President Donald Trump is citing his authority over diplomatic negotiations as he seeks Supreme Court approval to deport more immigrants to be imprisoned in El Salvador. And he cited protecting national security to justify ending collective bargaining with labor unions across most of the federal government.
JD Vance and his wife are due to visit an American military base in Greenland on Friday in a trip scaled back after an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes over the uninvited guests.
And an executive order Trump signed Thursday night puts Vance in charge of rooting out “improper ideology” at the Smithsonian Institution ‘s many museums, in his latest move against the pillars of America’s civil society — universities, science, the media and the law — that he considers out of step with Republican sensibilities.
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The Trump administration hasn’t said if or how it will respond to Asia quake disaster. Cuts leave that uncertain
The U.S. Agency for International Development contracts with American urban disaster-response teams. Before the Trump cuts to foreign aid, USAID-backed search and rescue teams from Los Angeles County and Fairfax County, Virginia could head off to distant quakes in as few as 24 hours, said Sarah Charles, who oversaw the teams in the Biden administration.
The Trump administration is believed to have cut the commercial-transport contracts that get disaster crews, their dog search teams, and heavy equipment to disasters to pull out survivors and bodies, Charles said.
Now, as Trump faces the first major natural disaster of his second term, “the well-built system that we had … those are in shambles,” Charles said.
▶ Read more about responses to Friday’s earthquake
Vance, his wife and other senior US officials have arrived at the American military base in Greenland
Friday’s one-day visit is limited to the U.S. Space Force outpost at Pituffik, on the northwest coast of Greenland about 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
The itinerary change removed the risk of potentially violating diplomatic custom by sending a delegation without an official invitation. It also reduces the likelihood that Vance and his wife will cross paths with residents angered by Trump’s announcements.
During his visit, Vance was expected to receive briefings and deliver remarks to U.S. service members, according to the vice president’s office. His delegation includes the national security advisor, Mike Waltz, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, as well as second lady Usha Vance.
▶ Read more about the northernmost US base
