Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Author:

Trump tells EU to buy more American-made oil and gas or face ‘tariffs all the way’

Trump tells EU to buy more American-made oil and gas or face ‘tariffs all the way’

President-elect Donald Trump is threatening tariffs against a bloc of countries when he assumes office as part of his anticipated effort to reinforce oil and gas production in the U.S. Trump, in a Truth Social post, said that he told the European Union that if it doesn’t begin to import more U.S. oil and gas, it will be faced with tariffs under his upcoming presidency. “I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas,” Trump wrote. “Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!” Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump vowed to restore energy dominance by bolstering the production of American-made oil and natural gas. Specifically, Trump has revealed that he plans to expand fracking and lift President Joe Biden’s pause on new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permits.  TRUMP SUGGESTS CANADA BECOME 51ST STATE AFTER TRUDEAU SAID TARIFF WOULD KILL ECONOMY: SOURCES Trump’s latest tariff threat comes amid a number of warnings against several countries, including China, Mexico, and Canada, if they don’t act to secure the border and stop drug trafficking. MAJORITY OF AMERICANS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT TRUMP AGENDA, POLL FINDS, DESPITE TARIFF CONCERN Trump said he would impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican exports, unless the countries work to stop the flow of illegal immigration and illicit drugs coming into the U.S. After Trump’s proposed tariff against Canada, Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to cut off energy and critical mineral exports to the U.S. if the incoming president implements such a tariff on all Canadian products. However, Trump was unfazed by the threat, saying, “That’s okay if he does that.” Trump has reportedly engaged in “very productive” conversations with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since threatening a new tax. The PM traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with the incoming president, where Trudeau reportedly told Trump he couldn’t levy the tariff, because it would kill the Canadian economy completely, Fox News previously reported. Trump then suggested to Trudeau that Canada become the 51st state, which, according to sources, reportedly caused the prime minister and others to laugh nervously. Fox News’ Bret Baier and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

Musk and Ramaswamy ignite MAGA war over skilled immigration and American ‘mediocrity’

Musk and Ramaswamy ignite MAGA war over skilled immigration and American ‘mediocrity’

Trump world warriors Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have ignited an intra-MAGA battle with their proposals to increase immigration visas for high-skill workers. Musk and Ramaswamy, who have been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), argued that American culture has not prioritized education enough, and therefore foreign workers are needed for tech companies like Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla.  The pair saw their conservative sway skyrocket throughout the 2024 election as they grew closer to Trump, but the wealthy businessmen now find themselves butting heads with Trump’s most ardent base that wants to see Trump make good on promises of immigration restrictions and promoting the U.S. labor workforce.  Trump restricted access to foreign worker visas during his first administration and has critiqued the H-1B visas program, which allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations.   “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley,” Musk wrote on X, arguing the tech industry needs to “double” the number of engineers working in the U.S. today.  ‘WE’RE GOING TO GUT THE FISH’: REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE’S MUSK, RAMASWAMY “The number of people who are super-talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” he added.  Musk likened recruiting foreign workers to assembling a sports team. “You need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win.” Ramaswamy, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from India, backed up Musk and took shots at American society.   “American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence,” he wrote on X.  “A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad [sic] champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.” Those comments didn’t sit well with conservative crusaders like pundit Ann Coulter, commentator Laura Loomer, former Rep. Matt Gaetz and even former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. GOP SENATORS ‘VERY IMPRESSED’ WITH MUSK, RAMASWAMY DOGE FRAMEWORK AMID MEETINGS ON CAPITOL HILL “There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture,” Haley wrote in a post on the social platform X. “All you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have. We should be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers.” Haley and Ramaswamy have a long history of butting heads, starting with their competition in the 2024 Republican primary. “We welcomed the tech bros when they came running our way to avoid the 3rd grade teacher picking their kid’s gender – and the obvious Biden/Harris economic decline,” Gaetz, R-Fla., wrote in a social media post on Thursday. “We did not ask them to engineer an immigration policy.” Right-wing rabble-rouser Loomer said: “Our country was built by white Europeans, actually. Not third-world invaders from India. It’s not racist against Indians to want the original MAGA policies I voted for. I voted for a reduction in H-1B visas. Not an extension.” The skirmish kicked up after Trump nominated venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan to serve as his AI policy adviser. That nomination triggered anti-Indian backlash, and critics highlighted his past support for lifting the cap on green cards.  “The Woodstock generation managed to build out aerospace, the one before went to the moon, America was doing great. Underlying your post is that we were all living in squalor until being rescued by H-1B’s. Then why did everyone want to come here?” right-wing personality Mike Cernovich responded to Ramaswamy on X.

Democratic pols ditch Twitter after Elon Musk takeover, report shows

Democratic pols ditch Twitter after Elon Musk takeover, report shows

Congressional Democrats’ use of X, formerly Twitter, has significantly dropped off in the years since Elon Musk took over the social media platform, a new report suggests. Significantly more Republican lawmakers used X in 2024 than their Democratic colleagues, public affairs firm Quorum calculated. Of the top 20 most active accounts for members of Congress, just one – Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla. – hails from the left, at No. 15. It’s a stark change even from Quorum’s 2023 report, which came out just over a year after Musk bought the site – at the time. The top 10 most active congressional accounts were nearly split evenly with six Republicans and four Democrats on the list. Now, they are all Republicans. JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’ Many on the left have decried Musk’s ownership of X, accusing him of using it to bolster President-elect Donald Trump and right-wing causes. But Musk and his allies have insisted that he is creating a more user-controlled experience that promotes free speech. The report pointed to a 2023 survey that showed a stark decrease in Americans who identify as Democrats using the app. “The use of X is on the decline among the general public after Elon Musk’s takeover — with Democrats driving the exodus, according to one survey conducted early last year,” the report said. “After looking at the data, it’s clear that the decline in usage isn’t just coming from the general public. Public officials, particularly those on the left, are also changing their social media habits.” REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE’S MUSK, RAMASWAMY Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Pa., for example, was the most active Democratic lawmaker on X in 2023 before his post frequency fell sharply by 66% this year, the report said. Activity on X accounts for California Reps. Robert Garcia and Ted Lieu, both Democrats, fell by 35% and 26%, respectively. In 2024, the most frequently active X accounts were those for Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Republican lawmakers, as a whole, made up 54.4% of X posts by members of Congress in 2024, compared to 45.1% for Democrats. In 2023, congressional Democrats made up 50.8% of lawmakers’ activity on X, compared to 48.8% being by Republicans, Quorum’s previous report said. It’s worth noting that it’s standard practice for congressional lawmakers to hand control of either their professional or personal X accounts – frequently both – to their staff.  But some lawmakers like Cruz and Roy, as well as the third-ranked most active X poster, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., are known for frequently engaging with other X users directly. Frost, the lonely Democrat in the top 20 most frequent congressional X users of 2024, warned fellow liberals not to cede the popular app to Republicans, in an interview with Politico last month. “If we leave X, it will help Elon with his goal of making the platform void of any progressive ideology or the way we think about the world,” he said.

Joe Biden poses with Hunter’s Chinese business associates in newly surfaced photos: ‘Incredibly damning’

Joe Biden poses with Hunter’s Chinese business associates in newly surfaced photos: ‘Incredibly damning’

President Biden is seen in newly uncovered photos meeting with Hunter Biden’s Chinese business associates in China while he served as vice president, bringing further scrutiny to his claim he “never” discussed business with his son. The photos, obtained by conservative-leaning America First Legal through litigation against the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), appear to show then-Vice President Biden introducing his son to Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-Vice President Li Yuanchao. Other photos show Joe Biden posing with Hunter’s business associates from BHR Partners, including Jonathan Li and Ming Xue. “These images shed light on the connections between then-Vice President Biden, Hunter and his Chinese business associates, and Chinese government officials including President Xi Jinping,” America First Legal said in a press release this week. “Lawyers and representatives for President Biden and President Obama delayed NARA’s release of these photographs, as they did with other records, until after Election Day.” “These photos corroborate the House Oversight Committee’s investigative findings that Hunter Biden arranged for his father to meet with Jonathan Li and other BHR executives during the 2013 China trip, where ‘Mr. Li sought— and received — access to Vice President Biden’s political power, including, for example, preferential access to then-U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus … a condition of Hunter Biden and his associates participating in the BHR deal,’” America First Legal wrote. HUNTER BIDEN: A LOOK AT HOW THE SAGA SPANNING OVER SIX YEARS UNFOLDED America First Legal also wrote that, according to the committee’s investigation, “the Biden Family benefited from their business dealings with BHR.” Hunter Biden was asked earlier this year by the House Oversight Committee about his meetings while traveling to Asia with his father. “When we returned from an event to the hotel, there was a rope line, and Jonathan Li was in the lobby of the hotel where I was going to meet him for coffee,” Hunter Biden said at the time. “In that line, I introduced my dad to Jonathan Li and a friend of his, and they shook hands and I believe probably took a photograph. And then my father went up to his room, and I went to have coffee with Jonathan Li.” Hunter Biden added that he didn’t tell his father “anything” about who Li was. Joe Biden has repeatedly denied any role in his son’s businesses.  HUNTER BIDEN WAS PAID $100K THROUGH JOINT VENTURE WITH CHINESE ENERGY FIRM, EX-ASSOCIATE TESTIFIED “I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings,” Joe Biden said on the presidential campaign trail in 2019. But emails sent to and from Hunter Biden have cast doubt on that, including a 2017 email obtained by Fox News that shows Hunter requesting keys for Joe and Jill Biden, along with his uncle, Jim Biden, for space he planned to share with an “emissary” to the chairman of a now-bankrupt Chinese energy company. In another 2017 email also obtained by Fox News, Biden wrote to the same Chinese energy company’s chairman extending “best wishes from the entire Biden family,” and urging the chairman to “quickly” send a $10 million wire to “properly fund and operate” the Biden joint venture with the company.  JOE BIDEN SAYS HUNTER HAS DONE ‘NOTHING WRONG.’ REALLY? LET’S COUNT THE WAYS Devon Archer, a former business partner and longtime friend of Hunter Biden, sat for hours before the House Oversight Committee in a closed-door hearing last year and contradicted the president’s claim, saying Hunter put his father on speakerphone while meeting with business partners at least 20 times.  Archer described how Joe Biden was put on the phone to sell “the brand.” The photos drew strong criticism on social media in light of President Biden’s frequent claims he never discussed business with his son. “Astonishing,” Red State writer Bonchie posted on X. “These photos are incredibly damning and speak volumes,” author and journalist Peter Schweizer posted on X. “It is such a disgrace that only through litigation, and only at the conclusion of the Biden administration is its corruption by ties to the Chinese Communist Party fully coming into focus,” Real Clear Politics editor Benjamin Weingarten posted on X. “The Biden Crime Family Christmas card just dropped,” GOP Rep. Eric Burlison posted on X. “China has the Bidens in its back pocket,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton posted on X. The newly unearthed photos of the Bidens meeting with Hunter’s Chinese business associates renews scrutiny of an email exchange previously reported by Fox News Digital. The 2014 email exchange reveals Hunter Biden once said he would be “happy” to introduce his business associates to a top Chinese Communist Party official to discuss potential investments after that official allegedly sat at Hunter’s table during a 2013 dinner in Beijing to welcome his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden. Hunter’s 2014 email exchange with James Bulger referred to the same China trip referenced in the America First Legal press release. Bulger, who goes by “Jimmy,” served as the chairman of Boston-based Thornton Group LLC, a firm that joined forces with Hunter’s now-defunct Rosemont Seneca to launch its joint venture with Chinese investment firm Bohai Capital to create BHR Partners shortly after the Bidens traveled to China. BHR Partners is controlled by Bank of China Limited. In the 2014 email, Bulger asked Hunter to introduce BHR CEO Jonathan Li and Andy Lu, who was a BHR committee member, to “Mr. Tung,” which refers to C.H. Tung, a former governor of Hong Kong and billionaire who served as vice chairman of the CCP-linked Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, to discuss “BHR investment targets” and “fundraising.”  The email alleged Hunter sat next to Tung at the December 2013 dinner welcoming Vice President Joe Biden to Beijing. Fox News Digital previously reached out to the White House multiple times requesting the seating chart for the Beijing dinner, specifically Hunter’s table, but it did not respond. “It is my understanding that during the trip to Beijing that you made with your father, President Xi hosted a welcome dinner,” Bulger wrote. “[A]t that dinner, you were seated right