Healing and uplifting communities through music and unity is the foundation of this event space created by Zacil “DJ Sizzle Fantastic” Pech and Norma “Normz La Oaxaqueña” Fajardo.
For nearly a decade DJ Sizzle has built a reputation in the queer POC and Spanish-speaking undocumented communities for making the space for them to come together to celebrate their culture and partake in the ultimate act of resistance — joy.
Couples, companions, comadres all dance together on the dancefloor at Cumbiatón. (Photo courtesy of Cumbiatón).
Cumbiatón was created during the first Trump administration as a direct response to the erasure, racism, homophobia and xenophobia that was engrained into the administration’s mission for those first four years. Now that the second Trump administration is upon us, the racism, homophobia, transphobia and xenophobia are tenfold.
This event space is a ‘party for the hood, by the hood.’ It is led by women, queer and trans people of color in every aspect of the production process.
The recent fires that burned through Altadena and Pacific Palisades made DJ Sizzle decide to step back from marketing the event in Los Angeles, an area where people had just lost their businesses, homes and where their lives were completely thrown for a loop.
Now they’re back, doubling-down on their mission to bring cumbias, corridos and all the music many of us grew up listening to, to places that are accessible and safe for our communities.
“I started Cumbiatón back in 2016, right after the election — which was weirdly similar because we’re going through it again. And a lot of us come from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) movement. We were the ones to really push for that to happen along with the DREAM Act.”
DJ Sizzle says that she wanted to create a space out on the streets to celebrate life and come together, because of how mentally and physically taxing it is to be a part of the marginalized communities that were and still are, a major target for ongoing political attacks.
Edwin Soto and Julio Salgado pose for a photo at a Cumbiaton event in 2024. (Photo courtesy of Cumbiatón).
“We need these spaces so that we can kind of refuel and rejoice in each other’s existence,” said DJ Sizzle. “Because we saw each other out on the street a lot, but never did we really have time to sit down, have a drink, talk, laugh. So I found that music was the way to bring people together and that’s how Cumbiatón got started. It was honestly like a movement of political resistance through music.”
DJ Sizzle is an undocumented community organizer who aims to not only bring awareness to the issues that her communities face, but also to make space to celebrate the wins and bond over the music that brings people in Latin America, East L.A., Boyle Heights and the Bay area together.
Julio Salgado, a queer, visionary artist and migrant rights activist from Ensenada, Baja California with roots in Long Beach and the Bay Area, connected with DJ Sizzle over their shared passion in advocating for immigrant rights.
“Cumbiatón was created during the first [Trump] administration, where you know, a lot of people were really bummed out and so what Sizzle wanted to create was a place where people could come together and celebrate ourselves,” said Salgado. “Fast-forward to the second [Trump] administration and we’re here and feel a little bit more like: ‘oh shit, things are bad again.’ But, things have always been bad.”
Salgado is involved with Cumbiatón through his art. He is a mixed-media artist who creates cartoons using his lived experience with his sobriety journey, undocumented status and queer identity.
With a background in journalism from California State University, Long Beach, Salgado documents what activists do in the undocumented spaces he has been a part of throughout his life.
In 2017, Salgado moved back to Long Beach from the Bay Area, and at the time he started doing political artwork and posters for protests against the first Trump administration, but because the nature of that work can be very tiring, he says that he turned to a more uplifting version of his art where he also draws the joy and unity in his communities.
When he and Sizzle linked up to collaborate during that time, he thought he could use his skills to help uplift this brand and bring it to the forefront of the many events that saturate the party landscape.
DJ Sizzle doing her thing on stage, giving the crowd the music they went looking for. (Photo courtesy of Cumbiatón).
“We are familiar with using the dance floor as a way to kind of put the trauma a little bit away just for one night, get together and completely forget,” said Salgado.
Coming from an undocumented background, Salgado and Sizzle say that their experience with their legal status has made them very aware of how to go about the ID-check process at the door for their events.
“When you’re undocumented, you have something called a [High Security Consular Registration (HSCR)] and it’s kind of like your ID and many of these heterosexual clubs would see that and say it was fake,” said Salgado. “But at the gay club, they didn’t care.”
Just being conscious of what that form of ID looks like and knowing that it’s not fake, helps many of the hundreds of people who come through for Cumbiatón, feel just slightly more at ease.
Edwin Soto, who is another community activist and leader in the undocu-queer community, is also involved in the planning and organizing of the event.
In the long journey of making Cumbiatón what it is now, they say that they have all been very intentional about who they bring in, making sure that whoever they are, they also understand the experience of being undocumented and accepted anyway.
“Something that Sizzle and the team have been very intentional about is making sure that [the security at the door] knows that someone might be using their consulate card,” said Soto.
Bringing together this event space is no easy task, considering the fact that their events are deeply thought out, intentional and inclusive of not just people of color, but also people with differing abilities and people who do not reflect the norm in West Hollywood clubs.
“We created the space that we were longing for that we did not see in West Hollywood,” he said. “[Cumbiatón] is what life could really be like. Where women are not harassed by men. Where people are not body-shamed for what they’re wearing.”
When it comes to their lives outside of Cumbiatón and partying, Sizzle says that it does get exhausting and planning the event gets overwhelming.
“It is really difficult, I’m not going to lie,” said DJ Sizzle. “We are at a disadvantage being queer and being undocumented because this administration triggers us to a point that, anyone who is not a part of those identities or marginalized communities would ever be able to understand,” said Sizzle. “There are times where I’m just like: ‘I’m going to cocoon for a little bit’ and then that affects the marketing and the communication.”
Usually, the events bring in hundreds of people who are looking for community, safety and inclusion. (Photo courtesy of Cumbiatón).
That’s a little bit about what goes on behind the scenes — which really shouldn’t come as a surprise for anyone who is out there fighting for basic human rights, while also making the space to party and enjoy themselves.
“I’m really trying to find balance and honestly my life raft are my friends and my community,” she said. “Like, being able to share, being able to have this plática, and be like ‘bitch, I see you and I know its fucked up, but we got each other.’”
Cumbiatón was made with the purpose of making space to include and invite the many different people in these communities who are otherwise sidelined in broader conversations and in party scenes where they are not as inclusive or thoughtful about their attendees.
“How beautiful is it to be queer and listen to rancheras and to norteñas and cumbia, and to just own it,” said Soto.
To join Cumbiatón at their next party, visit their Instagram page.
When President Trump posted to Truth Social on Wednesday that he had ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear testing “immediately,” Las Vegas government leaders clapped back.
A US Air Force photographer places himself within 10 miles of an explosion at the Nevada Test Site in 1957. (Image: US Department of Energy)
They knew that the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), 65 miles northwest of the Strip, is the only US location capable of conducting full-scale nuclear explosive tests. And, if expediency is the priority that the president claims it is, then building a new location will take too much time.
“Absolutely not,” Nevada Democratic US Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nevada, tweeted Wednesday. “I’ll be introducing legislation to put a stop to this.”
Trump says he ordered the resumption because other countries are testing nuclear weapons.
“We halted it many years ago, but with others doing testing, I think it is appropriate we do so also,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
This aligns with Project 2025, the document that has served as a blueprint for multiple Trump administration policies. It called for the US to “restore the nuclear infrastructure” and “readiness to test nuclear weapons at the Nevada National Security Site.”
“This directly contradicts the commitments I secured from Trump nominees — and the opinion of Administration officials who certify our nuclear stockpile — who’ve told me explosive nuclear testing would not happen & is unnecessary,” added US Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, in her own tweet on Wednesday.
“I’ll fight to stop this,” she vowed.
Guests at the Last Frontier watch a mushroom cloud from a nuclear test, at the top of the photo, in 1953. (Image: Las Vegas News Bureau)
Underground Zero
A January 1951 detonation was the first of 100 in the air over the 1,355 square-mile Nevada Proving Ground, which was carved out from the Nellis Air Force Gunnery and Bombing Range. (In 1955, its name was changed to the Nevada Test Site, followed by a 2010 name change to the NNSS.)
The aboveground tests — whose mushroom clouds were watched by tourists from Las Vegas bars and hotels during “atomic viewing parties” — ended with the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963.
Most people believe nuclear testing came to an end then. However, it continued until September 1992, when the Mirage was already three years old.
That 828 more nuclear tests were conducted at the Nevada Test Site wasn’t common knowledge because none of the them produced a mushroom cloud visible in Las Vegas — only the occasional ground rumble.
All those explosions left vast swaths of the Nevada site irradiated, with fallout exposure tied to elevated rates of cancer and other severe illnesses among workers and nearby residents.
They’re even implicated in the deaths of movie star John Wayne and the other cast and crew of the 1954 film “The Conqueror,” which filmed 137 miles downwind of the Nevada Proving Ground. (Of the 200 people who worked on it, 91 developed cancer.)
Tireless lobbying by self-proclaimed “downwinders” got Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) to spearhead the 1990 passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The $100 million compensation package offered $50,000 each to the families of all residents of Nevada, Utah, and Arizona able to link cancers and other diseases to their fallout exposure.
A congressional moratorium on all nuclear testing — driven by health, environmental and geopolitical concerns — was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. The final test, codenamed Divider, was conducted on September 23, 1992.
Since then, the National Nuclear Security Administration has conducted only subcritical (non-exploding) nuclear weapons experiments on the site.
On an overcast morning in September, Hector Alessandro Negrete left his beloved Los Angeles — the city he was brought to at 3 months old — and headed down Interstate 5 to Mexico, the only country where he held a passport.
It was a place that, to him, had “always felt like both a wound and a possibility.”
Negrete, 43, sat in the passenger seat as a friend steered the car south and two more friends in another car followed. He had condensed his life to three full suitcases and his dachshund mix, Lorca.
They pulled over at the beach in San Clemente. Angel Martinez, his soon-to-be former roommate, is deeply spiritual, and his favorite prayer spot is the ocean, so he prayed that Negrete would be blessed and protected — and Lorca too — as they began a new stage in their lives.
On the near-empty beach, the friends embraced and wiped away tears. Martinez handed Negrete a small watermelon.
As instructed, Negrete walked to the edge of the water, said his own prayer and, as a gift of thanks to the cosmos, plopped it into a crashing wave.
Negrete, holding a drink, embraces his friend Angel Martinez as they visit a drag club in Tijuana after leaving Los Angeles a day earlier.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Negrete doesn’t call it self-deportation.
“Self-repatriation,” he said. “I refuse to use this administration’s language.”
President Trump had been in office just over a month when Negrete decided he would return to Mexico. Methodical by nature, he approached the decision like any other — by researching, organizing and planning.
He registered Lorca as an emotional support animal, paid for a vaccine card and a certificate of good health, and crate-trained her in a TSA-approved carrier.
He announced his decision to leave in June on his Substack newsletter: “If you’re thinking, ‘Alessandro’s giving up,’ look deeper. I am choosing freedom. For the first time, I feel unshackled from the expectations of waiting.”
Negrete walks the streets of Boyle Heights while shopping for moving supplies after deciding he would leave the U.S. on his own terms.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Negrete had grown tired of wishing for immigration reform. He had built his career advocating for immigrants such as himself, including stints as statewide coordinator for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, and as executive director for the California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance.
He said his work had helped legalize street vending in Los Angeles and he assisted the office of then-California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris in securing the release of a young woman from immigration detention. He was the first openly undocumented and LGBTQ+ person on the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council.
Under previous administrations, Negrete’s political work had felt like a shield against deportation. Even during Trump’s first term, Negrete had marched at rallies denouncing his immigration policies.
But that was before the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement patrols that tore into Southern California during Trump’s second term. On June 6, as anti-ICE protesters took to the streets, Negrete rushed to downtown Los Angeles when fellow activists told him street medics were needed.
“One of my homies said, ‘Hey fool, what are you doing here?’” he recalled. Seeing Los Angeles police officers advancing on the crowd, he realized that no amount of public support could protect him.
He fled. “Thank God I left.”
Negrete, in red, with his friends and colleagues at a farewell party and yard sale in August.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
In mid-August, Negrete hosted a yard sale and going away party. The flier was tongue-in-cheek: “Everything must go! Including me!”
His red T-shirt stated plainly, “I AM UNDOCUMENTED,” and his aviator sunglasses hid the occasional tears. Tattoos dotted his extremities, including an anchor on his right leg with the words “I refuse to sink.”
“I think it hit me when I started packing my stuff today,” he told a former colleague, Shruti Garg, who had arrived early.
“But the way you’ve invited everyone to join you is so beautiful,” she replied.
One table held American pop-culture knickknacks — sippy cups with Ghostface from the movie “Scream,” collectible Mickey Mouse ears, a Detective Batman purse shaped like a comic book, another purse shaped like the locker from the ‘90s cartoon “Daria.”
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Negrete said the items reminded him of his youth and represented the gothic, quirky aspects of his personality.
“I was born in Mexico, but I don’t know Mexico,” he said. “So I’m leaving the American parts of me that are no longer going to serve me.”
The back yard slowly filled with loved ones from Negrete’s various social circles. There was his mostly queer softball team — the Peacocks — his running group, his chosen family and his blood family.
Negrete’s close friend Joel Menjivar looked solemn.
“I’m scared it’s going to start a movement,” he said. “Undocumented or DACA friends who are talented and integral to the fabric of L.A. might get ideas to leave.”
Another friend, Mario Mariscal, said he took Negrete’s decision the hardest, though at first he didn’t believe Negrete was serious. More than once he asked, “You really want to give up everything you’ve built here for a new start in Mexico?”
Eventually, Negrete had to tell Mariscal that his questions weren’t helpful. During a deeper conversation about his decision, Negrete shared that he was tired of living with the constant fear of getting picked up, herded into an unmarked van and taken away.
“I just kept telling him, ‘That’s not going to happen to you,’” Mariscal said. “But the more this administration keeps doing it, the more it’s in our face, the more we’re seeing every horror story about that, it became clear that, you know what, you do have a point. You do have to do what’s right for you.”
Negrete continues packing for his move to Mexico as roommate Martinez works at their Boyle Heights home.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Negrete is cognizant of the privilege that makes his departure different from that of many other immigrants. He is white-passing, fluent in Spanish and English, and moved with $10,000 in savings.
In June, he was hired as executive director of a U.S.-based nonprofit, Old School Hub, that works to combat ageism around the world. The role allowed him to live wherever he wanted.
He decided to settle in Guadalajara, a growing technology hub, with historic buildings featuring Gothic architecture that he found beautiful. It also helped that Guadalajara has one of the country’s most vibrant LGBTQ+ scenes and is a four-hour drive from Puerto Vallarta, a renowned queer resort destination.
As Negrete began his new job while still in L.A., he picked a moving date — Sept. 4 — and booked a two-week Airbnb near the baseball stadium.
That Guadalajara’s team, the Charros de Jalisco, wore Dodger blue felt like a good omen.
On the day he left the United States, Negrete and Martinez hold a prayer at the beach in San Clemente in which Negrete offers thanks to the universe with an offering of a watermelon.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
On the drive toward the border, messages poured into Negrete’s phone.
“I’m sending you all my love Alessandro,” one read. “Cuídate. [Take care.] Know that even though you’re far away from home, you carry us with you.”
“Todo te va a salir bien,” read another. Everything will go well for you, it said. “Spread your wings and flyyyyy.”
Afraid of being stopped and detained at the airport, as has happened to other immigrants attempting to leave the country, Negrete preferred to drive to Tijuana and then fly to Guadalajara.
Negrete’s driver, his friend Jorge Leonardo, turned into a parking lot at the sign reading “LAST USA EXIT.”
Negrete put on his black felt tejana hat and called Iris Rodriguez, who was in the companion car. He asked her to cross on foot with him.
Negrete walks his last few steps on American soil as he enters Mexico en route to Guadalajara, his new home.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“I don’t want to go alone,” he said.
“We’re still on American soil,” Leonardo said. “You can still change your mind.”
Negrete ignored him.
“See y’all on the other side,” he said as he hopped out of the car.
He and Rodriguez stopped for photos in front of a sign with an arrow pointing “To Mexico.” Around a corner, the border came into full view — a metal turnstile with layers of concertina wire above it.
The line for Mexicanos was unceremoniously quick. The immigration agent barely glanced at Negrete’s passport before waving him through.
On the other side, a busker sang “Piano Man” by Billy Joel in perfect English.
“Welcome to the motherland,” Rodriguez told him. Negrete let out a deep breath.
Negrete tours downtown Guadalajara, where he now lives.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Negrete’s immediate family members, and almost all of his extended family, live in the U.S.
He was born in Manzanillo, Colima, in 1982. Three months later, the family relocated to Los Angeles, where his parents had two more children.
At 17, Negrete was one of two students in his graduating class at Roosevelt High School to get into UC Berkeley. That’s when he found out he didn’t have papers.
His parents had divorced and his father married a U.S. citizen, obtaining a green card when Negrete was at Roosevelt. They began the legalization process for Negrete in 1999, he said, but two years later he came out to his family as gay.
His father was unsupportive and refused to continue seeking to adjust his immigration status. By the time they mended their relationship, it was too late. Negrete had aged out of the pathway at 21.
In 2008, Negrete said, he was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Four years later, President Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program to protect immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. Negrete failed to qualify because of the DUI.
He said he got his record expunged in 2016, but — again — it was too late.
Negrete waited until his last night in the U.S. to tell his mother, who now lives in Colorado, that he was leaving. He had grown tired of friends and other family members begging him to change his mind.
He had partially hinged his decision on the fact that his mom was in remission from her third bout with cancer and had just obtained legal residency. With life more stable for her, he could finally seek stability for himself.
“You taught me to dream,” Negrete recalled telling her. “This is me dreaming. I want to see the world.”
She cried and scolded him, promising to visit and repeating what she had said when he came out to her all those years before: “I wish you told me sooner.”
At a hotel in Tijuana, Negrete’s emotions finally caught up with him.
The day after Negrete and his three friends left L.A., three more friends surprised him by arriving in Tijuana for a final Friday night out together. One of them presented a gift he had put together with help from Negrete’s entire social circle — a video with loved ones sharing messages of encouragement.
In Negrete’s hotel room, as he and his friends watched, the mood grew sentimental.
“You’re basically the one that formed the family friend tree,” one friend said in her clip. “Friendships do not die out in distance.”
Negrete sobbed. “Yes! Friendships don’t have borders,” he said.
“Every single one of you has said this hasn’t hit y’all, like it’s a mini vacation,” he said. “I want to think of it as an extended vacation.”
“This isn’t goodbye, this is we’ll see each other soon,” he continued.
Off his soapbox, Negrete then chided his friends for making him cry before heading to a drag show.
Negrete had a habit of leaving social gatherings abruptly. His friends joked that they would refer to him as “catch me on the 101” because every time he disappeared during a night out, they would open Apple’s Find My app and see him on the freeway heading home.
“We’re not gonna catch him on the 101 no more,” Martinez said.
The last few flights of stairs lead Iris Rodriguez and Negrete to his Airbnb apartment in Guadalajara.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
On the flight to Guadalajara, Negrete’s heart raced and he began to hyperventilate. The anxiety attack caught him off guard.
Negrete had worked hard to show his friends and family that he was happy, because he didn’t want them to think he had doubts — and he had none. But he began to worry about the unknown and to mourn his former dreams of gaining legal status and running for public office.
“It hit me all at once,” he recounted. “I am three hours away from a whole new life that I don’t know. I left everything and I don’t know what’s next.”
Many deep breaths by Negrete later, the plane descended through the clouds, revealing vibrant green fields and a cantaloupe-hued sunset.
Negrete tests the bed at his temporary home in Guadalajara.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Inside the Airbnb, he was surprised to find a clothesline instead of a dryer. Noticing the blue 5-gallon jug of water in the kitchen, he remarked that he would have to remember tap water wasn’t safe to cook with. But alongside the new was something familiar: The view from his 11–story apartment showed off a sprawling metropolis dotted with trees, some of them palms.
The next day started off like any Sunday, with a trip to Walmart and drag brunch.
Negrete marveled at the cost of a large carton of egg whites ($1) and was shocked to see eggs stored at room temperature, liquid laundry detergent in bags and only single-ply toilet paper. He treated himself to a Darth Vader coffee mug and a teapot featuring characters from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
After brunch, it was time to play tourist. Negrete was accompanied by Rodriguez, who stayed with him for the first two weeks, and a new friend, Alejandro Preciado, whom he had met at Coachella in April and happened to be a Guadajalara local.
Negrete tours downtown Guadalajara. He was drawn to the city, in part, by its Gothic architecture.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Their first stop was the city’s Spanish Renaissance cathedral, where Negrete said a quick prayer to the Virgin Mary at his mother’s request. Negrete treated his friends to an electric carriage ride around the historic buildings, where he excitedly pointed out the Gothic architecture, then they bought aguas frescas and walked through an open-air market, chatting in an English-heavy Spanglish.
“I’m trying to look at how people dress,” Negrete said, suddenly self-conscious about his short shorts. “I’m pretty sure I stand out.”
After dinner, Negrete was booking an Uber back to his Airbnb when a message popped up: “We’ve detected unusual activity.”
The app didn’t know he had moved.
Before he arrived in Guadalajara, Negrete had already joined an intramural baseball team and a running club. Practices began days after his arrival.
Negrete enjoys a view of the sprawling hills of Guadalajara.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Within a month, he moved into an apartment, visited Mexico City and reconnected with aunts in Mexico City and Guadalajara he hadn’t seen in decades.
He reflected on the small joys of greeting neighborhood señoras on morning dog walks, discovering the depths of Mexican cuisine and the peace of mind that came with no longer feeling like a target — though he’ll still freeze at the sight of police lights.
Still, Negrete remained glued to U.S. politics. In late September, the federal government detailed plans to begin processing initial DACA applications for the first time in four years. Had Negrete stayed in the U.S., he would have finally qualified for a reprieve.
He isn’t regretful.
Lorca greets Negrete as he arrives home after touring Guadalajara.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
His new dreams are wide-ranging. He wants to buy a house in Rosarito, where friends and family from L.A. could visit him. He wants to travel the world, starting with a trip to Spain. And he wants to help U.S. organizations build resources for other immigrants who are considering repatriating.
The goal isn’t to encourage people to leave, he said, but to show them they have agency.
“I actually did it,” he said. “I did it, and I’m OK.”
Now, he said, Mexico feels like an estranged relative that he’s getting to know again.
President Donald Trump appeared to acknowledge on Wednesday that he cannot run for a third term, after toying with the idea of running in 2028 for months.
“I have my highest poll numbers that I’ve ever had, and, you know, based on what I read, I guess I’m not allowed to run. So, we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Gyeongju, South Korea.
“I would say that if you read it, it’s pretty clear. I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad, but we have a lot of great people,” he added.
The U.S. Constitution, via the 22nd Amendment, explicitly bars anyone from being elected to more than two terms as president. A fact that House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke to on Tuesday, saying that he does not “see a path” for Trump to seek a third term.
Trump has hinted at the idea of seeking another term periodically, notably offering “Trump 2028” hats to allies and adversaries alike. He told NBC News earlier this year that he is “not joking” and believes that “there are methods” by which he could run for president in 2028. Ally of Trump, Steve Bannon, claimed in an interview released last week that “there’s a plan” for President Trump to serve a third term.
When asked about Bannon’s comments on Monday, Trump said he hadn’t given it much thought, but definitely did not rule out the idea of seeking a third term.
Some observers have mused that President Trump could find himself in the Oval Office again if he successfully runs for vice president and the sitting president were to step down, enabling him to retake the presidency.
Experts are divided on whether it would work, but Trump seems to have ruled out the idea. “I think that people wouldn’t like that,” he said. “It’s too cute.”
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is initiating a leadership shakeup at a dozen or so offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to bring more aggressive enforcement operations across the U.S.
Some of the outgoing field office directors at ICE are anticipated to be replaced with leaders from Customs and Border Protection, according to news reports. Among the leaders targeted for replacement are Los Angeles Field Office Director Ernesto Santacruz and San Diego Field Office Director Patrick Divver, the Washington Examiner reported Monday.
The stepped up role of Border Patrol leaders in interior enforcement — which has historically been ICE territory — marks an evolution of tactics that originated in California.
In late December, Gregory Bovino, who heads the Border Patrol’s El Centro region, led a three-day raid in rural Kern County, nabbing day laborers more than 300 miles from his typical territory. Former Biden administration officials said Bovino had gone “rogue” and that no agency leaders knew about the operation beforehand.
Bovino leveraged the spectacle to become the on-the-ground point person for the Trump Administration’s signature issue.
The three-decade veteran of Border Patrol, who has used slick social media videos to promote the agency’s heavy-handed tactics, brought militarized operations once primarily used at the border into America’s largest cities.
In Los Angeles this summer, contingents of heavily armed, masked agents began chasing down and arresting day laborers, street vendors and car wash workers. Tensions grew as the administration ordered in the National Guard.
The efforts seem to have become more aggressive after a Supreme Court order allowed authorities to stop people based on factors such as race or ethnicity, employment and speaking Spanish.
Bovino moved operations to Chicago and escalated his approach. Immigration agents launched an overnight raid in a crowded apartment, shot gas into crowds of protesters and fatally shot one man.
Now Bovino is expected to hand-pick some of the replacements at ICE field offices, according to Fox News.
Tom Wong, who directs the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at UC San Diego, said the leadership changes are unsurprising, given Bovino’s strategies in Los Angeles and Chicago.
“The Trump administration is blurring the distinction between Border Patrol and ICE,” he said. “The border is no longer just the external boundaries of the United States, but the border is everywhere.”
Former Homeland Security officials said the large-scale replacement of executives from one agency with those from another agency is unprecedented.
The two agencies have similar authorities but very different approaches, said Daniel Altman, former head of internal oversight investigations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
ICE officers operate largely inside the country, lean heavily on investigations and typically know when they set out for the day who they are targeting.
Border Patrol, on the other hand, patrols the borderlands for anyone they encounter and suspect of entering illegally. Amid the rugged terrain and isolation, Border Patrol built a do-it-yourself ethos within the century-old organization, Altman said.
“Culturally, the Border Patrol prides itself on solving problems, and that means that whatever the current administration needs or wants with respect to immigration enforcement, they’re usually very willing and able to do that,” said Altman.
White House leadership has not been happy with arrest numbers. Stephen Miller, President Trump’s deputy chief of staff who is heading his immigration initiatives, set a goal of 3,000 immigration arrests per day, which the agency has not been able to meet.
DHS says it expects to deport 600,000 people by January, a figure that includes people who were turned back at the border or at airports.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant public affairs secretary for the Homeland Security department, didn’t confirm or deny the changes but described immigration officials as united.
“Talk about sensationalism,” she said. “Only the media would describe standard agency personnel changes as a ‘massive shakeup.’ If and when we have specific personnel moves to announce, we’ll do that.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said, “The President’s entire team is working in lockstep to implement the President’s policy agenda, and the tremendous results from securing the border to deporting criminal illegal aliens speak for themselves.”
On Fox News on Tuesday, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said the administration is dedicated to achieving record deportations of primarily immigrants with criminal records.
“As far as personnel changes, that’s under the purview of the Secretary of Homeland Security,” he said. “I’m at the White House working with people like Stephen Miller, one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met, to come up with strategic policies and plans — how to get success, how to maintain success, and how to get the numbers ever higher.”
Deborah Fleischaker, a former ICE and DHS official under the Biden administration, said the personnel moves appear to be an “attempt to migrate a Border Patrol ethos over to ICE.”
“ICE’s job has historically focused on targeting and enforcing against public safety threats,” she said. “Border Patrol has a much more highly militarized job of securing the border, protecting against transnational crime and drug trafficking and smuggling. That sort of approach doesn’t belong in our cities and is quite dangerous.”
Fleischaker said it would be difficult to increase deportations, even with Border Patrol leaders at the helm, because of the complexities around securing travel documents and negotiating with countries that are reticent to accept deportees.
In the meantime, she said, shunting well-liked leaders will sink morale.
“For the folks who are still there, everybody knows you comply or you risk losing your job,” she said. “Dissent, failure to meet targets or even ask questions aren’t really tolerated.”
On Tuesday, DHS posted a video montage of Bovino on its Instagram page set to Coldplay’s song “Viva la vida.” The caption read, “WE WILL NOT BE STOPPED.”
Staff writer Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump is promoting Japanese companies investing $550 billion in the United States while visiting the East Asian country. The president said the funds would be “at my direction” as part of a trade framework secured with Japan. The president also boasted about the U.S. economy, despite contrasting economic challenges.”Well, everyone in our country is now doing well. My first term, we built the greatest economy in the history of the world. We had an economy like nobody has seen before now. We’re doing it again, but this time, actually, it’s going to be much bigger, much stronger,” Trump said.The president highlighted the stock market reaching all-time highs, but economists point to other indicators that tell a different story. Amazon announced it is cutting 14,000 jobs, UPS is eliminating roughly 48,000 positions and closing more than 90 buildings as part of a turnaround plan, and Target, Ford, and GM have also announced layoffs amid slowing demand. Additionally, the federal government shutdown threatens food aid benefits for more than 40 million Americans as soon as Nov. 1, and September’s CPI data showed prices are rising again just as the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates to support the economy.”I don’t really understand the optimism to be perfectly honest, and I’m a very optimistic, very little of a ‘doomer’ person. We’ve had seven months in a row of contractions and manufacturing output. The labor market cooled to such an extent that it forced the Fed to cut rates in September,” said Jai Kedia from the Cato Institute.President Trump is preparing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid the ongoing U.S.–China trade war. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two countries have reached a “very successful framework” ahead of their summit, covering tariffs, rare-earth exports and large U.S. agricultural purchases.Meanwhile, 26 states and Washington, D.C., are suing the USDA, arguing the agency has contingency funds that could be used to maintain SNAP benefits during the shutdown. In a memo, the USDA stated that those funds can only be used for a natural disaster or other emergency, not to operate during a shutdown, and placed the blame on Senate Democrats, saying, “We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. Continue to hold out for the Far-Left wing of the party or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments.” The states argue the law requires the USDA to issue benefits as long as money is available.It comes after another failed vote occurred today in the Senate. A federal judge in San Francisco has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from firing federal workers during the government shutdown. This move comes as a lawsuit challenges recent job cuts in education, health, and other areas.For more coverage from the Washington News Bureau here:
WASHINGTON —
President Donald Trump is promoting Japanese companies investing $550 billion in the United States while visiting the East Asian country. The president said the funds would be “at my direction” as part of a trade framework secured with Japan.
“Well, everyone in our country is now doing well. My first term, we built the greatest economy in the history of the world. We had an economy like nobody has seen before now. We’re doing it again, but this time, actually, it’s going to be much bigger, much stronger,” Trump said.
The president highlighted the stock market reaching all-time highs, but economists point to other indicators that tell a different story.
Additionally, the federal government shutdown threatens food aid benefits for more than 40 million Americans as soon as Nov. 1, and September’s CPI data showed prices are rising again just as the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates to support the economy.
“I don’t really understand the optimism to be perfectly honest, and I’m a very optimistic, very little of a ‘doomer’ person. We’ve had seven months in a row of contractions and manufacturing output. The labor market cooled to such an extent that it forced the Fed to cut rates in September,” said Jai Kedia from the Cato Institute.
President Trump is preparing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid the ongoing U.S.–China trade war. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two countries have reached a “very successful framework” ahead of their summit, covering tariffs, rare-earth exports and large U.S. agricultural purchases.
Meanwhile, 26 states and Washington, D.C., are suing the USDA, arguing the agency has contingency funds that could be used to maintain SNAP benefits during the shutdown.
In a memo, the USDA stated that those funds can only be used for a natural disaster or other emergency, not to operate during a shutdown, and placed the blame on Senate Democrats, saying, “We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. Continue to hold out for the Far-Left wing of the party or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments.”
It comes after another failed vote occurred today in the Senate. A federal judge in San Francisco has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from firing federal workers during the government shutdown. This move comes as a lawsuit challenges recent job cuts in education, health, and other areas.
For more coverage from the Washington News Bureau here:
WASHINGTON — President Trump faces the most important international meeting of his second term so far on Thursday: face-to-face negotiations with Xi Jinping, who has made China a formidable economic and military challenger to the United States.
The two presidents face a vast agenda during their meeting in Seoul, beginning with the two countries’ escalating trade war over tariffs and high-tech exports. The list also includes U.S. demands for a Chinese crackdown on fentanyl, China’s aid to Russia in its war with Ukraine, the future of Taiwan and China’s growing nuclear arsenal.
Trump has already promised, characteristically, that the meeting will be a major success.
“It’s going to be fantastic for both countries, and it’s going to be fantastic for the entire world,” he said last week.
But it isn’t yet clear that the summit’s concrete results will measure up to that high standard.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the two sides have agreed to a “framework” under which China would delay implementing tight controls on rare earth elements, minerals crucial for the production of high-tech products from smartphones and electric vehicles to military aircraft and missiles. He said China has also agreed to resume buying soybeans from U.S. farmers and to crack down on fentanyl components.
In return, Bessent said, the United States will back down from its stinging tariffs on Chinese goods.
Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador in Beijing under then-President Biden, said that kind of deal would amount to “an uneasy trade truce rather than a comprehensive trade deal.”
“That may be the best we can expect,” he said in an interview Monday. Still, he added, “it will be a positive step to stabilize world markets and allow the continuation of U.S.-China trade for the time being.”
But U.S. and Chinese officials have been close-mouthed on what, if anything, has been agreed on regarding Xi’s other big trade demand: easier U.S. restrictions on high-tech exports to China, especially advanced semiconductor chips used for artificial intelligence.
Burns said the two superpowers’ technology competition is “the most sensitive … in terms of where this relationship will head, which country will emerge more powerful.”
Giving China easy access to advanced semiconductors “would only help [the Chinese army] in its competition with the U.S. military for power in the Indo-Pacific,” he warned.
Other former officials and China hawks outside the administration have said, even more pointedly, that they worry that Trump may be too willing to trade long-term technology assets for short-term trade deals.
In August, Trump eased export controls to allow Nvidia, the world leader in AI chips, to sell more semiconductors to China — in an unusual deal under which the U.S. company would pay 15% of its revenue from the sales to the U.S. Treasury.
Matthew Pottinger, Trump’s top China advisor in his first term, protested in a recent podcast interview that the deal risked trading a strategic technology advantage “for $20 billion and Nvidia’s bottom line.”
Underlying the controversy over technology, some China watchers warn, is a basic mismatch between the two presidents: Trump is focused almost entirely on trade and commercial deals, while Xi is focused on displacing the United States as the biggest economic and military power in Asia.
“I don’t think the administration has a strategy toward China,” said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. “It has a trade strategy, not a China strategy.”
“The administration does not seem to be focused on competition with China,” said Jonathan Czin, a former CIA analyst now at Washington’s Brookings Institution. “It’s focused on deal making. … It’s tactics without strategy.”
“We’ve fallen into a kind of trade and technology myopia,” he added. “We’re not talking about issues like China’s coercion [of smaller countries] in the South China Sea. … China doesn’t want to have that bigger, broader conversation.”
It isn’t clear that Trump and Xi will have either the time or inclination to talk in detail about anything other than trade.
And even on the front-burner economic issues, this week’s ceasefire is unlikely to produce a permanent peace.
“As with all such agreements, the devil will be in the details,” Burns, the former ambassador, said. “The two countries will remain fierce trade rivals. Expect friction ahead and further trade duels well into 2026.”
“Buckle up,” Czin said. “There are likely more sudden moves from Beijing ahead.”
In the long run, Trump’s legacy in U.S.-China relations will rest not only on trade deals but on the larger competition for economic and military power in the Pacific Rim. No matter how this week’s meetings go, those challenges still lie ahead.
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, one of President Trump’s most notable opponents, announces in an exclusive interview that he will consider a run for president following the 2026 midterm elections
In an interview with “CBS News Sunday Morning,” Newsom was asked if he would give “serious thought” to a bid for the presidency after next year’s midterm elections. To which he responded, “Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise,” Newsom replied. “I’d just be lying. And I’m not — I can’t do that.”
As his gubernatorial term ends in January of 2027, and he is unable to run again because of term limits, he notes any decision on this matter is years away, stating that “Fate will determine that”. Many political observers have long considered him a viable presidential candidate, although this is his first time addressing these assertions.
This, however, is not the first indication Newsom has made that he may be interested in the Oval Office. He has made trips to key battleground states, including a visit to South Carolina in July, a state now slated to host the first democratic primary in the 2028 presidential election.
During his trip, where he met with Democratic leaders and paid a visit to a coffee shop to rally activists, he said, “I love people. I actually love people,” after expressing gratitude for being in the “right business”.
As of now, Newsom is focusing on passing Proposition 50, a California ballot measure he has spearheaded, which would allow state democrats to temporarily change the boundaries of the U.S. House Districts, making them more favorable to the party. This measure will be decided in a special election next week, in hopes of combating Trump’s push for Republican-controlled states to alter their congressional maps.
“I think it’s about our democracy. It’s about the future of this republic. I think it’s about, you know, what the Founding Fathers lived and died for, this notion of the rule of law, and not the rule of Don,” Newsom said.
Have you seen a tweet from President Donald Trump saying he’ll refuse to invite whoever wins the World Series to the White House? Trump appears to say that it’s because he believes the game is rigged, either by the mafia or the Democrats. But the tweet isn’t real. The post has gone viral across just about every major social media platform, but it’s completely fake.
The post is made to look like it’s coming from President Trump’s official Truth Social account, the platform he owns and the first place where he posts all his most unhinged messages.
“NO MATTER WHO WINS I WILL REFUSE TO INVITE EITHER BASEBALL TEAM TO MY BALL ROOM AS THEY ARE BOTH RUN BY HIGHLY INEPT OFFICIALS FROM CALIFORNIA AND ONTARIO CANADA,” the fake tweet reads.
“I DON’T HOST LOSERS. WE ARE ACTIVELY INVESTIGATING MLB. THIS WORLD SERIES IS RIGGED, PROBABLY BY THE DEMS & THE MAFIA,” the fake tweet continues.
The screenshot spread far and wide over the weekend, showing up on Threads, X, Bluesky, Instagram, and Facebook. But Trump never wrote this one.
Fake tweet made to look like it’s from President Donald Trump about the World Series. Screenshot: Facebook
The reaction to the viral post was about what you’d expect, especially among fans of the Toronto Blue Jays, the team that’s currently playing the Los Angeles Dodgers for the World Series championship. The series is tied 1-1 and Game 3 will be played tonight.
Many Canadians made fun of the fake Trump tweet, since they didn’t think a Canadian team would even be invited to the White House in the first place. Trump slapped an additional 10% tariff on Canada over the weekend because he got mad about an ad that highlighted Ronald Reagan’s opposition to tariffs. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the ad a “psy-op” by the Canadian government on Sunday. Trump has claimed the ad is fake, even falsely insisting it’s AI. But it’s real.
Things are different for the American team, which could very well get an invitation to the White House if they win. The Dodgers won the World Series last year and did indeed show up in April to snap pictures. Trump also received a “47” jersey from the team, since he’s kind of the 47th president. We say “kind of” because he’s only 47th if you don’t count by the number of people to hold the office, but by the number of consecutive terms that make up a single era. And even then, it’s not quite right since Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms as well.
There are many red flags in the fake post from Trump, but the reference to the ballroom might be one of the most glaring. The president has demolished the East Wing of the White House, and he’s building a ballroom with “donations” from private companies and individuals who have given him millions. But even on the most ambitious timeline, the ballroom won’t be completed by the time a White House visit by the 2025 World Series champions might take place. Trump hasn’t announced a completion date for his ridiculous monstrosity, but the administration has said it will be done before his second term is up in Jan. 2029.
Another fake post that’s gotten less traction, but is still popping up here and there on social media, specifically calls out the Blue Jays.
“WE WILL BE INVESTIGATING THE UN AMERICAN BLUE JAYS WHO ARE ATTEMPTING TO STEAL OUR BELOVED WORLD SERIES,” the fake tweet reads. “THEY WILL DEFINITELY NOT BE INVITED TO THE WHITE HOUSE.”
Interestingly, author Stephen King seemed to fall for the first tweet in this article, poking fun at him on X, but the Community Notes that have attempted to fact-check King are referring to the second tweet about the Blue Jays. That’s how many fake Trump tweets seem to be doing the rounds these days. Nobody can keep any of this stuff straight.
The reason these fake tweets go viral is that it’s simply impossible to tell which screeds from President Trump are authentic. Trump has always been off his rocker, but he’s gotten increasingly unhinged during his second term, posting some of the weirdest things that a president has ever expressed in public.
As just one recent example, Trump posted an AI video of himself last month talking about “medbeds,” a bizarre conspiracy theory that claims there are real beds being hidden from the public that can heal all diseases. The video even includes a fake Trump touting these miracle cures and insisting they were going to be available soon to “restore every citizen to full health.”
In a world where the president is posting about medbeds—to say nothing of the Department of Homeland Security posting Nazi propaganda—it can be extremely difficult to tell what’s real. And that’s not going to change as long as the Trump regime remains in power. In fact, it’s likely to get much, much worse.
This group of voters played a significant part in the president’s victory in November, with more than half of men under 30 years old supporting Trump. And six in ten white men voted for the President, according to the Associated Press’ VoteCast.
Of the 14 young Trump voters who participated in the Syracuse focus group, nine said they disapproved of Trump’s overall job performance so far, while five approved.
Denver7 spoke to Republicans here in Colorado about how they feel about the President’s performance.
Denver7
Tyler Linnebur, 30, Centennial
“I was hoping cost of things would improve more, and that, in general, people would be happier or be more optimistic. I feel like there’s a lot of people upset or [with] mixed feelings about tariffs or trade policy, and there’s just a broad ideological rift in the party.”
Watch the full interview with Linnebur in the video player below:
Full interview: Treasurer of Colorado Federation of Young Republicans
Derek, 28, Denver
“If I had to pin down three main concerns in life now it would be affordability, the safety of the community, and our role on the global stage. I look very unfavorably on the tariff policies and other measures that have increased the pricing of food, rent, and imported goods such as electronics.”
Daniel, 37, Parker
“[Trump] is handling the economy very well and setting [the country] up for long-term growth with new trade deals and focusing on U.S. energy independence. The overall economy and job market has been in a lull for the last few months but that is mainly because the Federal Reserve wants that to be the case to tame growth and inflation.”
Immigration was one explanation for those who said they disapproved of the President in the Syracuse report— even though they supported the general idea of strengthening borders.
“I have not been agreeing with just taking a bunch of immigrants and even if they are innocent and throwing them back to God knows where,” Sean M., a 23-year-old independent from Pennsylvania who voted for Trump twice, said in the focus group.
Elizabeth M., a 27-year-old from Arizona pointed toward the economy.
“I believe with the reasoning behind them, I do think that something has to be done to compete with the other countries. I think it just should have been affecting, maybe the big businesses versus us as the consumers being affected by it,” she said.
Other issues addressed by the focus group included free speech and the conflict between Israel and Gaza.
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Dan Grossman
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Nearly four weeks into the federal government shutdown, a staffing shortage at Los Angeles International Airport prompted a temporary ground stop Sunday morning affecting flights at the West Coast’s largest and busiest airport.
The restriction began around 8:45 a.m., affecting departing flights for Oakland, and was lifted at 10:30 a.m., according to an FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center advisory.
The stoppage affected most of Southern California, leaving passengers experiencing flight delays of around 49 minutes, with some waiting up to 87 minutes, according to KTLA.
Even after the resumption of flights, travelers were instructed to check the status of their flights.
Since the federal shutdown began Oct. 1, the Federal Aviation Administration has warned of disruption at airports due to staff shortages. Air traffic controllers are required to work unpaid when the federal government shuts down and do not obtain retroactive pay until Congress comes to an agreement on a budget.
Less than a week into the shutdown, dozens of flights were delayed and 12 flights were canceled as Hollywood Burbank Airport’s air traffic control tower was temporarily unstaffed due to shortages. Outgoing flights were delayed an average of two hours and 31 minutes.
Airports across the nation have experienced staff shortages at their air traffic control towers this month. On Sunday afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration’s operations plan listed several major airports experiencing “staffing triggers,” from LAX to Ronald Reagain Washington National Airport in Virginia and Philadelphia International Airport in Pennsylvania.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said Sunday the problem is getting worse as more controllers, getting no paychecks, are calling in sick.
“I’ve been out talking to air traffic controllers and you can see the stress,” Duffy said on Fox News. “These are people that oftentimes live paycheck to paycheck or one controller has a stay-at-home spouse. They’re concerned about gas in the car, they’re concerned about child care and mortgages.”
On Saturday, 22 airports had staffing shortages, Duffy said.
“That’s one of the highest that we have seen in the system since the shutdown began,” he said. “And that’s a sign that the controllers are wearing thin.”
The chaos at LaGuardia — and subsequent news coverage of airport delays and threats to air safety — swiftly motivated politicians to come to an agreement. But this year, Republicans and Democrats in Washington seem deadlocked and no closer to a deal.
‘I am not done,’ the former Vice President, who lives in Brentwood, said in a new interview
Former Vice President Kamala Harris told the BBC in a new interview that politics are “in my bones” and did not rule out another run to move from Brentwood to the White House.
“I am not done,” she told the BBC. “I have lived my entire career as a life of service, and it’s in my bones.”
In her first UK interview, Harris said she would “possibly” be president one day and was confident there would be a woman in the White House in the future, making her strongest hint to date that she is eyeing another run against President Trump in 2028. Harris dismissed polls that put her as an outsider to become the Democrats’ pick for the next election after Trump trounced her last year, saying: “If I listened to polls I would have not run for my first office, or my second office — and I certainly wouldn’t be sitting here.”
Harris, however, emphasized that she has not made a final decision yet about a new run to become commander in chief, but insisted she is not out of politics. She did have harsh words for American billionaires, business leaders, and universities, who she said have bowed to Trump’s authoritarianism.
“There are many, that have capitulated since day one, who are bending the knee at the foot of a tyrant, I believe for many reasons, including they want to be next to power, because they want to perhaps have a merger approved or avoid an investigation,” she told the BBC.
UCLA must release the Trump administration document that outlines the terms of the $1.2 billion settlement proposal at the center of talks between the University of California and the federal government, the California Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The decision is a win for UCLA faculty who have pushed for more transparency in the negotiations over the future of the nation’s premier public university system. UC has until the end of the day to disclose the 28 pages of federal demands for far-reaching policy changes at UCLA that are in line with President Trump’s vision for higher education.
UCLA asked the high court to take two actions: block a lower court’s ruling that ordered UC to turn over the document to faculty and force the appeals court that declined to review the lower court decision to release a detailed explanation of its reasoning.
“The petition for review and applications for stay are denied,” said brief Supreme Court decision, signed by Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero. The court did not elaborate on the matter.
The proposal will be shared with the UCLA Faculty Association, an independent campus group which sued UC. Faculty leaders have said they intend to distribute the document publicly.
“We’re excited that the Supreme Court agreed with us that every Californian has a right to see this letter and understand the scope of federal interference into our state institutions,” said Anna Markowitz, president of the UCLA Faculty Assn. and an associate professor in UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies.
UC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
What’s at stake for each side
UC said in court filings that it would “suffer irreparable harm” to negotiations with the Trump administration if the document became public. It also said disclosure would hurt future settlement negotiations with other parties.
University lawyers argued that releasing the proposal would invite “every member of the entire public to express each one’s views on every settlement” for an “uncontrollable public fray” around negotiations.
The UCLA Faculty Association said that the document’s disclosure is required under the Public Records Act. The association argued that the information is a matter of public interest to faculty, staff, students, UCLA Health patients and Californian’s whose tax dollars support the UC system.
Faculty sued after UC and UCLA denied public records requests. UC said it was not bound by public records law to share details of confidential settlement discussions.
“The intense public reaction to disclosure at an early stage of an initial proposal could easily end any opportunity for discussion at its inception and hamper the ability to fully and fairly evaluate a response,” UC wrote a court filings.
A lower court’s Oct. 14 ruling ordered UC to release the proposal to the association within 10 days. On Wednesday, an appeals court declined to reverse the decision before UC sought emergency relief from the state’s highest court.
The Trump administration sent the more than 7,000-word settlement proposal in August, after the Department of Justice accused UCLA of violating the law in its handling of antisemitism complaints, admissions practices and gender identity on campus. Citing those alleged violations, the federal government suspended $584 million in medical, science and energy research funding to UCLA. The vast majority of the funds are now restored as the result of the a lawsuit filed by UC-wide faculty.
UCLA has maintained that its policies comply with state and federal laws,. Its chancellor, Julio Frenk, has said the “far-reaching penalty of defunding life-saving research does nothing to address any alleged discrimination.”
They include proposed changes to admissions to prevent alleged affirmative action, stricter protest rules and a ban on gender-affirming healthcare for minors at UCLA medical facilities.
The document calls for UCLA to publicly announce that it does not recognize transgender people’s gender identities, prevent the admission of “anti-Western” international students and to pay the costs for an outside monitor to oversee the agreement.
The offer also says that “the United States and its consultants and agents will have full and direct access to all UCLA staff, employees, facilities, documents, and data related to the agreement, in coordination with legal counsel for UCLA, except any documents or data protected by work product or the attorney-client privilege.”
UC President James B. Milliken has said fine — a $1-billion payment to the government and a $172-million claims fund for people who say they faced discrimination — would be near impossible to pay.
He has been less detailed on the other federal demands, leading to faculty complaints over how UC has handled negotiations and communicated updates to employees. Milliken has broadly said that UC will protect academic freedom as well as its mission and values in any potential Trump agreement.
A planned increase in federal immigration enforcement in the Bay Area is now on pause throughout the region and in major East Bay cities, not just in San Francisco, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said Friday.
Lee said in a statement that Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez had “confirmed through her communications” with federal immigration officials that the planned operations were “cancelled for the greater Bay Area — which includes Oakland — at this time.”
The announcement followed lingering concerns about ramped up immigration enforcement among East Bay leaders after President Trump and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announced Thursday that a planned “surge” had been called off in San Francisco.
Trump and Lurie had very specifically addressed San Francisco, even as additional Border Patrol agents were being staged across the bay on Coast Guard Island, which is in the waters between Alameda and Oakland.
At a press conference following Trump’s annoucement about San Francisco, Lee had said the situation remained “fluid,” that she had received no such assurances about the East Bay and that Oakland was continuing to prepare for enhanced immigration enforcement in the region.
Alameda County Dist. Atty. Ursula Jones Dickson had previously warned that the announced stand down in San Francisco could be a sign the administration was looking to focus on Oakland instead — and make an example of it.
“We know that they’re baiting Oakland, and that’s why San Francisco, all of a sudden, is off the table,” Jones Dickson said Thursday morning. “So I’m not going to be quiet about what we know is coming. We know that their expectation is that Oakland is going to do something to cause them to make us the example.”
The White House on Friday directed questions about the scope of the pause in operations and whether it applied to the East Bay to the Department of Homeland Security, which referred The Times back to Trump’s statement about San Francisco on Friday — despite its making no mention of the East Bay or Oakland.
In that statement, posted to his Truth Social platform, Trump had written that a “surge” had been planned for San Francisco starting Saturday, but that he had called it off after speaking to Lurie.
Trump said Lurie had asked “very nicely” that Trump “give him a chance to see if he can turn it around” in the city, and that business leaders — including Jensen Huang of Nvidia and Marc Benioff of Salesforce — had expressed confidence in Lurie.
Trump said he told Lurie that it would be “easier” to make San Francisco safer if federal forces were sent in, but told him, “let’s see how you do.”
Lurie in recent days has touted falling crime rates and numbers of homeless encampments in the city, and said in his own announcement of the stand down that he had told Trump that San Francisco was “on the rise” and that “having the military and militarized immigration enforcement in our city will hinder our recovery.”
In California and elsewhere, the Trump administration has aggressively sought to expand the reach and authority of the Border Patrol and federal immigration agents. Last month, the DOJ fired its top prosecutor in Sacramento after she told Gregory Bovino, chief of the Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector, that he could not carry out indiscriminate immigration raids around Sacramento this summer.
In Oakland on Thursday, the planned surge in enforcement had sparked protests near the entrance to Coast Guard Island, and drew widespread condemnation from local liberal officials and immigrant advocacy organizations.
On Thursday night, security officers at the base opened fire on the driver of a U-Haul truck who was reversing the truck toward them, wounding the driver and a civilian nearby. The FBI is investigating that incident.
Some liberal officials had warned that federal agents who violated the rights of Californians could face consequences — even possible arrest — from local law enforcement, which drew condemnation from federal officials.
Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche responded with a scathing letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom and others on Thursday in which he wrote that any attempt by local law enforcement to arrest federal officers doing their jobs would be viewed by the Justice Department as “both illegal and futile” and as part of a “criminal conspiracy.”
Blanche wrote that the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution precludes any federal law enforcement official to be “held on a state criminal charge where the alleged crime arose during the performance of his federal duties,” and that the Justice Department would pursue legal action against any state officials who advocate for such enforcement.
“In the meantime, federal agents and officers will continue to enforce federal law and will not be deterred by the threat of arrest by California authorities who have abdicated their duty to protect their constituents,” Blanche wrote.
The threat of arrest for federal officers had originated in part with San Francisco Dist. Atty. Brooke Jenkins, who had written on social media that if federal agents “come to San Francisco and illegally harass our residents … I will not hesitate to do my job and hold you accountable just like I do other violators of the law every single day.”
The federal government has released a list of all of the entities helping to pay for President Trump’s lavish White House ballroom, . Big tech is all over this thing, with companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft all shelling out cash to fund the 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
It’s not just big tech. Defense firms are also helping to pony the bill here. Companies like Lockheed Martin and Palintir are sending some cash, as are random billionaires like the Winklevoss twins and Domino Sugar magnate José Fanjul. The list reads like a who’s who of the ultra wealthy and connected.
As we all know, giant corporations and billionaires are kind and selfless, but what if just this one time they want something in return for their largesse? Columbia professor of law Richard Briffault told Time have done “significant” business with the federal government, raising ethical concerns.
“I doubt it’s a literal quid-pro-quo, but it’s probably more like ‘if you give this, I will look favorably upon you.’ Or maybe more like, ‘if you don’t give this, after you’ve been asked, I won’t [look favorably upon you],” Briffault said. “It’s greasing the system by making contributions, and in some ways, his leaning on them for contributions is quasi-coercive.”
Noah Bookbinder, CEO and President of ethics watchdog organization said the whole thing is “extraordinarily unusual, deeply disturbing and does have tremendous ethics implications.” He also said that “Donald Trump has made very clear over the years that he does appreciate people paying tribute to him, and he does tend to do things that benefit those people.”
Trump has been personally woo-ing these potential financiers. There was a fundraising dinner in the East Room last week that included representatives of several of the aforementioned companies. The dinner was billed as an event to “Establish the Magnificent White House Ballroom,” . The outlet also reported that Trump has held meetings at the White House and at his club in Virginia to raise money for the project.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time big tech companies have banded together to pay tribute to Trump. Most of the aforementioned companies and, heck, Apple CEO Tim Cook for some reason.
The construction of this glorious ballroom we all most definitely want has already been at the heart of several controversies. Americans were recently surprised to find that the East Wing of the White House , despite the president previously promising the ballroom would not even touch the actual property.
In any event, we’ll soon be able to watch live feeds of the ultra rich dancing the night away to the Village People or whatever, which is sure to solve all of our problems. In unrelated news, food stamps are likely to run out next week for around 41 million Americans and .
President Donald Trump said late Thursday that he was ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of a television ad opposing U.S. tariffs that he said misstated the facts and called “egregious behavior” aimed at influencing U.S. court decisions.The post on Trump’s social media site came after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he aims to double his country’s exports to countries outside the U.S. because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs. Trump’s call for an abrupt end to negotiations could further inflame trade tensions that already have been building between the two neighboring countries for months.Related video above: Earlier this month, Trump explained why a deal with Canada is complicatedTrump posted, “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs.”“The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”Carney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The prime minister was set to leave Friday morning for a summit in Asia, while Trump is set to do the same Friday evening.Earlier Thursday night, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute posted on X that an ad created by the government of Ontario “misrepresents the ‘Presidential Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade’ dated April 25, 1987.” It added that Ontario did not receive foundation permission “to use and edit the remarks.”The foundation said it is “reviewing legal options in this matter” and invited the public to watch the unedited video of Reagan’s address.Carney met with Trump earlier this month to try to ease trade tensions, as the two countries and Mexico prepare for a review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement — a trade deal Trump negotiated in his first term, but has since soured on.More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the U.S., and nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border daily.Trump said earlier this week that he had seen the ad on television and said that it showed that his tariffs were having an impact.“I saw an ad last night from Canada. If I was Canada, I’d take that same ad also,” he said then.In his own post on X last week, Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, posted a link to the ad and the message: “It’s official: Ontario’s new advertising campaign in the U.S. has launched.”He continued, “Using every tool we have, we’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada. The way to prosperity is by working together.”A spokesperson for Ford didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night. But Ford previously got Trump’s attention with an electricity surcharge to U.S. states. Trump responded by doubling steel and aluminum tariffs.The president has moved to impose steep U.S. tariffs on many goods from Canada. In April, Canada’s government imposed retaliatory levies on certain U.S. goods — but it carved out exemptions for some automakers to bring specific numbers of vehicles into the country, known as remission quotas.Trump’s tariffs have especially hurt Canada’s auto sector, much of which is based in Ontario. This month, Stellantis said it would move a production line from Ontario to Illinois
WASHINGTON —
President Donald Trump said late Thursday that he was ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of a television ad opposing U.S. tariffs that he said misstated the facts and called “egregious behavior” aimed at influencing U.S. court decisions.
The post on Trump’s social media site came after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he aims to double his country’s exports to countries outside the U.S. because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs. Trump’s call for an abrupt end to negotiations could further inflame trade tensions that already have been building between the two neighboring countries for months.
Related video above: Earlier this month, Trump explained why a deal with Canada is complicated
Trump posted, “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs.”
“The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”
Carney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The prime minister was set to leave Friday morning for a summit in Asia, while Trump is set to do the same Friday evening.
Earlier Thursday night, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute posted on X that an ad created by the government of Ontario “misrepresents the ‘Presidential Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade’ dated April 25, 1987.” It added that Ontario did not receive foundation permission “to use and edit the remarks.”
The foundation said it is “reviewing legal options in this matter” and invited the public to watch the unedited video of Reagan’s address.
Carney met with Trump earlier this month to try to ease trade tensions, as the two countries and Mexico prepare for a review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement — a trade deal Trump negotiated in his first term, but has since soured on.
More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the U.S., and nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border daily.
Trump said earlier this week that he had seen the ad on television and said that it showed that his tariffs were having an impact.
“I saw an ad last night from Canada. If I was Canada, I’d take that same ad also,” he said then.
In his own post on X last week, Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, posted a link to the ad and the message: “It’s official: Ontario’s new advertising campaign in the U.S. has launched.”
He continued, “Using every tool we have, we’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada. The way to prosperity is by working together.”
A spokesperson for Ford didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night. But Ford previously got Trump’s attention with an electricity surcharge to U.S. states. Trump responded by doubling steel and aluminum tariffs.
The president has moved to impose steep U.S. tariffs on many goods from Canada. In April, Canada’s government imposed retaliatory levies on certain U.S. goods — but it carved out exemptions for some automakers to bring specific numbers of vehicles into the country, known as remission quotas.
Trump’s tariffs have especially hurt Canada’s auto sector, much of which is based in Ontario. This month, Stellantis said it would move a production line from Ontario to Illinois
Oil prices spiked Thursday after the U.S. announced massive new sanctions on Russia’s oil industry in an attempt to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and end Moscow’s brutal war on Ukraine.U.S. benchmark crude jumped 6%, to $62 per barrel midday Thursday and analysts say if the situation remains static, U.S. consumers will soon be paying more at the pump.Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said while it was difficult to predict with certainty because of the number of moving parts, consumers will likely see a bump in prices as early as next week, if not sooner.“We’ll probably start to see motorists be impacted by the sanctions at the pump in the next couple days and it might take five days for that to be fully passed along,” De Haan said, adding that the full impact also depends on whether the Russian or U.S. positions change.“Russia will feel pressure to come to the table in light of the new developments or President Trump may react when he sees oil prices rising to levels that become uncomfortable, so I don’t think this is going to be very long lasting,” De Haan said.Oil prices have been relatively low for the past few years and last week the cost for barrel of U.S. benchmark crude fell below $57, its lowest level since early 2021. The price for a barrel of U.S. benchmark crude did rise near $79 a barrel early this year, just before President Donald Trump took office, a price not necessarily considered outrageously elevated by most analysts.The broad, extended decline in oil prices pushed the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. last week under $3 for the first time since December of last year, according to GasBuddy.For much of 2025, inflation has been held mostly in check, partly due to cheaper prices at the pump. However, that could change quickly as higher energy costs have a downstream effect on prices for virtually all products and services across industries.“The impact to a lot of Americans is that products derived from crude, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel are all likely to see price increases,” De Haan said.The main reason oil and gas have stabilized at lower levels this year is that the group of countries that are part of the OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries have continued to boost production. Earlier this month, OPEC+ leaders announced they would raise oil production by 137,000 barrels per day in November, the same amount announced for October. The group has been raising output slightly in a series of boosts all year after announcing cuts in 2023 and 2024.Russia is the leading non-OPEC member in the 22-country alliance. The group’s next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 2.The sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil follows calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as bipartisan pressure on Trump to hit Russia with harder sanctions on its oil industry, the economic engine that has allowed Russia to continue to execute the grinding conflict even as it finds itself largely internationally isolated. The European Union on Thursday announced its own measures targeting Russian oil and gas.The price for Brent crude, the international standard, rose $3.57 on Thursday to $66.15 per barrel.
WASHINGTON —
Oil prices spiked Thursday after the U.S. announced massive new sanctions on Russia’s oil industry in an attempt to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and end Moscow’s brutal war on Ukraine.
U.S. benchmark crude jumped 6%, to $62 per barrel midday Thursday and analysts say if the situation remains static, U.S. consumers will soon be paying more at the pump.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said while it was difficult to predict with certainty because of the number of moving parts, consumers will likely see a bump in prices as early as next week, if not sooner.
“We’ll probably start to see motorists be impacted by the sanctions at the pump in the next couple days and it might take five days for that to be fully passed along,” De Haan said, adding that the full impact also depends on whether the Russian or U.S. positions change.
“Russia will feel pressure to come to the table in light of the new developments or President Trump may react when he sees oil prices rising to levels that become uncomfortable, so I don’t think this is going to be very long lasting,” De Haan said.
Oil prices have been relatively low for the past few years and last week the cost for barrel of U.S. benchmark crude fell below $57, its lowest level since early 2021. The price for a barrel of U.S. benchmark crude did rise near $79 a barrel early this year, just before President Donald Trump took office, a price not necessarily considered outrageously elevated by most analysts.
The broad, extended decline in oil prices pushed the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. last week under $3 for the first time since December of last year, according to GasBuddy.
For much of 2025, inflation has been held mostly in check, partly due to cheaper prices at the pump. However, that could change quickly as higher energy costs have a downstream effect on prices for virtually all products and services across industries.
“The impact to a lot of Americans is that products derived from crude, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel are all likely to see price increases,” De Haan said.
The main reason oil and gas have stabilized at lower levels this year is that the group of countries that are part of the OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries have continued to boost production. Earlier this month, OPEC+ leaders announced they would raise oil production by 137,000 barrels per day in November, the same amount announced for October. The group has been raising output slightly in a series of boosts all year after announcing cuts in 2023 and 2024.
Russia is the leading non-OPEC member in the 22-country alliance. The group’s next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 2.
The sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil follows calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as bipartisan pressure on Trump to hit Russia with harder sanctions on its oil industry, the economic engine that has allowed Russia to continue to execute the grinding conflict even as it finds itself largely internationally isolated. The European Union on Thursday announced its own measures targeting Russian oil and gas.
The price for Brent crude, the international standard, rose $3.57 on Thursday to $66.15 per barrel.
President Donald Trump’s administration has intensified its military campaign against alleged drug smugglers, with a ninth strike announced overnight targeting a boat suspected of carrying drugs.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the ninth strike resulted in the deaths of three people. On Tuesday, the administration reported that two individuals were killed in a separate attack on a boat suspected of smuggling drugs toward the U.S.Trump has justified these military actions by asserting the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. He said, “We will hit them very hard when they come in by land and they haven’t experienced that yet, but now we’re totally prepared to do that. We’ll probably go back to Congress and explain exactly what we’re doing when we come to the land.”Lawmakers from both political parties have expressed concerns about President Trump ordering these military actions without receiving authorization from Congress or providing many details.Typically, the Coast Guard intercepts alleged drug smugglers, arrests them, and turns them over to the court system for prosecution. The Trump administration is skipping that step and using the military to kill them. In one strike, two people survived. Instead of prosecuting them, the White House returned the alleged drug smugglers to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia, where at least one of them did not face charges. Keep watching for the latest from the Washington News Bureau:
WASHINGTON —
President Donald Trump’s administration has intensified its military campaign against alleged drug smugglers, with a ninth strike announced overnight targeting a boat suspected of carrying drugs.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the ninth strike resulted in the deaths of three people.
On Tuesday, the administration reported that two individuals were killed in a separate attack on a boat suspected of smuggling drugs toward the U.S.
Trump has justified these military actions by asserting the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. He said, “We will hit them very hard when they come in by land and they haven’t experienced that yet, but now we’re totally prepared to do that. We’ll probably go back to Congress and explain exactly what we’re doing when we come to the land.”
Lawmakers from both political parties have expressed concerns about President Trump ordering these military actions without receiving authorization from Congress or providing many details.
Typically, the Coast Guard intercepts alleged drug smugglers, arrests them, and turns them over to the court system for prosecution. The Trump administration is skipping that step and using the military to kill them.
In one strike, two people survived. Instead of prosecuting them, the White House returned the alleged drug smugglers to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia, where at least one of them did not face charges.
Keep watching for the latest from the Washington News Bureau:
Joe Rogan is America’s most popular podcaster, averaging about 20 million listeners per week. But Rogan consistently falls for fake images and videos online, even after they’ve been widely debunked. The latest example? Rogan fell for another fake tweet on Wednesday that was supposedly from President Donald Trump.
Rogan’s latest episode had guests Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin, both conservative British political commentators, and the three men talked about the No Kings protests that happened Oct. 18. The demonstrations saw millions of people take to the streets in opposition to Trump, and Rogan tried to belittle the efforts, insisting that people were being paid to be there and those who weren’t being paid were just “geriatrics.”
Rogan also claimed that if the protests were being allowed to happen at all that must be evidence Trump couldn’t possibly be a king. And that’s when he promoted the fake tweet he saw—a post made to look like it was from the president on Truth Social.
“No, he didn’t send the troops to stop the protests,” said Rogan. “In fact, he congratulated them on doing a great job and he said I’m still your president. Tweet’s fucking hilarious. It’s very funny.” One of Rogan’s guest chimed in to say, “yeah, I saw that,” with a laugh.
Rogan told his producer to pull up the tweet, though it seemed clear he was having trouble tracking it down. “Try Truth Social,” Rogan told his producer, who was just off-screen. “You can probably find an image of it since it was posted everywhere.”
The fake tweet Rogan seemed to be talking about reads, “A HUGE THANK YOU to all the ‘No Kings’ protesters yesterday! I was very concerned a king was trying to take my place, but thanks to your tireless efforts, I am STILL YOUR PRESIDENT! Great job all!!!” But there’s nothing about it that’s real.
Fake tweet from President Donald Trump about the No Kings protests. Screenshot: Instagram
The producer never did seem to find the post, probably because he didn’t want to tell Rogan it was fake. It’s not even a recent fake tweet. It first started circulating around the first No Kings day on June 14. The screenshot went viral back in June on platforms like X and Instagram. As the Daily Beast notes, the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. shared the fake tweet but acknowledged it was fake.
Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo shared the fake post in June as well, though she didn’t know it wasn’t real. The post seems to have circulated again over the weekend, though Gizmodo couldn’t find any example that went particularly viral of late.
Rogan droned on and on about the protests during his show and claimed they were identical to what happened with Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign. The podcast host insisted that the Harris campaign “filled up stadiums” with people who were paid to be there, a claim with no basis in fact. Rogan said that it “became a job” for the people at Harris rallies and that “should not be legal” because it’s “deception.”
Incredibly, Trump’s actual commentary on the No Kings protests is somehow more aggressive than the fake version Rogan highlighted Wednesday. In reality, Trump shared an AI video on Truth Social showing himself flying a fighter jet and dumping literal shit on protesters.
Rogan is not a particularly bright man. But, again, he has an enormous audience in the millions. And he’s always falling for fake shit, whether it’s AI videos of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz or tweets about “Jewish tunnels,” sourced to fake accounts with characters like Dick Stroker.
We’re just not going to make it as a country, are we?
Three of the country’s most powerful judges met in Pasadena on Wednesday for a rare conclave that could rewrite the legal framework for President Trump’s expansive deployment of troops to cities across the United States.
The move to flood Los Angeles with thousands of federalized soldiers over the objection of state and local leaders shocked the country back in June. Five months later, such military interventions have become almost routine.
But whether the deployments can expand — and how long they can continue — relies on a novel reading of an obscure subsection of the U.S. code that determines the president’s ability to dispatch the National Guard and federal service members. That code has been under heated debate in courts across the country.
Virtually all of those cases have turned on the 9th Circuit’s decision in June. The judges found that the law in question requires “a great level of deference” to the president to decide when protest flashes into rebellion, and whether boots on the ground are warranted in response.
On Wednesday, the same three judge panel — Jennifer Sung of Portland, Eric D. Miller of Seattle and Mark J. Bennett of Honolulu — took the rare move of reviewing it, signaling a willingness to dramatically rewrite the terms of engagement that have underpinned Trump’s deployments.
“I guess the question is, why is a couple of hundred people engaging in disorderly conduct and throwing things at a building over the course of two days of comparable severity of a rebellion?” said Miller, who was appointed to the bench in Trump’s first term. “Violence is used to thwart the enforcement of federal law all the time. This happens every day.”
The question he posed has riven the judicial system, splitting district judges from appellate panels and the Pacific Coast from the Midwest. Some of Trump’s judicial appointees have broken sharply with their colleagues on the matter, including on the 9th Circuit. Miller and Bennett appear at odds with Ryan D. Nelson and Bridget S. Bade, who expanded on the court’s June ruling in a decision Monday that allowed federalized troops to deploy in Oregon.
Most agreethat the statute itself is esoteric, vague and untested. Unlike the Insurrection Act, which generations of presidents have used to quell spasms of violent domestic unrest, the law Trump invoked has almost no historical footprint, and little precedent to define it.
“It’s only been used once in the history of our country since it was enacted 122 years ago,” California Solicitor General Samuel Harbourt told the court Wednesday.
Attorneys from both sides have turned to legal dictionaries to define the word “rebellion” in their favor, because the statute itself offers no clues.
“Defendants have not put forward a credible understanding of the term ‘rebellion’ in this litigation,” Harbourt told the panel Wednesday. “We’re continuing to see defendants rely on this interpretation across the country and we’re concerned that the breadth of the definition the government has relied on … includes any form of resistance.”
The wiggle room has left courts to lock horns over the most basic facts before them — including whether what the president claims must be provably true.
In the Oregon case, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut of Portland, another Trump appointee, called the president’s assertions about a rebellion there “untethered to the facts.”
But a separate 9th Circuit panel overruled her, finding the law “does not limit the facts and circumstances that the President may consider” when deciding whether to use soldiers domestically.
“The President has the authority to identify and weigh the relevant facts,” the court wrote in its Monday decision.
Nelson went further, calling the president’s decision “absolute.”
Upon further review, Sung signaled a shift to the opposite interpretation.
“The court says when the statute gives a discretionary power, that is based on certain facts,” she said. “I don’t see the court saying that the underlying decision of whether the factual basis exists is inherently discretionary.”
That sounded much more like the Midwest’s 7th Circuit decision in the Chicago case, which found that nothing in the statute “makes the President the sole judge of whether these preconditions exist.”
“Political opposition is not rebellion,” the 7th Circuit judges wrote. “A protest does not become a rebellion merely because the protestors advocate for myriad legal or policy changes, are well organized, call for significant changes to the structure of the U.S. government, use civil disobedience as a form of protest, or exercise their Second Amendment right to carry firearms as the law currently allows.”
The Trump administration’s appeal of that decision is currently before the Supreme Court on the emergency docket.
But experts said even a high court ruling in that case may not dictate what can happen in California — or in New York, for that matter. Even if the justices ruled against the administration, Trump could choose to invoke the Insurrection Act or another law to justify his next moves, an option that he and other officials have repeatedly floated in recent weeks.
The administration has signaled its desire to expand on the power it already enjoys, telling the court Wednesday there was no limit to where troops could be deployed or how long they could remain in the president’s service once he had taken control of them.
“Would it be your view that no matter how much conditions on the ground changed, there would be no ability of the district court or review — in a month, six months, a year, five years — to review whether the conditions still support [deployment]?”
“Yes,” McArthur said.
Bennett pressed the point, asking whether under the current law the militia George Washington federalized to put down the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 could “stay called up forever” — a position the government again affirmed.
“There’s not a word in the statute that talks about how long they can remain in federal service,” McArthur said. “The president’s determination of whether the exigency has arisen, that decision is vested in his sole and exclusive discretion.”
