah_Khomeini

In 2016, the BBC published a report which stated that the administration of United States President Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) had extensive contact with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his entourage in the prelude to the Iranian Revolution of 1979.[1][2] The report was based on "newly declassified US diplomatic cables".[1][2] According to the report, as mentioned by The Guardian, Khomeini "went to great lengths to ensure the Americans would not jeopardise his plans to return to Iran - and even personally wrote to US officials" and assured them not to worry about their interests in Iran, particularly oil.[1][2] According to the report, in turn, Carter and his administration helped Khomeini and made sure that the Imperial Iranian army would not launch a military coup.[1][2]

Iran's political elite has dismissed these declassified reports. Ayatollah Khamenei stated that "it was based on fabricated documents". Ebrahim Yazdi (formerly a close associate of Khomeini) and Saeed Hajjarian viewed the BBC report with skepticism.[1][2]

Trump asks Supreme Court to block New York criminal sentencing

 https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5073608-donald-trump-supreme-court-sentencing/?tbref=hp

President-elect Trump asked the Supreme Court to block his sentencing Friday on 34 New York felony counts of falsifying business records. 

Trump’s emergency application asks the court to prevent the hush money prosecution from moving ahead until his appeals implicating presidential immunity are resolved. 

“President Trump is currently engaged in the most crucial and sensitive tasks of preparing to assume the Executive Power in less than two weeks, all of which are essential to the United States’ national security and vital interests,” Trump’s attorneys wrote.  

“Forcing President Trump to prepare for a criminal sentencing in a felony case while he is preparing to lead the free world as President of the United States in less than two weeks imposes an intolerable, unconstitutional burden on him that undermines these vital national interests,” they added.

Garland to release Smith’s Jan. 6 report, hold back Mar-a-Lago repor

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5073879-garland-jack-smith-jan-6-report-trump-mar-a-lago/

Attorney General Merrick Garland plans to release only the volume of special counsel Jack Smith’s report dealing with Donald Trump’s plans to subvert the transfer of power after his loss in the 2020 election, holding back on sharing the Mar-a-Lago report while the president-elect’s two co-defendants still face trial.

Federal prosecutors made Garland’s plans clear in a Wednesday morning filing urging an appeals court to reject a bid from Trump valet Walt Nauta and property manager Carlos De Oliveira to bar the attorney general from releasing the report in its entirety.

Garland made the determination at Smith’s recommendation “to avoid any risk of prejudice.”

“The Attorney General determined that he will not make a public release of Volume Two while defendants’ cases remain pending. That should be the end of the matter,” prosecutors wrote.

The filing says the top members of the House and Senate Judiciary committees will be able to review the Mar-a-Lago report at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Garland’s decision, however, all but assures the public will never see Smith’s report reviewing Trump’s mishandling of classified records at his Palm Beach, Fla., resort.

Under Trump’s DOJ, prosecutors are expected to drop charges against Nauta and De Oliveira, and Trump has moved to stock the top ranks of DOJ with his personal criminal defense team — the same cadre of attorneys who this week have fought to block release of Smith’s work entirely.

The filing comes amid a broader legal battle by Trump and his co-defendants to block Smith from releasing both sections of his two-volume report.

Till death do them part: After top rabbi dies, power struggle blazes at elite Haredi yeshiva

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/till-death-do-them-part-after-top-rabbi-dies-power-struggle-blazes-at-elite-haredi-yeshiva/

A tense truce now reigns at “Yeshiva Hill,” the name used for the complex of offices, study halls and dormitories where 2,500 unmarried young men aged 18 and up and another 1,500 married men spend as many as 18 hours a day learning Talmud.

During a recent visit to Ponevezh, The Times of Israel saw hundreds of young men enthusiastically debating the intricacies of ancient rabbinic arguments and the myriad commentaries on these debates in Ponevezh’s main study hall, which is adorned by a large and ancient gilded Ark inscribed with the verse from the book of Ezra “To exalt the house of God.

Jimmy Carter: The best US president Israelis have ever had

 https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-836516

The peace agreement with Egypt allowed us to focus on internal matters and allocate vast resources to our education and welfare needs. Our economy flourished after this agreement: the number of students per classroom was reduced, and roads and highways sprouted like mushrooms after the rain. In short, the State of Israel and its people reaped the fruits of peace daily.

For all of these things, Carter deserves our nation’s gratitude. May his soul be bound up in the bundle of life.

Donald Trump Had to Be Talked Out of Picking Fox Star for VP

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-had-to-be-talked-out-of-picking-fox-star-for-vp/

Maria Bartiromo, who infamously shared questions with Trump ahead of his first interview following his 2020 loss to Joe Biden, has been a longtime favorite of the president-elect.

Jimmy Carter and the Jews: 10 Facts

 https://aish.com/jimmy-carter-and-the-jews-10-facts/

As the world mourns President Carter, the longest living President in American history, American Jews face a difficult challenge. We can acknowledge the good that he did in aiding Iranian and Russian Jews and helping to bring peace to Israel and Egypt. Yet we can’t forget his demonization of Israel and use of casual antisemitism. By using his bully pulpit to smear Israel and its supporters as uniquely evil and malevolent, Carter has made us all much less safe.

US Jewish groups mourn Carter despite ‘profound disagreements’ with his Israel views

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-jewish-groups-mourn-carter-despite-profound-disagreements-with-his-israel-views/

American Jewish groups are mourning Jimmy Carter, the former US president and broker of Israel’s peace deal with Egypt who died Sunday at 100.

In statements issued following his death, many of the groups cited the peace deal and other landmark moments in Carter’s presidency, which lasted from 1977 to 1981, as examples of Carter’s legacy. Several of them also acknowledged that in his post-presidency, the longest in American history, Carter displeased some American Jews by aggressively criticizing Israel for its treatment of Palestinians, characterizing it as “apartheid.”