Trump and White House blast ‘Fake News’ journalists and negative polls as president pushes affordability agenda: Live updates

The Senate failed to advance two bills to address the imminent spiking of healthcare costs for millions of Americans.

The two proposals included a Republican plan that would have morphed expiring federal subsidies that currently address those annual premium costs into payments to health savings accounts (HSAs) for Americans seeking to buy insurance, as well as a Democratic plan that would have extended those subsidies for two years.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which helps elect Democrats to statehouses, has issued a fiery response to the Indiana state Senate’s rejection of new congressional maps.

Trump pushed for the redistricting effort, which would have favored Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.

“Trump and Republicans’ gerrymandering schemes have backfired as their latest gambit in Indiana failed,” Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said in a statement.

Williams continued: “Indiana Democrats stood firm in their fight against this GOP power grab designed to silence voters. But redistricting battles are far from over, and state Democrats must continue to fight extreme Republicans across the country who are rushing to rig maps to keep themselves in power.

“The DLCC is leading the national strategy to win battleground chambers and put the party on offense around redistricting now and in 2030. We won’t allow Republicans to go unchallenged – not in Indiana, not anywhere.”

The Department of the Interior announced Wednesday that it will transfer jurisdiction of about 760 acres of land in San Diego and Imperial Counties to the Navy for three years.

“By working with the Navy to close long-standing security gaps, we are strengthening national defense, protecting our public lands from unlawful use, and advancing the President’s agenda to put the safety and security of the American people first,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.

The Interior Department says the region — which stretches from the western boundary of the Otay Mountain Wilderness Area to about one mile west of the California–Arizona state line — is a hot spot for illegal border crossings.

After the Indiana state Senate rejected new congressional maps that would have favored Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections, President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday evening, “I wasn’t very much involved.”

But just hours earlier, Trump threatened Republicans who didn’t support the redistricting effort.

“Anybody that votes against Redistricting, and the SUCCESS of the Republican Party in D.C., will be, I am sure, met with a MAGA Primary in the Spring,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday night. “If Republicans will not do what is necessary to save our Country, they will eventually lose everything to the Democrats.”

Trump said Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray “and his friends won’t be in Politics for long, and I will do everything within my power to make sure that they will not hurt the Republican Party, and our Country, again.”

Bray was one of the 21 Republicans to join 10 Democrats in voting against the new maps.

In a statement following the vote, which was shared by CNN, Bray said: “Indiana Senate Republicans want to see a Republican majority in congress at the midterms. The issue before us today was how to get there, and many of my caucus members don’t think redrawing our Congressional map mid-cycle is a guaranteed way for Indiana – or our country – to achieve that outcome.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday night to “protect” AI innovation, as the White House puts it, after railing against a report about China leading the world in electricity.

The Wall Street Journal published an article Wednesday titled, ‘China’s AI Power Play: Cheap Electricity From World’s Biggest Grid,’ which reported that Beijing now has the biggest power grid in the world.

Earlier Thursday, Trump called the report “ridiculous” in a Truth Social post.

“They’re WRONG, as usual! Every AI plant being built in the United States is building its own Electric Generating Facilities,” Trump said. “In other words, AI has far more Electricity than they will ever need because, they are building the facilities that produce it, themselves. We are leading the World in AI, BY FAR, because of a gentleman named DONALD J. TRUMP!”

Conservative activist group Heritage Action said earlier Thursday, “President Trump has made it clear to Indiana leaders: if the Indiana Senate fails to pass the map, all federal funding will be stripped from the state.

“Roads will not be paved. Guard bases will close. Major projects will stop. These are the stakes and every NO vote will be to blame.”

Jasmine Wright, White House correspondent for NOTUS, said when she asked a senior White House official about Heritage Action’s claim, they said, “Never heard POTUS say that or direct it.”

The Indiana state Senate ended up rejecting the new congressional maps that Trump pushed for.

Thursday’s ruling from Maryland District Judge Paula Xinis ordered his release “immediately” as the Salvadoran immigrant continues to fight criminal charges brought by Donald Trump’s administration.

After a judge disqualified her from office and tossed out two of her politically charged cases against Donald Trump’s longtime foes, Lindsey Halligan is making another push to serve as a top federal prosecutor in Virginia, with support from the White House.

Halligan has submitted a questionnaire to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will consider her nomination for U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia before a full Senate vote.

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