Author: PolitCens

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday re-designated Yemen’s Houthi movement, known formally as Ansar Allah, as a “foreign terrorist organization,” the White House said.

The move will impose harsher economic penalties than the Biden administration had applied to the Iran-aligned group in response to its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and against U.S. warships defending the critical maritime chokepoint.

Proponents of the move say it is overdue, though some experts say it could have implications for anyone seen as aiding the Houthis, including some aid organizations.

“The Houthis’ activities threaten the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East, the safety of our closest regional partners, and the stability of global maritime trade,” the White House said in a statement.

The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships plying the Red Sea since November 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. They have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers.

The attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa for more than a year.

The group has targeted the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which are joined by the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait, a chokepoint between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.

Under the Biden administration, the U.S. military sought to intercept Houthi attacks to safeguard commercial traffic and waged periodic strikes to degrade Houthi military capabilities. But it did not target the group’s leadership.

At the start of his presidential term in 2021, Joe Biden had dropped Trump’s terrorist designations to address humanitarian concerns inside Yemen. Confronted with the Red Sea attacks, Biden last year designated the group as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” organization. But his administration held off on applying the harsher FTO designation.

British charity Oxfam said the move would worsen the suffering of Yemeni civilians, disrupting vital imports of food, medicine, and fuel.

“The Trump administration is aware of these consequences but chose to move forward anyway, and will bear responsibility for the hunger and disease that will follow,” Oxfam America’s director of peace and security, Scott Paul, said in a statement.

David Schenker, who was assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in the first Trump administration, said Trump’s move on Wednesday was an obvious, early step to respond to what he described as one of Iran’s leading proxy forces in the Middle East.

“While the redesignation likely won’t have a positive impact on the group’s behavior, the measure suggests the new administration is not looking to induce (or cajole) the Iranians to negotiations through blandishment,” Schenker told Reuters.

The Trump administration said the U.S. will work with regional partners to eliminate Houthi capabilities, deprive it of resources “and thereby end its attacks on U.S. personnel and civilians, U.S. partners, and maritime shipping in the Red Sea.”

The designation will also trigger a broad review of U.N. partners, non-governmental organizations and contractors operating in Yemen, the White House said.

“The President will direct USAID to end its relationship with entities that have made payments to the Houthis, or which have opposed international efforts to counter the Houthis while turning a blind eye towards the Houthis’ terrorism and abuses,” the White House said.

The Houthis in recent days have signaled they were scaling back attacks in the Red Sea following a multiphase cease fire deal between Israel and Hamas. Earlier on Wednesday, the group released the crew of the Galaxy Leader commercial ship more than a year after they seized their Bahamas-flagged vessel off the Yemeni coast.  
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New U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed China’s “dangerous and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea” with his Philippine counterpart on Wednesday and underscored the “ironclad” U.S. defense commitment to Manila. 

“Secretary Rubio conveyed that (China’s) behavior undermines regional peace and stability and is inconsistent with international law,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement on the call with Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo. 

The Philippines has been embroiled in wrangles at sea with China in the past two years and the two countries have faced off regularly around disputed features in the South China Sea that fall inside Manila’s exclusive economic zone. 

Rubio’s call came after he hosted counterparts from Australia, India and Japan in the China-focused “Quad” forum on Tuesday, the day after President Donald Trump returned to the White House. The four recommitted to working together. 

Quad members and the Philippines share concerns about China’s growing power and analysts said Tuesday’s meeting was designed to signal continuity in the Indo-Pacific and that countering Beijing would be a top priority for Trump. 

In the call with Manalo, Rubio “underscored the United States’ ironclad commitments to the Philippines” under their Mutual Defense Treaty and discussed ways to advance security cooperation, expand economic ties and deepen regional cooperation, the statement said. 

China’s foreign ministry said its activities in the waters were “reasonable, lawful and beyond reproach.” 

Speaking at a regular press conference, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the United States was “not a party” to the South China Sea dispute and had “no right to intervene” in maritime issues between China and the Philippines. 

“Military cooperation between the U.S. and the Philippines should not undermine China’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, nor should it be used to endorse the illegal claims of the Philippines,” Mao said. 

The Philippines, a U.S. defense treaty ally, is among the first countries to engage with the new U.S. administration to discuss critical security matters, Manila’s defense department said in a statement. 

Its defense secretary Gilberto Teodoro and U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz met at the White House on Thursday to reaffirm the enduring alliance between their two countries. 

Just ahead of Trump’s inauguration, the Philippines and the United States carried out their fifth set of joint maritime exercises in the South China Sea since launching the joint activities in 2023. 

Security engagements between the allies have soared under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has moved closer to Washington and allowed the expansion of military bases that American forces can access, including facilities facing the democratically governed island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own. 

Visiting the Philippines last week, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said a trilateral initiative to boost cooperation launched by Japan, the U.S. and the Philippines at a summit last year would be strengthened when the new U.S. administration took over in Washington. 
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A new wildfire erupted Wednesday in Southern California, scorching more than 39 square kilometers of trees and brush in the mountains north of Los Angeles. 

The Hughes Fire is the latest wildfire to erupt in parched Southern California. It is burning near Lake Castaic, a recreation area about 65 kilometers from the Eaton and Palisades fires that are continuing to burn in the region for a third week. 

The fire, less than 1 square kilometer when first reported, quickly grew to 20 square kilometers with the aid of the Santa Ana winds, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. It was later reported to be 39 square kilometers in size.

“This fire had a robust response today, and as you can see behind us, the responders are doing great work to try to contain this fire,” Joe Tyler, director of Cal Fire, said. “Certainly, we are not out of the woods yet.”

Winds were gusting at 67 kph Wednesday afternoon and expected to increase to 96 kph in the evening and throughout Thursday, the National Weather Service posted on X.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said that 31,000 people were ordered to evacuate, and about 23,000 were under evacuation warnings.

Kayla Amara drove to a Castaic neighborhood to retrieve items from a friend’s home. As she was packing, she grabbed a hose and began watering down the property.

“I hope there’s a house here to return to,” Amara said as police cars raced through the streets and flames engulfed trees in the distance.

Before the Hughes Fire, firefighters and Southern California residents were bracing for the possibility of more wildfires fueled by the strong dry winds. Rain is forecast, but meteorologists have warned it would not be enough to end the fires. Forecasters predict a 60% to 80% chance of rain in the region beginning Saturday, with rainfall totals in most areas not exceeding 0.8 centimeters.

The National Weather Service said dangerous fire conditions would persist in the region through Thursday or Friday. Cal Fire spokesman David Acuna said officials are concerned that the Palisades and Eaton fires could break their containment lines.  

The chance of thunderstorms bringing heavier rainfall has raised fears of mudslides, with debris flowing down hilly areas that have been scorched by two weeks of wildfires. 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said an executive order she signed Tuesday is designed to curb the flow of toxic debris from the region’s fires and protect the area’s beaches and oceans.

“This is to prevent additional damage to areas already ravaged by fire and also to protect our watershed, beaches and ocean from toxic runoff,” the mayor said. 

City workers will remove toxic materials and set up barriers to direct the flow of debris into the sewer system. 

In addition, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved emergency measures facilitating the installation of flood control infrastructure and the removal of sediment in the burned areas. 

Residents are being encouraged to be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice with their prepared emergency evacuation kits. They are also being encouraged to look at the city’s website to learn how to protect themselves from ash in the air that can include heavy metals, arsenic and other harmful substances, according to L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. 

The fires that broke out in Southern California on January 7 have killed at least 28 people and destroyed thousands of buildings. The death toll is expected to climb as emergency workers comb through the ashes. 

President Donald Trump, who has been critical of the response to the fire, is expected to travel to Los Angeles this week.  

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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President Donald Trump nominated conservative activist and writer L. Brent Bozell III as head of the United States Agency for Global Media, which supervises five U.S. government-funded international media entities, including the Voice of America.

“As Founder and President of the Media Research Center for 38 years, few understand the Global Media landscape in print, television, and online better than Brent,” Trump posted on his Truth Social media platform Wednesday night.

In addition to Voice of America, USAGM oversees the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.
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Nuuk, Greenland — A blizzard whips the Danish, Greenlandic and Faroe Islands flags above the Joint Arctic Command headquarters overlooking the harbor of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.

The small military outpost staffed by around 80 personnel oversees Danish security for the vast Arctic island of some 2.1 million square kilometers.

Greenland’s government is largely autonomous, but the island is part of the Danish Kingdom, and Denmark retains responsibility for its security.

U.S. President Donald Trump has made clear his determination to take ownership of the island for the United States and hasn’t ruled out using economic or military force.

Speaking hours after his inauguration, Trump reiterated his view that U.S. control was necessary for “international security” because, he explained, “You have Russian boats all over the place. You have China boats all over the place, warships. And [Denmark] can’t maintain it.”

Russian missiles

The United States has long viewed Greenland as vitally important for its defense, explained Marc Jacobsen, an analyst at the Royal Danish Defense College in Copenhagen.

“There’s no doubt that it’s geostrategically important in defending the U.S. national security against Russian missiles,” Jacobsen told VOA. “The shortest route for Russian missiles towards the U.S. is via the North Pole, via Greenland.”

Russia has invested heavily in its Arctic military footprint in recent years. Its northernmost Nagurskoye air base on Siberia’s northern coast hosts nuclear-capable strategic bombers, missile and surveillance systems.

Russian nuclear submarines patrol the Arctic seas, while a growing fleet of nuclear-powered ice breakers projects Kremlin power across the region.

China and Russia have conducted joint military drills in the Arctic. Beijing is also seeking access to valuable minerals beneath the ice.

“There is definitely a threat, especially from Russian military capacities in that region. And NATO countries are right now moving to increase their capacity,” Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, also of the Royal Danish Defense College, told VOA.

Denmark’s defense

Denmark’s military capabilities on Greenland consist of four aging naval patrol vessels, a surveillance plane and dog sled patrols.

Copenhagen announced plans last month to invest in new surveillance drones, two new ships and additional personnel, along with upgrading an existing air base to accommodate F-35 fighter jets. The exact cost has yet to be decided, but the government said it would spend a “double-digit billion amount” in Danish kroner, or at least $1.5 billion.

Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen admitted, however, that the government has failed to invest in Greenland’s security.

“We have neglected for many years to make the necessary investments in our ships, in the aircraft that will help to monitor our kingdom, and that is what we are now trying to do something about,” he told reporters on Jan. 9.

“We will hopefully create an investment package where we will strengthen our ability to monitor what is happening in the Arctic, and also for some new capacities to be put into place.”

Denmark hopes the upgrades will go toward “meeting American demands for increasing the surveillance of Greenland,” Jacobsen said.

US Space base

The U.S. military has been present in Greenland since World War II, when American forces were deployed to the island following Denmark’s fall to Nazi Germany. At the height of the U.S. deployment, Greenland hosted more than 10,000 U.S. service personnel.

The Pituffik Space Base on Greenland’s northwest coast, formerly known as the Thule Air Base, is the United States’ northernmost military facility. It now hosts around 200 military personnel, alongside missile warning, defense and space surveillance systems.

“The military protection of Greenland de facto relies on the U.S.,” Rahbek-Clemmensen said. “And the big question is then whether the U.S. wants to enhance that presence, perhaps to be able to do other types of military operations in that area.”

That may be why, he added, Danish officials appear to be approaching the issue in a manner that maintains good U.S. relations.

“The Danish government has been trying to touch on that word ‘control’ that Trump uses, which is a very ambiguous term,” he added. “What does control mean? Does it mean owning a piece of territory? Or does it mean having a certain amount of military equipment on that territory?”

US-Danish relations

At Denmark’s Arctic command center in Nuuk, the U.S. flag flies alongside the Danish, Greenlandic and Faroe Islands colors. The building also hosts the U.S. Consulate — a sign that, for the time being, U.S.-Danish relations remain cordial.

Before Trump’s inauguration, the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen said there were no plans to expand U.S. military presence in Greenland.

That could change under the new president.

For now, Denmark and its European allies are hoping that Trump’s comments are part of a strategy to force NATO allies to spend more on defense.

“There’s an important element which is about his personality, which he brings into the way that U.S. diplomacy, or his diplomacy, is carried out,” Jacobsen said.

“In a positive light, if the USA increases its presence in the Arctic, it will increase the NATO presence, because the seven Arctic states — besides Russia — we are all members of NATO now.”
…

U.S. President Donald Trump this week repeated his assertion that American control of Greenland is vital for “international security.” As Henry Ridgwell reports, Denmark, which owns the island, has admitted failing to invest in its security, amid growing threats from Russia and China.
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WASHINGTON — Top Republican lawmakers are calling for U.S. security agencies to quickly change course under President Donald Trump to better confront threats from terror groups such as the Islamic State and al-Qaida.

The House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday issued an update threat assessment, highlighting the New Year’s Day truck ramming attack in New Orleans, which killed 14 people, as well as the June 2024 arrest of eight Tajik nationals with suspected Islamic State ties.

“Make no mistake — all of the lights are still blinking red,” said committee chair Republican Representative Mark Green in a statement.

“The New Orleans terrorist attack was a stark reminder that the terror threat to America is alive and persistent,” said Green. “Foreign terrorist organizations and jihadist networks abroad remain committed to recruiting and radicalizing individuals on U.S. soil.”

Green’s comments harken back to a 2023 warning from then-FBI Director Christopher Wray, made in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel, which officials said seemed to inspire terror groups around the world.

“I’ve never seen a time where all the threats, or so many of the threats, are all elevated, all at exactly the same time,” Wray said at the time.

Last year, Wray warned the FBI was increasingly concerned about a coordinated terror attack on the U.S. like the March 2024 Islamic State terror attacks on a Moscow concert hall.

The Department of Homeland Security’s 2025 annual threat assessment, issued this past October, warned, “The terrorism threat environment in the United States over the next year will remain high.”

And it attributed the biggest danger to individuals who are not necessarily affiliated with established terror groups.

“The threat will continue to be characterized primarily by lone offenders or small cells motivated to violence by a combination of racial, religious, gender, or anti-government grievances; conspiracy theories; and personalized factors,” it said.

Green on Wednesday blamed the increased threat on the administration of former President Joe Biden, saying terror groups have been “emboldened by the national security blunders of the past four years.”

The committee’s “Terror Threat Snapshot” cited more than 50 terrorism cases in 30 U.S. states since April 2021 and 187 terrorism arrests, attacks and plots in Western Europe since the start of 2023.

Democrats expressed some disappointment, arguing the comments have not been backed up by the committee’s actions to date.

“It’s a bit confusing,” according to one staffer, who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity in order to respond to the chair’s comments. “Why haven’t they had substantive hearings on foreign terrorism and homegrown violent extremism?”

Meanwhile, a new report Wednesday by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies cautioned that while there is reason to be concerned about the exploits and ambitions of groups such as the Islamic State and al-Qaida, the threat inside the United States does not appear to be growing.

“Longer-term trends suggest that jihadist terrorism in the United States is not resurgent,” according to the report.

“Groups such as the Islamic State and al-Qaida have filled more of an inspirational role rather than directly orchestrating attacks on the United States,” it said. “The average lethality of jihadist terrorist attacks has also fallen since the peak of the [Islamic State] caliphate.”

The CSIS report found there were a yearly average of 38 recorded attacks or plots in the U.S. from 2020 to 2023, but only 21 recorded plots or attacks during the first 11 months of 2024.
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department has threatened local and state authorities with prosecution if they fail to cooperate with President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, which include a pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. 

Citing a constitutional clause concerning division of power, acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove said in a memorandum that “federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands.” 

“The Department of Justice shall investigate incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution,” Bove added in the memo issued late Tuesday and published by U.S. media on Wednesday. 

Trump announced new restrictions on immigration and asylum in the United States hours after taking office on Monday, including a plan to send troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and end birthright citizenship. 

The Republican president vowed during his White House campaign to carry out the largest mass deportation of migrants in U.S. history. 

Bove said a newly created Sanctuary Cities Enforcement Working Group would identify “state and local laws, policies, and activities that are inconsistent with Executive Branch immigration initiatives and, where appropriate, to take legal action to challenge such laws.” 

A number of Democratic-controlled “sanctuary cities” in the United States restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities. 

“Laws and actions that threaten to impede Executive Branch immigration initiatives, including by prohibiting disclosures of information to federal authorities engaged in immigration enforcement activities, threaten public safety and national security,” Bove said. 

Bove, who served as one of Trump’s personal lawyers before being named to the Justice Department, also directed the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces to participate “in the execution of President Trump’s immigration-related initiatives.” 

The FBI and other agencies should “review their files for identifying information and/or biometric data relating to non-citizens located illegally in the United States” and turn it over to the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate removals, he said.
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Forecasters issue new round of warnings about fire conditions in southern California 

TEASER: Chance of rain in the coming days could calm fires, but bring threat of mudslides 

PUBLISHED: 01/22/2025 at  6:01 am 

BYLINE:  VOA News 

WRITER: Fern Robinson, Chris Hannas 

ASSIGNING EDITOR:   

DATELINE:   

SCRIPT EDITORS: wpm 

PLATFORMS: WEB X TV __ RADIO __           

EDITOR NOTES: new lede & grafs 2-4, edits graf 7, trims))  

Firefighters and residents in southern California braced Wednesday for the possibility of more wildfire activity fueled by dry and strong winds, while the prospect of some rain in the forecast brought the potential for some relief from the fire threat but also the dangers of mudslides in fire-ravaged areas. 

The National Weather Service said dangerous fire conditions would persist in the Los Angeles area through Thursday or Friday. 

Forecasters said there was a 60% to 80% chance of rain in the region starting Saturday, with rainfall totals in most areas not exceeding 8 millimeters. 

A chance of thunderstorms bringing locally heavier rainfall has raised fears of mudslides with debris flowing down hilly areas that have been scorched by two weeks of wildfires. 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said an executive order she signed Tuesday is designed to curb the flow of toxic debris from the region’s fires and protect the area’s beaches and oceans.     

“This is to prevent additional damage to areas already ravaged by fire and also to protect our watershed, beaches and ocean from toxic runoff,” the mayor said. City workers will remove toxic materials and set up barriers to direct the flow of debris into the sewer system. 

The fires have killed at least 27 people and destroyed thousands of buildings. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press. 

 
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Washington — President Trump’s executive order suspending the U.S. refugee program would affect the resettlement of thousands of Afghans who helped the U.S. during the war in Afghanistan, an advocacy group said.

AfghanEvac, a California-based coalition of organizations helping U.S. Afghan allies to resettle in the U.S., said Monday that the pause in all refugee resettlements would affect Afghan allies who are awaiting relocation to the U.S.

“Thousands of Afghan allies who have completed almost all required steps in the refugee process would be immediately impacted by a refugee resettlement pause, and thousands more who are currently undergoing processing would remain in limbo,” AfghanEvac said, in a statement on its X account.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that called the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program detrimental to U.S. interests and suspending it beginning on January 27.

“This order suspends the USRAP until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligned with the interest of the United States,” stated the executive order.

It called on the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the secretary of state, to report to the president within 90 days if the program “would be in the interests of the United States.”

The order added that every 90 days, a report would be submitted to the president until he “determine[s] that resumption of the USRAP is in the interests of the United States.”

According to Shawn VanDiver, president of AghanEvac, more than 180,000 Afghans were relocated in the U.S. from August 2021, after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, to December 2024.

Thousands of Afghans are still waiting to be relocated to the United States.

AfghanEvac said that the order would not only have an impact on at-risk Afghans living in hiding but also on the family members of the active-duty U.S. troops.

Earlier, Reuters reported that the flights of 1,660 Afghans cleared by the U.S. government to resettle in the U.S. were canceled.

But the president of AfghanEvac, Shawn VanDiver, said in a post on X that no flights were canceled.

“To be clear: flights have not yet been canceled for anyone,” VanDiver said.

Omar Samad, a former Afghan diplomat living in the U.S., told VOA that the ban is part of a larger package and it will impact Afghans who are waiting to be relocated to the U.S.

“It is going to be reviewed by the U.S. agencies, and it is possible that they that the U.S. make an exception for Afghans,” Samad added.

VanDiver said that the coalition of organizations helping Afghans are working to “secure exemptions for Afghan allies.”

 
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Millions of U.S. TikTok users are looking to newly sworn-in President Donald Trump, who has given the app’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, 75 days to strike a deal with a U.S. buyer.
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The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for most of California’s Los Angeles and Ventura counties on Tuesday for the area’s “extremely low relative humidity and periods of gusty offshore winds.”

The weather service said its “Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag warning has ended, but dangerous fire weather conditions persist through Thursday or Friday.” Northeast winds will remain “gusty” in the hills and mountains, the service said in a statement. Low humidities are set to continue. 

Some areas will experience a lull in the winds Tuesday night into Wednesday, but extremely dry conditions will continue and winds will strengthen again late Wednesday, according to the weather service. The Red Flag Warning covers most of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties through 8 p.m. Thursday.

Earlier Tuesday, the weather service said there was an extreme risk of fire weather over parts of Southern California. The service said winds of 32 to 64 kilometers per hour, combined with “stronger winds in the terrain, low relative humidity, and dry fuels, have contributed to the dangerous conditions.”

Strong winds sparked some scattered fires Tuesday in Los Angeles, but alert firefighters quickly brought the fires under control.

At least 27 people have died in a series of wildfires across the Los Angeles area during the past two weeks as Santa Ana winds mixed with dry conditions on the ground to quickly spread blazes.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger has called for an outside investigation into the evacuation notification process for residents of western Altadena, near the Eaton Fire, one of several that erupted across Los Angeles. A report in the Los Angeles Times says evacuation orders for western Altadena were delayed for hours.

“From what I have been told, it was a night of pure chaos for both fire and first responders,” Barger told The Times. The county supervisor said she has “deep concerns” about what happened. Residents told the Times that by the time they received evacuation orders, many of the homes in the area already were on fire. 

Seventeen people are reported to have died in the Eaton fire.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said an executive order she signed Tuesday is designed to curb the flow of toxic debris from the region’s fires and protect the area’s beaches and oceans.   

“This is to prevent additional damage to areas already ravaged by fire and also to protect our watershed, beaches and ocean from toxic runoff,” the mayor said. City workers will remove toxic materials and set up barriers to direct the flow of debris into the sewer system. 

Meteorologists say rain forecast for the region will begin late Friday and last until early Saturday. National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Lewis said “In terms of ending the fire season, it’s probably not going to be enough for that. But it’ll certainly help a little bit.”
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Representative Elise Stefanik, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, faced questions at her Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday. The high-ranking House Republican told lawmakers she would advance Trump’s “America First” agenda at the international body. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.
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Twenty-two Democratic-led U.S. states sued Tuesday to try to block President Donald Trump from ending birthright U.S. citizenship for the children of undocumented migrants living in the country. 

The suit by the states, joined by the city governments in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, are among the first filed by those opposing Trump’s executive orders, which he signed in the immediate hours after his inauguration Monday. 

The U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship to those born in the country, and court rulings have made only small exceptions, such as rejecting citizenship for the offspring of foreign diplomats born in the U.S. Presidents cannot unilaterally change the Constitution, which instead must be accomplished through large majorities of lawmakers in Congress or wide state legislative action. 

But Trump, as part of his crackdown on 11 million or more undocumented migrants living in the U.S., signed one executive order directing U.S. agencies to stop handing citizenship documents to the offspring of undocumented migrants. 

The Republican president’s order directed federal officials, starting Feb. 19, to not recognize U.S. citizenship for children born in the United States to mothers who are in the country illegally or are in the U.S. only temporarily, such as visa holders, and whose fathers are not citizens or lawful permanent residents. 

Trump’s nascent administration is moving quickly to deport such migrants back to their home countries, even if they have lived in the U.S. for years, paid taxes and assimilated into American life. Trump’s immigration agents are first targeting undocumented migrants who have been convicted of crimes. 

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement, “State attorneys general have been preparing for illegal actions like [Trump’s no-citizenship edict], and today’s immediate lawsuit sends a clear message to the Trump administration that we will stand up for our residents and their basic constitutional rights.” 

The White House did not immediately comment on the suits, three of which were filed in Boston, Massachusetts, and Concord, New Hampshire. Four states filed a separate lawsuit in Washington. 

Democratic-led states and advocacy groups have immediately challenged two other Trump executive orders, one creating the Department of Government Efficiency — a nongovernmental advisory panel overseen by billionaire Trump supporter Elon Musk — and another weakening job protections for government civil servants to make it easier for the Trump administration to fire them and replace them with Trump loyalists. 

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said that if Trump’s no-citizenship order is allowed to stand, it would mean more than 150,000 children born annually in the United States would be denied the right to citizenship. 

“President Trump does not have the authority to take away constitutional rights,” she said in a statement. 

One of the plaintiffs challenging the order is a woman living in Massachusetts identified only as “O. Doe.” She is in the country through temporary protected status and is due to give birth in March. 

The temporary protected status immigration designation is available to people whose home countries have experienced natural disasters, armed conflicts or other extraordinary events and currently covers more than 1 million people from 17 nations. 

U.S. birthright citizenship was enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in the aftermath of the Civil War in the early 1860s and ratified in 1868. It says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” 

Platkin, the New Jersey attorney general, said Tuesday that presidents might have broad authority, but they are not kings. 

“The president cannot, with a stroke of a pen, write the 14th Amendment out of existence, period,” he said. 

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a U.S. citizen by birthright and the nation’s first Chinese American elected attorney general, said the lawsuit was personal for him. 

“The 14th Amendment says what it means, and it means what it says — if you are born on American soil, you are an American. Period. Full stop,” he said. “There is no legitimate legal debate on this question. But the fact that Trump is dead wrong will not prevent him from inflicting serious harm right now on American families like my own.” 

Chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts along with other immigrant rights advocates have also filed suit to block Trump’s action. 

Their suit asked a court to rule that Trump’s order is unconstitutional. It cites the case of a woman identified as “Carmen,” who is pregnant but is not a U.S. citizen. The lawsuit says she has lived in the United States for more than 15 years and has a pending visa application that could lead to permanent resident status. She has no other immigration status, and the father of her expected child has no immigration status either, the suit says. 

“Stripping children of the ‘priceless treasure’ of citizenship is a grave injury,” the suit said. “It denies them the full membership in U.S. society to which they are entitled.” 

Some material in this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press.
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UNITED NATIONS — President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations told senators at her confirmation hearing Tuesday that she will promote his doctrine of “peace through strength” on the world stage if she is confirmed.

“It is imperative to ensure strong American leadership at the United Nations,” Elise Stefanik told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I share President Trump’s vision of a U.N. reformed by strong America First peace through strength and return to this founding mission of promoting peace and security around the world.”

Stefanik, 40, from a rural New York district, has been in Congress for a decade and has served on national security related committees. As chair of the Republican Conference since 2021, she is the fourth-ranking House Republican but will have to step down if she is approved.

She appeared to have bipartisan support, with Democratic legislators largely posing standard foreign policy questions and avoiding partisan attacks.

China’s influence

China’s growing influence within the United Nations was at the top of lawmakers’ concerns.

“China has used its malign influence to block attempts to discuss the Chinese government-sponsored genocide against the Uyghurs, and they have blocked our ally Taiwan from fully participating in the U.N.,” committee chair Jim Risch of Idaho said. He also criticized Beijing for pushing its nationals into U.N. system jobs to serve its national interests.

Stefanik agreed that Beijing has made “significant inroads” at the world body and said Washington needs to push back on it with a “long-term strategy.”

“Working closely with our allies and our partners, both at the most junior levels and at the more senior levels within the U.N., we need to make sure that we are running candidates – either American or allied nations – in the election process for key leadership posts within the U.N. system,” she said.

Stefanik said efforts should focus on technical organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) – both organizations that until recently had been under the leadership of international civil servants from China. And she warned that the United States must be vigilant in protecting its ethical standards related to the use of artificial intelligence.

The United States is the single largest financial contributor to the United Nations, and several senators questioned whether U.S. taxpayers are still getting their money’s worth from the organization. The nominee said she would seek to do an agency-by-agency audit of what U.S. funds are spent on and press for reforms including more transparency and accountability. She also had praise for agencies led by U.S. appointees, including the World Food Program and the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF.

“Stefanik’s remarks signaled that the U.S. is going to be tough on the U.N., but not walk away from the organization altogether,” said Richard Gowan, U.N. director for the International Crisis Group. “I actually think that quite a lot of her lines about the need to ensure the U.N. offers value for money will play well with other big donors to the organization, who are keen to control costs.”

One of Trump’s first executive orders on Monday was to notify the World Health Organization of his intention to withdraw the United States from the body – and with it the hundreds of millions of dollars it contributes to WHO’s budget. Stefanik said she supported the move.

“WHO failed on a global stage in the COVID pandemic for all the world to see,” she said.

Stefanik was most passionate about “our most precious ally” Israel and defending it from what she called “antisemitic rot” and bias at the United Nations.

“We need to be a voice of moral clarity on the U.N. Security Council and at the United Nations at large, for the world to hear the importance of standing with Israel, and I intend to do that,” she said.

Asked by Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen about her vision for “the day after” in Gaza, she said Trump is “uniquely positioned” to bring peace to the region, to eradicate Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, and protect Israel’s national security.

Van Hollen pressed further, asking if she supports the view of far-right Israeli legislators who say Israel has a biblical right to the entire West Bank. Stefanik replied “yes.”

Crisis Group’s Gowan said that last comment might fuel “nervousness” among U.N. members that Trump could endorse an Israeli effort to annex parts of the Palestinian territories. But overall, he thinks international diplomats will have found her testimony reassuring.

“Especially after the whiplash effect of Trump disowning the Paris [climate] deal and World Health Organization during his first afternoon in office,” he said.

No vote has been scheduled yet in the committee on her nomination. If Stefanik passes that hurdle, and she is widely expected to, then her nomination would go to the full Senate for a final vote.
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MEXICO CITY — Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s executive order moving toward designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations would only impact Mexico if there’s close coordination between the two governments.

She said that Mexico would defend its sovereignty and independence while seeking coordination with the U.S. in the wake of the order signed Monday.

“We all want to fight the drug cartels,” Sheinbaum said at her daily press briefing. The U.S. “in their territory, us in our territory.”

Trump’s order highlighted Mexican drug cartels and other Latin American criminal groups like Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). The order says they “threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.”

The order did not list any Mexican cartels by name but said Cabinet secretaries would recommend groups for designation as terrorist organizations in the next 14 days. It was among a slew of executive orders Trump signed Monday to kick off his administration, several of which focus on securing the southern border.

“The Cartels have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs,” the order reads.

It was unclear what the impact could be for fighting the cartels, but there was concern it could be another way to make it more difficult for people from the countries where those groups operate to access the U.S.

It came in addition to measures including the declaration of an emergency on the U.S. southern border, a promise to slap 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Feb. 1 and ending the use of the CBP One app, which allowed migrants to apply for asylum appointments before reaching the border.

Trump has also promised to carry out mass deportations and threatened military intervention in Mexico to fight cartels, something sharply rejected by Sheinbaum.

Many have voiced concern the terrorist designation could provide the U.S. justification to take military action against cartels.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, an organized crime expert at the Brookings Institution, said the order could have “huge implications from trade to migrants.”

As cartels have gained a firm grip on control of the lucrative migrant smuggling trade in recent years, it’s virtually impossible for migrants and asylum seekers to pass through Mexico and other Latin American countries without paying some sort of fee to cartels.

The moment they do, Felbab-Brown said, it could disqualify them from seeking asylum.

“Trump can essentially prevent the vast majority of undocumented migrants trying to cross the U.S. border from getting asylum,” she said.

Mike Vigil, a former head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s foreign operations, said he expected any terrorism designation to have very little impact on day-to-day operations against cartels because many of the same anti-terrorism powers American authorities would be granted are already employ in counter-narcotics efforts.

“It’s already been done. This is nothing new,” Vigil said. “It’s all political theater and tossing a piece of stale salami to [Trump’s] base.”

He said logistically the order would likely allow the U.S. to seize assets of groups in the U.S., sanction U.S. citizens that do business with terrorist organizations and block members of those groups from entering the U.S.

“It’s not going to allow the U.S. to send troops into Mexico like so many people think simply because people forget that Mexico is a sovereign country and it would be an act of war,” he said.

The move comes as cartel violence has intensified in northern Mexican states after the kidnapping and detention of kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada sparked an all-out war between rival factions of the Sinaloa cartel. Gunmen continue to leave mutilated bodies scattered across the state and kidnap people even from hospitals.

It’s part of a larger shifting dynamic in cartel warfare in the Latin American nation. Years ago, a handful of criminal organizations headed by a few key capos controlled large parts of Mexico. Now, many more factions have violently fought for power, as they’ve become more agile and harder to pin down.

They’ve used more sophisticated tools like bomb-dropping drones, improvised explosive devices and rigged armored vehicles, and have expanded into migrant trafficking and the avocado trade. Meanwhile, thousands of Mexican citizens have gotten caught in the crossfire, having been slain or gone missing.

 
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Washington — President Donald Trump is spending his first full day back in the White House meeting with congressional leaders, making an infrastructure announcement and demonstrating one of his favored expressions of power: firing people.

The new president posted on his Truth social media platform early Tuesday that he would fire more than 1,000 presidential appointees “who are not aligned with our vision,” including some high-profile names.

Trump fired chef and humanitarian Jose Andres from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, retired Gen. Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, former State Department official Brian Hook from the board of the Wilson Center and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council.

“YOU’RE FIRED!” Trump said in his post — his catchphrase from his reality TV show, “The Apprentice.”

Former President Joe Biden also removed many Trump appointees in his first days in office, including former press secretary Sean Spicer from the board overseeing the U.S. Naval Academy.

Trump planned to continue to build on his barrage of Inauguration Day announcements, with the White House promising a “massive announcement” on infrastructure. Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to detail the announcement in advance, but she said in an interview on Fox News that it would send a message to the world.

“You won’t want to miss it,” she said.

“Infrastructure week” became a punchline during Trump’s first administration as White House officials promised repeatedly — over years — to train a focus on major public works projects, only to have Trump himself quickly shift emphasis elsewhere while major legislation on infrastructure never materialized.

It was enough of a pattern that Biden joked about how his predecessor couldn’t pull off even a week of focus on infrastructure while his administration oversaw passage of billions of dollars for bridges, tunnels, roads and other projects for the coming 10 years.

“He didn’t build a damn thing,” Biden said frequently of Trump, adding that his own administration delivered “infrastructure decade.”

Trump wants to ban Chinese companies from owning vital U.S. infrastructure in sectors such as energy, technology and agriculture, and he says he will force Chinese owners to sell any holdings “that jeopardize America’s national security.”

Trump also attended a national prayer service Tuesday morning at Washington National Cathedral, a customary visit for new presidents and one that will wrap up his four days of inauguration-related events.

Later in the day, the president was expected to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other GOP (Republican) legislators. It’s the first formal sit-down for the GOP leadership teams including Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso and the new president as they chart priorities for using Republican power in Washington.

Despite an ambitious 100-day agenda, the Republican-led Congress is not on the same page on some ideas and strategies as they rush to deliver tax cuts for the wealthy, mass deportations and other goals for Trump.

Trump used the first hours of his presidency on Monday to sign a series of executive orders and memorandums, moving quickly to show that his new hold on the U.S. government would be a stark change from his predecessor.

He pardoned hundreds of people for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate accords and the World Health Organization, began his immigration crackdown by declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and sought to end automatic citizenship for anyone born in America, which is expected to run into constitutional challenges.

He also signed an order that intends to pause a ban on TikTok for 75 days to give its China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer.
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