- Wednesday January 28th, 2026
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
- --Geoff Metcalf
- Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
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World & Nation
'Trump Accounts' Gives Children 'Fair Shot at the American Dream'
President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed his new "Trump Accounts"
initiative, saying that for the first time, American children will have
a "financial stake in the future and a fair shot at the American dream."
Trump, speaking at a U.S. Treasury event that brought together
politicians and celebrities to discuss the program, said Trump Accounts
would automatically provide every American child born after Jan. 1,
2025, with a tax-free investment account seeded by the federal
government and expanded through additional private contributions.
"Under this program, the U.S. Government will automatically create a
tax-free investment account for every newborn American child," Trump
said.
"We'll fund those personal accounts with a contribution of $1,000,
which will compound and grow over the course of their lives and could
grow into very, very substantial numbers," he added.
Under the program, every child born in the United States will receive a
$1,000 government-seeded investment account, with parents able to
activate and manage the accounts beginning July 4 at Trumpaccounts.gov.
Trump warns Minneapolis mayor he's 'playing with fire' after immigration enforcement conversation
President Trump pounced after Mayor Frey said the city won't enforce federal immigration law
President Donald Trump asserted that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey "is
PLAYING WITH FIRE," issuing the warning in a Truth Social post on
Wednesday morning.
"Surprisingly, Mayor Jacob Frey just stated that, ‘Minneapolis does
not, and will not, enforce Federal Immigration Laws.’ This is after
having had a very good conversation with him," the president said in
the post.
"Could somebody in his inner sanctum please explain that this statement
is a very serious violation of the Law, and that he is PLAYING WITH
FIRE!" Trump warned.
Frey responded to the president's comments.
"The job of our police is to keep people safe, not enforce fed
immigration laws. I want them preventing homicides, not hunting down a
working dad who contributes to MPLS & is from Ecuador. It’s similar
to the policy your guy Rudy had in NYC. Everyone should feel safe
calling 911," the mayor asserted in a post on X, making an apparent
reference to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The president issued the warning on Wednesday after Frey, who met with
Trump's border czar Tom Homan on Tuesday, declared in a Tuesday post on
X that the city will not enforce federal immigration law.
Minn anti-Border Patrol riot backfires as agitators allegedly hurl objects at cops, arrests expose rap sheets
Demonstrators gathered outside
Minnesota hotel believing Commander Gregory Bovino was staying there
before police declared unlawful assembly
Several of the agitators arrested outside a Minnesota hotel where they
believed Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino was staying have
criminal records, with one arrestee openly embracing a "disrupt disturb
resist" slogan on Instagram.
The agitators were outside the SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Maple
Grove, Minnesota, on Monday night where they had thought Bovino was
staying. Arrests were made after authorities said the demonstration was
"no longer considered peaceful," and declared it an unlawful assembly.
Maple Grove police said its officers were responding to reports of a
protest at the hotel, adding that it escalated when agitators allegedly
began damaging property and throwing objects at officers.
Several people were arrested after they allegedly did not leave once an
unlawful assembly and dispersal order was issued, officials said.
Medical watchdog challenges key study used to justify DEI health policies: 'Scientifically unsound'
The new report was published by the medical watchdog group Do No Harm
A prominent medical watchdog group is pushing back against a widely
cited study claiming racially diverse medical facilities improve
outcomes for Black patients, arguing the research is being used to
justify race-based diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies
despite failing to prove its central claim.
Do No Harm, a nonprofit organization focused on opposing ideological
influence in medicine, released a report Tuesday disputing a recent
study by economists Michael Frakes and Jonathan Gruber that suggests
increasing the share of Black physicians in military medical facilities
leads to better outcomes for Black patients.
The Do No Harm study takes issue with the findings by alleging several
flaws, including that Frakes and Gruber’s "The Effect of Provider
Diversity on Racial Health Disparities: Evidence from the Military"
measures changes in health outcomes when patients are transferred to
bases with different proportions of Black doctors, but argues it never
directly measures whether Black patients treated by Black doctors fare
better than those treated by non-Black doctors.
Iran: Did Not Request Negotiations With US
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he had not been in contact
with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in recent days or requesting
negotiations, state media reported on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday another "armada" is floating
toward Iran and that he hopes Tehran would make a deal with Washington.
The U.S. deployed additional military assets in the Gulf following
nationwide protests in Iran which led to the country's bloodiest
crackdown since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
"There was no contact between me and Witkoff in recent days and no
request for negotiations was made from us," Araqchi told state media,
adding that various intermediaries were "holding consultations" and
were in contact with Tehran.
Ilhan Omar backed by House Republicans after Minnesota town hall attack
Both conservative and moderate Republicans quickly condemned the attack on Omar
House Republicans are coalescing around progressive "Squad" member Rep.
Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., after she was attacked during a town hall in
Minneapolis on Tuesday night.
"This is totally unacceptable. I am glad Rep. Omar is okay," Rep. Pete
Stauber, R-Minn., wrote on X in response to a video of the incident.
It's a rare show of bipartisanship in the face of political violence
that has become common in recent years amid increasingly volatile
rhetoric on both sides.
Support for Omar came from both conservative and moderate Republicans
after a man appeared to confront her and spray a substance on her
before he was quickly subdued at her public event.
Trump pressures Iran to 'come to the table' as 'massive' US armada draws near
The USS Abraham Lincoln has deployed to the region with its strike group
President Donald Trump urged Iran to "come to the table" as the U.S. deploys a "massive armada" to the region on Wednesday.
Trump confirmed that the USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group are
deploying as a direct threat to the Iranian regime. The president said
a major attack may be necessary of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's regime does
not make a deal with the U.S.
"A massive Armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great
power, enthusiasm, and purpose. It is a larger fleet, headed by the
great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela.
Like with Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill
its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary," Trump wrote on
Truth Social.
Mississippi drivers stranded overnight as major nor'easter threatens the East Coast
A nor'easter is expected to develop along America's East Coast this weekend.
While thousands across the South are still without following last
weekend's historic winter storm, forecasters warn time is running out
to prepare for the next one. The FOX Forecast Center has been tracking
a new potential threat for days and says this next storm could dump
heavy snow and whip up intense winds for coastal communities along
America's East Coast.
The latest forecast from FOX Weather shows this storm developing on
Saturday just off the coast of the Carolinas. Places like Charlotte,
Raleigh, and Wilmington in North Carolina may be looking at a
significant snowfall, with Charleston, Greenville, and Columbia, South
Carolina getting in on some snow, too.
EPA Chief to Speed LA Wildfire Rebuilds
President Donald Trump said Environmental Protection Agency
Administrator Lee Zeldin will oversee federal permits tied to
rebuilding homes in Los Angeles after the December 2024 wildfires,
signaling a more direct White House role in the recovery process.
In remarks at the U.S. Treasury's "Trump Accounts" summit in
Washington, D.C., Trump said he wants Zeldin to take charge of
expediting approvals needed for reconstruction, and suggested the EPA
chief could use existing authority to bypass state and local officials
he blamed for slowing the response.
"I haven't told this to Lee Zeldin yet, but I'm going to put you in
charge of getting permits. I think we're going to override the local
authority because they're never going to have it," Trump said.
"When I was told there's a provision where you can override the local
authority to get things done — because really to me it's a national
emergency what they've done to these people. It's horrible. ... So,
Lee, if you want, will you accept the job? He's under a lot of stress.
Override those people. Those people are incompetent. Between the mayor
[Karen Bass] and the governor [Gavin Newsom], they're incompetent,” he
added.
Saudi Arabia's Islamist Pivot Raises Concerns in Israel, US
Israeli officials, Jewish organizations in the United States, and
supporters of Israel are voicing mounting concern that Saudi Arabia
might be reorienting its regional posture away from moderation and
toward Islamist and Muslim Brotherhood-aligned forces — a shift that
could carry significant consequences for U.S. allies and regional
stability.
The unease follows a recent rise in antisemitic and anti-Israel
rhetoric emanating from Saudi state-linked media and prominent Saudi
voices, alongside what analysts describe as Riyadh's increasing
alignment with countries and movements associated with political Islam.
The trend has unsettled groups that once viewed Saudi Arabia as a
potential cornerstone of Arab-Israeli normalization and a counterweight
to Iran.
US Intelligence Raises Doubts About Venezuela Leader's Cooperation
U.S. intelligence reports have raised doubts about whether interim
Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez will cooperate with the Trump
administration by formally cutting ties with U.S. adversaries, four
people familiar with the reports say.
U.S. officials have said publicly they want the interim president to
sever relations with close international allies like Iran, China and
Russia, including expelling their diplomats and advisers from Venezuela.
But Rodriguez, whose swearing-in ceremony was attended by
representatives of those countries early this month, has yet to
publicly announce such a move. She became president after the U.S.
captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3.
The U.S. intelligence reports said it was not clear if she is fully on
board with the U.S. strategy in her country, according to the sources,
who declined to be identified by name. CIA Director John Ratcliffe
traveled on Jan. 15 to Caracas, where he discussed the country's
political future with Rodriguez. Reuters could not determine if those
conversations changed the intelligence agencies' opinion.
California’s tech billionaires will leave in droves over wealth ‘seizure’ ballot measure — that won’t even fix state’s problems
Twenty-one billionaires spoke about the looming prospect of a wealth
tax in California, whether they will leave the state and what impact it
would have on the tech industry.
We’re a little over a month into an industry-wide conversation about
the future of tech in California, which is largely taking place off
social media. At this point, most people know the conversation was
triggered by a ballot proposition floated by the state’s largest health
care union that seeks to legalize a first-of-its-kind asset seizure
targeting (for now) billionaires.
Over the last week, I spoke with 21 billionaires about the looming
prospect of a wealth tax. We discussed whether they left or are
planning to leave California (most of them are), what a wealth tax
means for the technology industry, and finally how, if at all, they
plan to fight back.
The men I spoke with include founders of companies working on a diverse
range of technologies, including artificial intelligence, defense,
cryptography, security, biotechnology, finance, and general software
development, as well as prominent venture capitalists at several of the
most famous firms in the world.
Hollywood’s selective silence on Iran exposes the lie of celebrity activism
The time to choose the side of freedom is now
In the glittering ballroom of the Golden Globes, the air is usually
thick with self-congratulatory speeches about the power of art to
change the world.
But this year, as the Iranian regime escalated its brutal crackdown on
a generation of freedom fighters, that same room was defined by a
haunting, comfortable silence. Many of the night’s most visible moral
arbiters, including Mark Ruffalo, Wanda Sykes, Ariana Grande, Jean
Smart, Natasha Lyonne and Bella Ramsey, proudly wore pins against ICE
after Renee Good was shot. They signaled their concern for one cause
while saying and doing nothing for Iran, where people are being beaten,
imprisoned and killed for demanding basic freedom.
We are told that "silence is violence" when it suits a domestic
political narrative, yet when a tyrannical theocracy hangs young men
from cranes and blinds women for the crime of showing their hair, the
cameras stop rolling.
