TYB
Donald J. Trump
I would like to thank the hardworking Commissioners and Staff of the National Capital Planning Commission, who just voted overwhelmingly, 8-1, to approve the magnificent White House Ballroom now rising on this Hallowed Ground. I am pleased to announce that even Board Member Senator Rand Paul, known as an extraordinarily difficult vote, voted a strong YES. For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for Grand Parties, State Visits, and even, in the Modern Day, Inaugurations. I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project, which is on time and under budget, underway. When completed, it will be the Greatest and Most Beautiful Ballroom of its kind anywhere in the World, and a fabulous complement to our Beautiful and Storied White House! President DONALD J. TRUMP
Apr 02, 2026, 6:32 PM
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116337483523761845
Pete Hegseth fires highest-ranking US Army officer in the middle of Iran war
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ousted the highest-ranking US Army officer amid the Iran war.
General Randy George, a Biden appointee, was told to step down and take immediate retirement, CBS News reported.
A Pentagon official said: 'We are grateful for his service, but it was time for a leadership change in the Army.'
George is understood to have clashed with the administration's vision for the Army.
Vice Chief of Staff General Christopher LaNeve, a former aide to Hegseth, will be acting chief of staff.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said that LaNeve is 'a battle-tested leader with decades of operational experience and is completely trusted by Secretary Hegseth to carry out the vision of this administration without fault.'
Hegseth's decision comes as 50,000 US troops are deployed in the Middle East ahead of a possible ground invasion in Iran.
George is the senior-most uniformed officer in the Army - a four-star general and the 41st Chief of Staff responsible for organizing, training and equipping more than one million soldiers, though not a field commander directing tactical strikes.
George reports to General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, the civilian head of the branch; and Hegseth, whose highest military rank was as an Army major.
George was confirmed by the Senate in 2023 and is significantly short of completing the typical four-year term.
Hegseth has purged more than a dozen senior officers, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General C.Q. Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff General James Slife and the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse.
Born and raised in Iowa, George enlisted in the Army in 1982 and graduated from West Point in 1988.
He served as the senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin from 2021 to 2022 after decades of service, including in the first Gulf War, as well as later in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A highly decorated officer, George has earned the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, two Army Distinguished Service Medals, four Defense Superior Service Medals, four Legions of Merit, four Bronze Stars, and a Purple Heart.
George's firing comes as the war in Iran remains extremely volatile with no end in sight.
Donald Trump vowed in a prime-time address Wednesday to bomb Iran 'back to the Stone Ages', claiming the conflict would wrap within two to three weeks.
Oil prices spiked on the news as the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude flows, remains strangled by the Islamic regime.
The Trump administration says that it is negotiating with Iran - claims which Tehran has rejected.
Trump has suggested in recent days he would be prepared to quit the war without securing the Strait, leaving it to Arab and European allies.
The Pentagon has meanwhile furnished the President with audacious plans to seize Iran's uranium with thousands of Marines and paratroopers now in the region.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15702615/Pete-Hegseth-fires-Army-general-middle-Iran-war.html
The Josh Philipp Show
How NGOs Took Over U.S. Foreign Policy
For decades, the U.S. government outsourced huge chunks of its foreign policy and even domestic influence to NGOs—nongovernmental organizations that sounded independent but often ran on your tax dollars with almost no accountability.
Then, in 2025, the whole system was exposed.
3,142 views Premiered 3 hours ago 18:18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuozbCBIuQk
Tiger Woods 'called Donald Trump in wake of crash'
as DUI arrest of golf legend takes shocking twist
Tiger Woods called President Donald Trump in the moments after his shocking car crash in Florida, new bombshell footage appears to show.
The golf legend was arrested after rolling his SUV on Friday while attempting to overtake a vehicle at high speed, before cops found two opioid pills in his pocket and put him behind bars.
Now, newly-released bodycam footage shows Woods making a phone call and then telling police: 'I was just talking with the President.'
In the clip, the golf icon - who is dating Trump's former daughter-in-law, Vanessa -can be seen in the distance as a police officer repeatedly calls after him. The cop approaches Woods, urging him to return.
The 15-time major champion appears to be speaking on the phone when the officer tells him: 'We'll get you to hang down here with us, please.'
A few moments later, Woods can be heard ending his conversation as he approaches the police. 'Thank you so much - all right, you got it, thank you, bye,' the 50-year-old says.
Woods, who has a close relationship with Trump and was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 2019, then tells police: 'I was just talking with the president.'
Later in the clip, the golf star wanders back past the police car and takes a small container out of his shorts pocket.
'No, nothing in your mouth, please,' an officer tells him as he appears to put something towards his lips. Woods then takes out a small tube of chapstick and appears to ask: 'Am I allowed a lick of this?'
The cop replies: 'Right now, no. It's humid outside, you don't need lip balm.'
Woods is not handcuffed in the video, which appears to have been filmed before he was subject to a field sobriety test.
Trump last week spoke about Woods' struggles, telling reporters: 'I feel so bad. He's got some difficulty - there was an accident, and that's all I know.'
The president added: 'A very close friend of mine, he's an amazing person, an amazing man. But some difficulty. I don't want to talk about it.' …
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/article-15702771/tiger-woods-donald-trump-florida-crash.html
Trump Revamps Tariffs on Steel, Aluminum, and Copper
The new order defines how metal values are assessed for raw materials and simplifies calculations for other products.
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 2 to simplify calculations for steel, aluminum, and copper tariffs and to mitigate efforts to avoid import taxes.
The new order defines how the value of metals is assessed, imposing 50 percent levies on the U.S. price of goods sold for raw materials and 25 percent on products containing at least 15 percent of affected metals.
Stricter guidelines were needed because some wholesalers and exporters were artificially lowering the stated value of goods to reduce tariff liability, administration officials told reporters during a background call on April 2.
“So, it’s now going to be proper and fair,” the official said.
Products containing tariffed metals were previously subject to complex calculations to determine the appropriate rate, based on the amount of metal contained. The new order applies the tariff to the product’s value, intended to stop manufacturers from dodging fees.
New regulations are meant to bolster domestic manufacturing. Once a major player in the steel industry, the United States lagged behind other nations, particularly China, in recent decades.
“We were becoming subservient to others who made steel,” the official said, noting China’s recently announced export license requirement for steel. “They are thinking of weaponizing steel.”
Trump began using levies to strengthen U.S. manufacturing industries during his first term in office. Officials set a goal of producing 80 percent of the metals needed for domestic manufacturing.
According to the order, tariffs helped push U.S. aluminum capacity utilization to more than 50 percent in 2026 from about 39 percent in 2017, with steel rising to 77 percent from 72 percent over the same period.
The president also signed an order imposing 100 percent tariffs on patented pharmaceutical drugs.
He adjusted tariff regulations on the first anniversary of “Liberation Day,” when he imposed global levies under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) during a White House ceremony.
Administration officials celebrated the trade strategies’ successes, citing more than 20 deals, improved trade deficits, trillions of dollars committed to investing in U.S. businesses, and lower drug prices for Americans.
“One year ago today, President Trump threw away the illusions of ‘free trade’ to finally put Americans and America First,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. “And this is just the beginning of the president’s transformation of global trade: As these investment and trade deals continue taking effect, and more get signed, Americans can count on the best being yet to come.”
In February, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump exceeded his authority when he invoked IEEPA to impose the global tariffs. After the ruling, the Trump administration imposed a temporary tariff of 10 percent on most imports instead.
U.S. trade officials have said they are conducting investigations into alleged unfair trade practices by trading partners to determine if the United States can enact new tariffs under different legal authorities.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trump-revamps-tariffs-on-steel-aluminum-and-copper-6007355
>President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 2
STRENGTHENING ACTIONS TAKEN TO ADJUST IMPORTS OF ALUMINUM, STEEL, AND COPPER INTO THE UNITED STATES
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/04/strengthening-actions-taken-to-adjust-imports-of-aluminum-steel-and-copper-into-the-united-states/
You'd think the DOE Secretary would have a Q Clearance! BUT, their access could just be derived from presidential appointment and inherent statutory authority, not from a full FBI vetting process.