Month: February 2025

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives narrowly passed a budget resolution this week that serves as a first draft of the “big, beautiful bill” President Trump has been seeking. WSJ’s Siobhan Hughes joins Ryan Knutson and Molly Ball to discuss how Congress is working with Trump. Plus, we take a look at what impact recent rulings from the judicial branch might mean for Trump's agenda. 

Further Reading:

- The Weight of Trump’s Agenda Sits on Mike Johnson’s Shoulders 

Further Listening:

- Why Trump Wants Ukrainian Minerals 

- Trump 2.0: Shaking Up Europe 

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This week European leaders have lined up to charm Donald Trump. But the broad smiles belie a bigger fear: what would it mean for the continent’s security if America forsakes its security guarantees? What the pull-out of French forces will mean for Africa (10:56). And the Maha Kumbh Mela shows how piety became political in India (18:55). 

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Alabama

• Sen. Tuberville's bill to protect women's sports will be voted on in Senate
• Sen. Britt seeks to get Biden's immigration case backlog addressed
• Marine Corps League is opposed to bill that restructures ADVA
• House committee passes bill that bans cell phones in public school classes
• The FDA traces listeria contamination in frozen shakes to Indiana facility
• Mobile county Health Dept. to eliminate fee for religious exemption on vaccines after legal pressure from Liberty Counsel

National

• Federal judge lifts injunction so White House can fire more CIA agents
• SCOTUS chief justice removes lower court deadline for $2B to go to USAID
• VA secretary just cancelled $2B in federal contracts for wasteful spending
• USAG Pam Bondi demands ALL Epstein docs to be on her desk today
• FBI Whistleblower says Epstein evidence destruction within FBI has been underway before Patel was sworn in
• Private investigator looking into PA assassination attempt does not believe Thomas Crooks worked alone

There is a growing outrage against Elon Musk, including threats to his life over DOGE’s work to find and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in the U.S. federal government. On this edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” a Daily Signal original series, Hanson delves into the reasons behind this backlash, its broader implications and how the Left is making the “chemotherapy”, DOGE’s work, out to be worse than the “cancer”, wasteful government spending.

 “We're starting to see, kind of, an outrage where people are threatening a life, even, of Elon Musk and defending all sorts of indefensible expenditures.”

“One thing I think is lost in this messaging, this tough love, this effort to restrain the government is that, I think, the Trump administration and Musk must convey that.

They must say we don't enjoy putting people out of work. We don't enjoy rounding people up, but we have to because these people, the Left, the Biden people, the Jacobins, they put us in that position. They were the ones that destroyed institutions. They were the ones that broke the law. They were the ones that are bankrupting us.”

00:00 Introduction to Tough Love Messaging

04:38 The Necessity of Tough Actions

04:42 Blaming the Left for the Crisis

04:53 Destruction of Institutions

04:56 Breaking the Law

04:58 Economic Bankruptcy

For Victor’s latest thoughts, go to: https://victorhanson.com/

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