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Trump Escalates Minnesota Crackdown But Sidelines DHS Chief Kristi Noem

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Just two days after federal agents shot and killed a Minnesota VA ICU nurse, Alex Pretti, setting off massive protests and cementing Democrats to vote against funding for the Department of Homeland Security later this week, President Donald Trump appeared to double down on the administration’s efforts, declaring he is now sending his border czar, Tom Homan, to Minneapolis — a move some suggest signals trouble for Secretary Kristi Noem.

Trump’s announcement came barely hours after Fox News co-host Brian Kilmeade suggested it on “Fox & Friends.”

“What I would do is just bring Tom Homan in,” Kilmeade told his colleagues. “Tom Homan’s been marginalized. Go in there, Tom Homan’s got credibility on the left. He was Barack Obama and Jeh Johnson’s main guy. He’s got credibility, obviously, on the right.”

Homan, Kilmeade suggested, “should go in there, meet with the mayor and governor, and go in there and take charge. He knows this stuff backwards and forwards. There’s no more experienced person. He’s got the president’s trust, but for some reason, it’s been marginalized in the Minneapolis operation.”

Monday morning, around 8:30 AM, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight.”

“He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there,” the president wrote. “Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me.”

READ MORE: ‘Good Chance’ Trump Will Be Electorally ‘Humiliated’ in November: Carville

He continued, declaring that “a major investigation is going on with respect to the massive 20 Billion Dollar, Plus, Welfare Fraud that has taken place in Minnesota, and is at least partially responsible for the violent organized protests going on in the streets.”

“Additionally,” Trump added, “the DOJ and Congress are looking at ‘Congresswoman’ Illhan Omar, who left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars. Time will tell all. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman reported that Trump sending in Tom Homan will be highly controversial for Senate Democrats, who are already preparing to fight DHS funding.

“As the Senate begins to consider how it may fund the government this week, the president is sending Tom Homan to Minnesota — something that will not give any comfort to Senate Democrats,” Sherman observed.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to suggest Homan will have an outsized role, extending past his “border czar” responsibilities.

“Homan will be managing ICE Operations on the ground in Minnesota to continue arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” she wrote. “In addition, Tom will coordinate with those leading investigations into the massive, widespread fraud that has resulted in billions of taxpayer dollars being stolen from law-abiding citizens in Minnesota.”

READ MORE: Trump ‘Miscalculated’ and It ‘Backfired’: Columnist Explains What Led to Trump ‘Failing’

Some critics are suggesting that the Alex Pretti deadly shooting may signal the end of Secretary Kristi Noem’s tenure at DHS.

“The thing for the W.H. to know here is that Senate Democrats are going to want/insist on significant policy changes on how the Trump administration conducts interior enforcement. Whether it’s Homan or Noem at the wheel. Whether they are in Minneapolis or not,” Sherman wrote.

Others added more insight.

Axios Trump White House reporter Marc Caputo wrote, “Homan & DHS Secretary Kristi Noem have been at odds.”

Vox senior editor Benjy Sarlin noted, “Trump distancing Homan from everything that’s happened so far seems pretty relevant. Some on right have been trying to argue he’s the more competent person to empower over Noem/Bovino/Miller.”

Journalist Ahmed Baba wrote, “Prepare for the Trump Admin to blame all this on Kristi Noem and oust her, while Stephen Miller and Trump try to insulate themselves in spite of the fact they’re the driving force behind ICE’s authoritarian escalation. Already seeing leaks from DHS showing anger at Noem.”

READ MORE: Trump: ‘We’re Bringing Back God’

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Melania Trump Hails Herself as a ‘Visionary’ at Women’s History Month Event

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First Lady Melania Trump, in remarks at a White House Women’s History Month celebration, hailed herself as a “visionary” as she gave advice to guests.

“As a visionary, I know success is not born overnight, but rather takes shape after long, and sometimes challenging process,” the First Lady said. She also described herself as “a mother, humanitarian, philanthropist, and entrepreneur.”

Mrs. Trump also mentioned her new film, “Melania,” saying that she “shaped its creative direction, served as a producer, managed post production and activated the marketing campaign.”

Noting that “curiosity is a core value” that keeps her “ahead of the curve,” she said that her “unrestricted mindset” has led her to “build across very different sectors,” including, “fashion, digital assets, publishing, accessories, skincare, commercial television, and of course, filmmaking.”

Sharing advice and personal experience, Mrs. Trump told the audience, “Often alone at the top, I follow my passion. Listen to my instincts, and always maintain a laser focus.”

She also declared that the “strength of America is closely tied to the role women play in shaping their children’s character, education, and morals. The values cultivated within our communities shape the voice and vision of our next generation.”

“A woman’s influence strengthens our democracy, capital markets, and time-tested business institutions,” she said. “Across the country today, women are finding unique ways to balance career, ambition, and family.”

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‘Seems to Be No Plan’ Expert Says on Trump Securing Iran’s Nuclear Material to End War

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President Donald Trump says he is bombing Iran so it “does not obtain a nuclear weapon,” but a veteran nuclear policy expert is blasting his war strategy, warning there appears to be no plan to secure Iran’s nuclear stockpile — a failure that could leave the U.S. in the “worst of all worlds” while Iran is “holding all the nuclear cards.”

“This may be the worst planned war in history,” Joe Cirincione told Mother Jones. “I see no sign that they knew what they were doing. It seemed to be just literally bomb, bomb, bomb. There didn’t seem to be a plan for how you were going to get at that particular material. If there is one, it hasn’t emerged.”

He warns, “there seems to be no plan for how to end this war.”

“Almost all wars end by some sort of negotiation,” Cirincione says. “If you project forward several weeks, it’s going to have to end. Usually there’s some sort of arrangement that’s made to end a war.”

But, he says, President Trump “seems to be flying by the seat of his pants and making this up as it goes along,” so “we just don’t know.”

READ MORE: Trump Has ‘No Idea’ If Iran War Will Win Him Nobel Peace Prize

Cirincione warns that “it’s possible that Trump has put us into the worst of all possible worlds. He’s made it impossible for us to have a negotiated solution to this. And we can’t use any military means to solve the problem. So we’re left in this worst of all worlds, which is Iran is holding all the nuclear cards at the end of this war.”

Mother Jones reports that “with his war in Iran, Trump has created a big, possibly catastrophic problem: A half-ton of highly enriched uranium, which can be made bomb-ready, is somewhere…out there—available for use by Iran’s new regime or perhaps not fully secured and susceptible to theft or expropriation.”

So, what are the options?

“The United States either has to conduct some high-risk military maneuver where we would land people from the 82nd Airborne or an Israeli commando unit into the site at Isfahan and try to find the uranium, go down hundreds of meters underground, retrieve the uranium and pull it out or perhaps destroy it on site,” says Cirincione. He calls it “a high risk proposition.”

“What you’re left with is really the only other solution where we started: a negotiated deal.”

President Barack Obama signed one with Iran. Trump tore it up during his first term.

With a negotiated deal, “You have to get Iran’s agreement to secure that material, declare it, allow inspectors, and then either secure it under inspection or downblend it—the process in reverse, bring it down to a 3-percent or 4-percent level. That’s the only two solutions to this problem.”

READ MORE: ‘Trying to Look Cool’: Patel Roasted for Inviting UFC Stars to Train FBI Agents

 

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Trump Has ‘No Idea’ If Iran War Will Win Him Nobel Peace Prize

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President Donald Trump says not only does he not know if his war against Iran will help win him the Nobel Peace Prize, he also doesn’t care, and doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Trump claimed to have ‘no idea’ if Operation Epic Fury will ‘get him over the finish line’ with committee members,'” the Washington Examiner reported on Thursday, after a telephone call with the president.

“I don’t know,” Trump told the Washington Examiner. “I’m not interested in it.”

“No, I don’t talk about the Nobel Prize,” Trump also said, when asked if the topic came up in his recent talks with foreign leaders.

The Examiner’s Christian Datoc, who spoke to the president, reported via video that Trump “appears to be having a massive about-face about winning the Nobel Peace Prize amid his war with Iran.”

“He told me over the phone that he’s not sure if he’s deserving of this award anymore,” Datoc added. “This is a massive change in the president’s rhetoric from really anything he’s said over the past thirteen months.”

READ MORE: ‘Trying to Look Cool’: Patel Roasted for Inviting UFC Stars to Train FBI Agents

 

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