Happy Friday. Today’s the day! The new pandas at the Smithsonian National Zoo made their big debut this morning! Can’t wait to meet you, Bao Li and Qing Bao. 🐼🐼 Here’s what’s happening: - Immigrant deportations have begun.
- Trump visits North Carolina, California and Nevada.
- D.C.’s annual anti-abortion rights rally is today.
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Senate tees up rare late-night votes to confirm Trump Cabinet nominees.
- Billy Joel and Sting will perform together in D.C.
I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips & feedback to cmartel@thehill.com. Someone forward this to you? Sign up. |
The deportations have begun: |
The Trump administration has started deporting, via military aircraft, immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt 📸 shared photos of people boarding a plane in handcuffs.
Keep in mind: As The Hill’s Brett Samuels and Rebecca Beitsch point out, deportation flights are not new, but the use of military planes is. That was part of Trump’s executive orders earlier this week.
Meanwhile on the border: The National Guard has been ordered to help execute Trump’s directive to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. |
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The Washington Post: Schools brace for immigration arrests, try to reassure terrified parents
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The Associated Press: Mexican border states prepare migrant shelters as Trump begins deportation campaign
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CNN Business: Trump is targeting the immigrants who will be called on to rebuild LA
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NBC News: What we know about Trump’s mass deportation plans and ICE raids
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Op-ed in Politico: How Trump’s Deportation Plans Could Blow Up the Food System and Increase Migrant Labor
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And on the fifth day, he hit the road: |
President Trump is making his first domestic trip of his second term today, flying to North Carolina and California to tour disaster damage.
First up — North Carolina: Trump is visiting western North Carolina to see the recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene, which devastated the area in September. He has accused Democrats of “abandoning” the state in the aftermath of the storm. Trump won the state in November with just under 51 percent of the vote.
Then, California: Trump will travel to deep-blue Los Angeles later Friday to survey the damage from the ongoing deadly wildfires. Trump floated the idea Thursday of including federal aid to Los Angeles as part of its massive reconciliation package, suggesting it could win over some Democratic votes.
Yes, but: Trump has also threatened to withhold aid from California unless there is a change in the management of water from state leaders. Trump has had a rocky relationship with the state’s governor, Gavin Newson (D). Newsom has said this he will be on the tarmac to greet the president today.
And to round out the trip: Trump will make a stop in Nevada to “thank them for the vote.” Trump won the Silver State in November by 1.5 percent. Read Julia Manchester and Alex Gangitano’s reporting on the trip’s significance: ‘Trump faces pivotal moment with California trip’
📸 Spotted on Air Force One: The new House Rules Committee chair, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R), who represents North Carolina. |
➤ NEW FROM TRUMP — WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO FEMA?: |
Trump proposed getting rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), raising questions about the broader future of the agency.
“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling or maybe getting rid of FEMA,” Trump said at a roundtable in North Carolina. “Frankly, FEMA’s not good.”
Before leaving for North Carolina this morning, he suggested an alternative. “I like … the concept when North Carolina gets hit, the governor takes care of it. When Florida gets hit, the governor takes care of it,” Trump said, arguing that he prefers when governors handle their own states' disaster responses. 📹 Watch the clip
Keep in mind: If Kristi Noem is confirmed as the head of the Department of Homeland Security, she will be in charge of overseeing FEMA.
Read more: ‘FEMA tensions pose test for Noem’ |
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Trump invited him and Alex Padilla, California’s other Democratic senator, on the trip to Los Angeles. Schiff and Padilla declined because the Senate is still voting on Trump’s Cabinet nominees. |
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JD Vance gets his moment in the spotlight: |
The annual anti-abortion rights rally the March for Life is happening today in Washington, the same day as President Trump's first domestic trip to tour natural disaster damage.
The march always brings a big crowd of social conservative activists, the very same people who helped win Trump the White House in November. Trump will address the crowd with a video message like he did in 2019, while Vice President Vance will be in the spotlight representing the administration. Vance is reprising a role then-Vice President Mike Pence served appearing at the rally in 2019.
Trump in 2020 became the first sitting president to speak in person at the March for Life.
Other Trump allies will be there: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) are all expected to speak at the rally. This will be Vance’s first public appearance since taking office Monday. 💻 Livestream
Abortion restrictions have been a delicate balance for Trump.
It’s not his bread and butter: He hasn’t prioritized an anti-abortion platform in his political career. Remember how he mostly avoided talking about it on the campaign trail? He also privately suggested in early 2024 that he supported a 16-week abortion ban with exceptions. He then later said he would not sign a national abortion ban. And last fall, first lady Melania Trump came out in support of abortion rights.
Abortion restrictions were not mentioned during his inaugural address. He didn’t issue any abortion-related executive orders during his flurry of initial policy changes on Day 1.
But there have been some more subtle nods: He did issue pardons Thursday for nearly 22 anti-abortion activists who had been convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances. Plus, search results for “abortion” appear to have been altered on the federal Department of Health and Human Services website, according to NPR.
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Hope you have enough midnight oil for the weekend …:
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The Senate is expected to hold a final confirmation vote this evening on Pete Hegseth, Trump’s embattled pick to lead the Department of Defense. What time?: 9 p.m. EST 😅
Will he be confirmed?: Yes, he’s expected to be confirmed. Two Republican senators —Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) — voted against Hegseth in Thursday’s procedural vote, but he can afford three GOP “no” votes. ^ By the way, Trump said he was “very surprised” by Murkowski and Collins’s “no” votes.
And then there’s Kristi Noem’s confirmation: After the Hegseth vote, the Senate will then hold a procedural vote on South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s (R) nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security. If all goes to plan, her final vote could happen Sunday morning. |
The Hill’s Emily Brooks posted that “Stewart Rhodes, Oath Keepers founder whose sentence was just commuted by Trump, [was] in the Capitol complex” earlier this week. 📸 Photo ; Brooks’s reporting on his visit
^ Related tidbit: Rhodes’s ex-wife Tasha Adams told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that it’s “insane” he was released from prison. 📹 Watch the clip |
🥜 Celebrate: Today is National Peanut Butter Day!
🎤 Billy Joel and Sting will share a stage: Singers Billy Joel and Sting will perform together at National Park in Washington, on Sept. 5. Tickets go on sale Jan. 31 (or presale Jan. 27).
🧅 I will never get sick of The Onion: The Onion wrote a satirical Q&A about the Jan. 6 pardons. It’s pretty funny. |
The House is out. The Senate is in (they’re really sticking with their Friday session schedule ...). President Trump is in North Carolina, California and Nevada today. Vice President Vance is in Washington. (all times Eastern) |
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Noon: Trump meets with flood victims in North Carolina. 💻 Livestream
- 1:15 p.m.: Trump leaves North Carolina and flies to Los Angeles.
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8:50 p.m.: Trump leaves Los Angeles and flies to Las Vegas.
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Jan. 30: The Senate Intelligence Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence.
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And because you made it this far, . They’re such goofy, perfect creatures. |
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