Donald Trump has called on California Governor Gavin Newsom to resign over the wildfires currently rampaging through Los Angeles, which have already killed five people, destroyed more than 1,000 structures and forced 150,000 residents to evacuate.
The president-elect accused Newsom, city mayor Karen Bass and Joe Biden of “gross incompetence” and declared the City of Angeles “a total wipeout” on his Truth Social platform.
“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground,” Trump fumed in another post.
“It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!”
Newsom, however, has hit back, angrily attacking Trump for attempting to “politize” the tragedy as his office accused the president-elect of engaging in “pure fiction” in his social media posts speculating on the environmental catastrophe.
Meanwhile, the incoming commander-in-chief’s dreams of using military force to annex Greenland and rename the Gulf of Mexico have been met with ridicule at home and abroad, with Denmark, France, Germany and Britain declining to take him seriously.
Trump is in Washington DC today for the state funeral of former president Jimmy Carter, attending a Cathedral service with his fellow surviving presidents.
Key Points
- Donald Trump attacks Gavin Newsom and Joe Biden over LA fires
- Emotional California governor hits back at Trump for ‘politicizing’ disaster
- President-elect shakes hands with estranged VP Mike Pence at Jimmy Carter’s funeral
- Alvin Bragg responds to Trump’s Supreme Court push with attack on presidential immunity
- No plan to expand military presence in Greenland, says US embassy in Copenhagen
Trump’s Beverly Hills wildfire claim debunked
16:00
Joe Sommerlad
Speaking on Capitol Hill last night after meeting with congressional Republicans, the president-elect had this to say about the Los Angeles wildfires, adopting a noticeably more sympathetic tone than he has chosen on social media.
Trump: I know those areas very well. I have many friends living in those houses. That is a true tragedy. Nobody ever thought -- I mean virtually Beverly Hills and areas around Beverly an are being decimated. pic.twitter.com/OPSlREdpQe
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 9, 2025
The only problem with that is that Beverly Hills is not actually on fire and is, instead, serving as a voluntary evacuation zone, with venues like the exclusive Beverly Hills Hotel throwing open their doors to local people temporarily displaced by the tragedy, as The Los Angeles Times has reported.
The Beverly Hills Fire Department is closely monitoring the newly formed Sunset Fire in the Runyon Canyon area of the Hollywood Hills.
— CityofBeverlyHills (@CityofBevHills) January 9, 2025
The City of LA has declared portions of Beverly Hills as a voluntary evacuation zone (areas north of Sunset and east of Coldwater Canyon Dr.) pic.twitter.com/k6Q9JGeO1E
Emotional Newsom responds to Trump’s attacks over Los Angeles wildfires
15:45
Joe Sommerlad
Speaking to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, California Governor Gavin Newsom became visibly emotional when asked about the president-elect’s attempts to blame him for the unfolding environmental disaster.
“People are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools, families completely torn asunder, churches burned down,” Newsom said, implying that Trump’s criticism was extremely ill-timed as well as unfair.
Railing at the Republican for attempting to politicize the disaster, he stopped himself short by saying: “I have a lot of thoughts and I know what I want to say... I won’t.”
By contrast, he praised Joe Biden by saying: “I stood next to a President of the United States of America today, and I was proud to be with Joe Biden.
“And he had the backs of every single person in this community.
“He didn’t play politics, didn’t try to divide any of us.”
People are literally fleeing. Kids have lost their schools. Communities have lost their churches. Families have lost their homes. Some have even lost their lives.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 9, 2025
And the President-Elect’s response is to politicize it.
We’ll continue to focus on what matters: saving lives and… pic.twitter.com/DPJLsKxHDW
Newsom’s press office has also rebuked Trump’s theorizing on social media about the fires, stating flatly: “There is no such document as the water restoration declaration – that is pure fiction.
“The governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.”
Bragg responds to Trump’s Supreme Court push with attack on presidential immunity argument
15:30
Joe Sommerlad
Meanwhile, back in the courts, the Manhattan prosecutor has filed his objections to the president-elect attempting to use the US Supreme Court to stop his hush money sentencing tomorrow, making similar arguments to the state appeals court we’ve just reported on.
In summary, Alvin Bragg says Trump’s claim “that any invocation of presidential immunity automatically entitles him to a stay pending appeal is incorrect.”
None of Trump’s claims “comes close to justifying a stay of the forthcoming sentencing,” he says.
The president-elect “makes the unprecedented claim that the temporary presidential immunity he will possess in the future fully immunizes him now, weeks before he even takes the oath of office, from all state-court criminal process,” Bragg writes, striking an incredulous tone.
“This extraordinary immunity claim is unsupported by any decision from any court. It is axiomatic that there is only one President at a time. Non-employees of the government do not exercise any official function that would be impaired by the conclusion of a criminal case against a private citizen for private conduct. And as this Court has repeatedly recognized, presidential immunity is strictly limited to the time of the President’s term in office.”
He adds that Trump’s claim that evidence used against him should have been shielded by immunity “does not support an interlocutory appeal or an automatic stay pending appeal because it is not an argument that defendant is immune from suit on the underlying criminal charges, which here are concededly based on defendant’s unofficial conduct having no connection to any presidential function”.
Bragg concludes: “There is a compelling public interest in proceeding to sentencing; the trial court has taken extraordinary steps to minimize any burdens on defendant, including by announcing his intent to sentence defendant to an unconditional discharge; and defendant has provided no record support for his claim that his duties as president-elect foreclose him from virtually attending a sentencing that will likely take no more than an hour.”
Watch: Trump shakes hands with Mike Pence at Carter’s funeral
15:15
Joe Sommerlad
Here’s a historic moment as the president-elect greets his old deputy in public for the first time since placing his life in mortal danger on January 6 2021.
Trump and Pence shake hands at the Jimmy Carter funeral pic.twitter.com/Z8UVXTVNYQ
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 9, 2025
In pictures: Trumps arrive at Washington National Cathedral for Jimmy Carter’s funeral
15:05
Joe Sommerlad
Donald and Melania Trump have arrived to their seats as they join other world leaders in paying their respects to the late former president, with the Trumps seating in front of Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and next to a certain Barack Obama.
Federalist Society co-founder and ex-attorney general file Supreme Court brief backing Trump
14:55
Joe Sommerlad
Steve Calabresi and Edward Meese III have leapt to the president-elect’s defence and find themselves in direct opposition to the Manhattan prosecutor as they insist that “presidential immunity requires that the prosecution brought against him in New York County by District Attorney Alvin Bragg be dismissed and the jury verdict vacated.”
Meanwhile, the conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation has put out a rather hysterical statement against Trump’s sentencing, warning that he is already engaged in official acts as president-elect and “besmirching his standing as he performs those duties would be noxious to the Constitution”.
It reads as follows:
“Even if the Constitution did not definitively require dismissal, prudence counsels it. While a state has a legitimate interests in each criminal prosecution to vindicate its sovereign right to define societal harms and pursue violators, the United States has a compelling public interest in the sitting president’s devoting his full attention to his duties, unburdened and undistracted by ongoing prosecutions.
“President Trump is already engaged in official duties as President-Elect and besmirching his standing as he performs those duties would be noxious to the Constitution. No President can be impaired in that fashion by a county prosecutor. Even if the charges were well-founded and the continued prosecution consistent with the Constitution, New York’s interests in any single criminal prosecution is dwarfed by the interests of the Nation as a whole.”
Breaking: New York Court of Appeals won’t block Trump’s Friday hush money sentencing
14:45
Joe Sommerlad
That leaves it up to the Supreme Court to rule on whether Judge Merchan’s proceedings go ahead.
Trump has now officially exhausted his options in New York to stop tomorrow’s sentencing.
Bragg’s response to his SCOTUS motion is due any minute now and sentencing is in less than 24 hours.
Here’s more.
Manhattan DA files opposition to Trump’s attempt to delay hush money sentencing with New York Court of Appeals
14:25
Joe Sommerlad
Alvin Bragg has raised his objection to the president-elect’s efforts to stop his sentencing by Judge Juan Merchan tomorrow and has until 10am ET to file a similar opposition with the US Supreme Court.
In summary, the Manhattan district attorney argues that Trump’s immunity claims don’t apply because none of the evidence he wants shielded from proceedings have anything to do with actions protected by the Supreme Court’s decision.
A federal court has already told him the actions at the center of the case aren’t protected because it involved a “purely a personal item of the president – a cover-up of an embarrassing event”, Bragg argues, and an entirely new claim that a president-elect should also be immune from any prosecution is “entirely baseless”.
The “least burdensome time” to sentence him is “now, before his inauguration, he says.
“Sentencing a sitting president during his term in office raises heightened and potentially insuperable obstacles” and Trump has “vociferously objected to being sentenced after the end of his forthcoming presidential term,” Bragg continues.
“By contrast, sentencing on January 10 raises none of these concerns: defendant has no viable claim of presidential immunity from ordinary criminal process; he is not yet engaged in any official presidential functions that would be disrupted by the sentencing; and given Supreme Court’s accommodations, including the offer for defendant to appear virtually rather than in person, sentencing could proceed in a manner that is minimally disruptive to defendant’s transitional activities.”
Moving ahead with tomorrow’s sentencing date “is also consistent with the defendant’s own litigation requests,” as it was Trump himself who asked that sentencing be adjourned until after the election, Bragg states.
The president-elect’s claim that he will be “seriously prejudiced by proceeding to sentencing on January 10” is also bogus because he has been allowed to “appear virtually, and in the people’s experience, it would be feasible to complete sentencing in less than an hour.”
His claim that sentencing is “somehow being ‘rushed’… is not supported by the record”.
“Defendant was convicted on May 3, 2024, and originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 11 2024,” Bragg concludes.
“Every adjournment of the sentencing date since then has been to accommodate the defendant’s requests for more time – including more time for post-trial briefing and more time to get past the date of the presidential election.”
ESPN’s Stephen A Smith claims Americans can ‘relate’ to Trump ‘talking smack’ about Canada
13:55
Joe Sommerlad
The president-elect is “talking a bunch of smack and giving us a bunch of superlatives,” Smith said on NewsNation.
“Now that’s normal, we can relate to that, that’s familiar to us,” he continued.
“This kind of language, no matter how frivolous we may think it is, no matter how much we may suspect that it’s much ado about nothing... at least it sounds like a typical politician.”
Katie Hawkinson has more.
Jimmy Carter to be honored at Washington funeral before burial in Georgia hometown
13:25
Joe Sommerlad
Donald Trump will be among the mourners in Washington DC today for the state funeral of the former president following his lying in state at the Capitol.
Here’s what’s happening.
How much did it cost the US to acquire its territories?
12:55
Joe Sommerlad
While the United States is no stranger to making land purchases, it has not done so since the 1940s when it purchased a small island that is now part of the US Virgin Islands.
It’s an expensive endeavor that requires justification and approval by the Senate.
From the Louisiana Purchase to the Alaska Purchase and even leasing Guantanamo Bay from Cuba, here’s Ariana Baio on the territories the US has purchased.
Trump continues tirade against Newsom over Los Angeles wildfires
12:46
Joe Sommerlad
Here’s the latest rant from the president-elect on Truth Social just now, stirring the pot but helping no one:
“Fire is spreading rapidly for 3 days — ZERO CONTAINMENT. Nobody has ever seen such failed numbers before! Gross incompetence by Gavin Newscum and Karen Bass….And Biden’s FEMA has no money — all wasted on the Green New Scam! L.A. is a total wipeout!!!”
Mexican president hits back at ‘misinformed’ Trump: ‘Why don’t we call it Mexican America?’
12:25
Joe Sommerlad
Claudia Sheinbaum clearly enjoyed herself yesterday excoriating the US president-elect on Wednesday after he suggested that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America.
“Obviously, the Gulf of Mexico is a name recognized by the United Nations,” Sheinbaum said during her daily press conference.
She then pointed to a historic map of North America, on which parts of what is now the United States, including California and Texas, were identified as “America Mexicana”.
“Why don’t we call it Mexican America?” she said with a heavy tinge of sarcasm.
“It sounds nice, no?”
Gustaf Kilander has more.
British Foreign Secretary gives Trump’s Arctic threats the cold shoulder
11:55
Joe Sommerlad
David Lammy has also been dismissing the president-elect’s posturing over Greenland.
“Let’s get serious, it’s not going happen,” he told the BBC on Thursday. “No NATO allies have gone to war since the birth of NATO [in 1949].”
Lammy continued: “We know from [Trump’s] first term that the intensity of his rhetoric and unpredictability sometimes of what he says can be destabilising.
“I suspect on Greenland he is targeting his concerns about Russia and China in the Arctic and his concerns about national economic security.
“He recognises, I am sure, that Greenland is a kingdom of Denmark.”
Millie Cooke has more.
Watch: Hakeem Jeffries lambasts Trump’s Greenland takeover plans
11:25
Joe Sommerlad
“We are not sent to Washington to invade Greenland, rename the Gulf of Mexico or seize the Panama Canal by force,” the incredulous House Minority Leader told a press conference in DC on Wednesday.
“We were sent to Washington to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America.”
Trump and Justice Alito spoke just hours before urging Supreme Court to block hush money sentencing
10:55
Joe Sommerlad
The president-elect spoke with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito hours before the former urged the nation’s high court to block his imminent sentencing date in his hush money trial, it emerged yesterday.
The conservative justice told ABC News he agreed to take a call from the incoming president to recommend a law clerk for a position in his administration.
“I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon,” Alito confirmed to ABC.
“We did not discuss the emergency application he filed today, and indeed, I was not even aware at the time of our conversation that such an application would be filed,” according to the justice.
“We also did not discuss any other matter that is pending or might in the future come before the Supreme Court or any past Supreme Court decisions involving the president-elect.”
Here’s more from Alex Woodward.
No plan to expand US military presence in Greenland, says Copenhagen embassy
10:25
Joe Sommerlad
The incoming commander-in-chief’s dreams of using military force to annex Greenland have been rejected by the US embassy in the Danish capital.
“There are no plans to increase the United States’s current military footprint in Greenland,” a spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday.
That hasn’t stopped Trump posting memes about his fantasies of world domination, however.
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 9, 2025
While his refusal to rule out military action to take the strategically-useful (and mineral-rich) Arctic island earlier this week drew an angry response from Denmark, France and Germany, Republicans on Capitol Hill are backing their Dear Leader.
Here’s more from Eric Garcia.
Donald Trump attacks Joe Biden and Gavin Newsom over LA fires
10:05
Joe Sommerlad
Good morning!
Donald Trump has lashed out at President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom over the wildfires currently rampaging through Los Angeles, which have already killed five people, destroyed more than 1,000 structures and forced 150,000 residents to evacuate.
“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground,” the president-elect fumed on Truth Social.
“It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!”
In an earlier post on his social media platform, Trump wrote: “The fires in Los Angeles may go down, in dollar amount, as the worst in the History of our Country.
“In many circles, they’re doubting whether insurance companies will even have enough money to pay for this catastrophe.”
One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground. It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 9, 2025
Donald Trump Truth Social 11:40 PM EST 01/08/25
The fires in Los Angeles may go down, in dollar amount, as the worst in the History of our Country. In many circles, they’re doubting whether insurance companies will even have enough money to pay for this catastrophe. Let this serve, and be emblematic, of the gross incompetence…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 8, 2025
NO WATER IN THE FIRE HYDRANTS, NO MONEY IN FEMA. THIS IS WHAT JOE BIDEN IS LEAVING ME. THANKS JOE!
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 8, 2025
Donald Trump Truth Social 02:28 PM EST 01/08/25
Here’s Rhian Lubin on some further unhelpful interventions from Elon Musk and friends.
Why is Trump ‘obsessed’ with Greenland? It might stem from his friendship with a cosmetics billionaire...
09:50
Oliver O'Connell
President-elect Donald Trump is once again touting his plans to buy Greenland, the Danish territory in the Arctic.
Trump escalated rhetoric around the island during a press conference Tuesday, refusing to rule out the use of military force to get ahold of it if needed.
But where did this idea come from?
Gustaf Kilander reports.
Was Maria Bartiromo almost a heartbeat from the presidency?
09:20
Oliver O'Connell
The symbiotic relationship between Fox News and President-elect Donald Trump nearly reached new levels during the most recent presidential campaign, according to a new book by Politico political reporter Alex Isenstadt.
While the president-elect has already appointed or nominated at least a dozen Fox News personalities to his upcoming administration, Isenstadt reports in his forthcoming book Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power that Trump seriously considered making one his favorite hosts his running mate.
Justin Barangoa reports.
‘Why don’t we call it Mexican America?’: Mexican president hits back at ‘misinformed’ Trump
08:50
Oliver O'Connell
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum excoriated President-elect Donald Trump Wednesday after he suggested that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America.
“Obviously, the Gulf of Mexico is a name recognized by the United Nations,” Sheinbaum, speaking in Spanish, said during her daily press conference, according to Politico.
She then pointed to a historic map of North America, on which parts of what is now the U.S. the map said, “America Mexicana.”
“Why don’t we call it Mexican America?” she said with a heavy tinge of sarcasm. “It sounds nice, no?”
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
08:20
Oliver O'Connell
Schumer says renaming Gulf of Mexico ‘isn’t going to help people save money at the grocery store’
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is on the same page as Hakeem Jeffries his counterpart in the House of Representatives.
Speaking about Donald Trump’s agenda, he said: “Donald Trump is in over his head. So he’s doing what he always does in times like this, distract America with crazy ideas. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico may be a zany new idea, but it isn’t going to help people save money at the grocery store.”
.@SenSchumer: "Donald Trump is in over his head. So he's doing what he always does in times like this, distract America with crazy ideas. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico may be a zany new idea, but it isn't going to help people save money at the grocery store." pic.twitter.com/Cn4GLt1SRg
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 8, 2025
“If Donald Trump wants to rename a gulf to sound more patriotic, I’d say we will help him on one condition and only one condition: let’s come up w/a real plan first — not a concept of a plan — to lower prices for Americans,” Schumer continued.
“Let’s do that first. Then, Donald Trump can have his fun.”
Ex-cop and Proud Boys member gets 14 months for joining Jan 6 Capitol riot
07:50
AP
A former police officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol with fellow members of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced on Wednesday to 14 months in prison for joining the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Donald Trump supporters, court records show.
Nathaniel Tuck and other Proud Boys, including his father, were among the first wave of rioters who entered Capitol grounds after the mob broke through police lines, according to prosecutors.
Read on...
MSNBC host quickly issues legal note after guest calls Trump a ‘rapist’
07:20
Oliver O'Connell
MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski offered up a legal disclaimer on Wednesday following a Morning Joe interview with Scott Galloway that featured the entrepreneur referring to President-elect Donald Trump as a “rapist.”
Perhaps sensing that her network could face a similar situation as ABC News, which recently settled a defamation suit with the famously litigious incoming president, Brzezinski quickly issues a clarification, as Justin Barangoa reports.
Garland plans to release Jack Smith’s January 6 report — Trump is trying to stop him...
06:20
Oliver O'Connell
Attorney General Merrick Garland will publicly release special counsel Jack Smith’s highly anticipated final report from his investigation into Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Smith delivered his completed report to Garland on Tuesday, according to lawyers with the Department of Justice. But it remains unclear when, exactly, a report can see the light of day, with just 12 days remaining before the president-elect returns to the White House.
Alex Woodward has the details.
Don Jr. was told the ‘whole town’ would show up for his Greenland arrival — it didn’t quite work out like that
05:20
Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump Jr. was promised a large crowd of Greenlanders when he landed at the Nuuk airport Tuesday. Instead, he got, at best, a handful of fans for his unofficial visit.
Ariana Baio has the story.
Trump’s team was fed questions prior to Fox News town hall in 2024, new book says
04:20
Oliver O'Connell
The Trump campaign team was handed questions in advance of a Fox News town hall in Iowa in January last year, according to a new book.
Politico’s Alex Isenstadt writes in Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power that many of the president-elect’s advisers did not want him to show up to the event moderated by Brett Baier and Matha MacCallum. They were “still peeved at Fox, whose coverage they continued to find antagonistic, and did not want the former president to do the prime time event,” according to exerpts shared by CNN.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
Report: Trump to declare national economic emergency in order to push through tariffs
03:20
Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency in order to create the legal grounds for introducing his program of steep tariffs against rival nations, according to CNN.
Even before taking office, the president-elect has threatened tariffs of as much as 10 percent on global imports and 60 percent on Chinese goods, plus a 25 percent import surcharge on Canadian and Mexican products.
Such duties are intended to provide a boost to American manufacturing but experts have warned that, in practice, they could backfire by upending trade flows, raising costs and inviting harmful retaliatory measures.
Joe Sommerlad reports.
Despite all the allegations against him, Matt Gaetz believes he can win Florida governorship
02:20
Oliver O'Connell
Matt Gaetz, the former Florida Republican congressman turned cable news anchor, has revealed he is “starting to think about running for governor” of the Sunshine State in 2026 in place of two-term incumbent Ron DeSantis.
“I have a compelling vision for the state,” Gaetz told The Tampa Bay Times.
Joe Sommerlad has the story.
Drill baby, drill?
01:20
Oliver O'Connell
The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday said no bids were submitted for this week’s oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — a sale the state has challenged as too restrictive and at odds with a 2017 law aimed at opening the refuge’s sweeping coastal plan to exploration and development.
Monday was the deadline for companies to submit bids, the agency said.
Read on...
MTG vows to introduce bill on Gulf of Mexico ‘ASAP’
00:20
Oliver O'Connell
Georgia GOP firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene has promised to introduce a bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America as soon as possible.
Greene took to President-elect Donald Trump’s platform Truth Social to share a clip of the former and incoming president pitching the name change.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
Germany seems to warn Trump about his Greenland plans
00:05
Oliver O'Connell
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that every country must honor the sanctity of borders no matter how powerful or where they are, indirectly responding to President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. should take over Greenland and the Panama Canal.
Ariana Baio reports.