Author: potus

U.S. Vice President JD Vance attends a joint press conference of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., Feb. 4, 2025. Leah Millis | ReutersVice President JD Vance on Friday called for the rehiring of a DOGE staffer who resigned from a sensitive Trump administration post over the exposure of tweets advocating for racism and eugenics.Vance’s call came in a reply to a poll that DOGE chief Elon Musk launched on his social media platform X asking users whether 25-year-old staffer Marko Elez should be rehired to…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government no longer backs transgender minors and their families in Tennessee who are challenging a state ban on gender-affirming care, the Trump administration told the Supreme Court Friday.The court’s conservatives, at arguments in December, had already seemed likely to uphold the state ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments. The formal notification of the change is the latest in a flurry of actions by the new administration regarding transgender people. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in his second week in office halting federal support for gender-affirming health care for transgender people under age…

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that Canada must think “tactically and strategically” on how to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose hefty tariffs on all Canadian imports.Speaking in Toronto at the opening of a one-day summit on the Canada-U.S. economic relationship, Trudeau told the gathering of trade, business and labor experts the country must work with the U.S. to avoid tariffs.He also said Canada needs to eliminate internal trade barriers and expand its trade with other nations.“This is a moment,” said Trudeau. “This is a time in our country’s history that…

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesPinterest shares surged 19% after beating Wall Street’s fourth-quarter sales estimates and showing robust user growth from a year ago.The image-sharing company reported revenues of $1.15 billion, ahead of a $1.14 billion estimate from analysts surveyed by LSEG. The figure represented 18% year-over-year growth.Along with the revenue beat, the company offered an upbeat sales outlook. Pinterest said its expects revenues between $837 million and $852 million during the first quarter, versus and LSEG estimate of $833 million.”Our strategy is paying off,” said Pinterest CEO Bill Ready in a statement. “People are coming to Pinterest…

SoftBank is close to finalizing a $40 billion primary investment in OpenAI at a $260 billion pre-money valuation, sources told CNBC’s David Faber.SoftBank would pay out the funding, which would mean a $300 billion post-money valuation for OpenAI, over the next 12 to 24 months, with the first payment coming as soon as spring, Faber reported Friday. SoftBank would be able to syndicate as much as $10 billion of the amount.The new funding would mean SoftBank surpasses Microsoft as the artificial intelligence startup’s top backer. OpenAI was last valued at $157 billion by private investors in October.The round was initially…

Under Orban, Hungary has for years enacted crackdowns on NGOs and the country’s independent media.Hungary is leading a crackdown on NGOs and media outlets operating in the country that receive funding from the US and other international sources. An ally of US President Donald Trump, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said his government was going “line by line” through organisations that have received financial assistance from the US. Under Orban, Hungary has for years enacted crackdowns on NGOs and the country’s independent media, passing laws that critics argue seek to stigmatise and hinder groups that provide protection for women and…

Katie Austin normally publishes fitness content to her Instagram and YouTube channel. But this week, she’s been posting a steady trickle of content from New Orleans.That’s because Austin, 31, from California, is one of hundreds of creators who have swarmed the Big Easy for Super Bowl 59, getting paid large contracts to make social media content for big-name brands like Electronic Arts and Nike.Austin was sent to New Orleans this week by Snap and the NFL to give her fans a behind-the-scenes look at the Super Bowl. She’s also involved in integrations around the games with brands like Microsoft and…

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on Friday called on several U.S. agencies to exempt seasonal wildland firefighters from the ongoing federal hiring freeze, as concerns about federal readiness for future blazes have intensified.Schiff’s letter follows an NBC News report that President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order instituting a federal hiring freeze had halted onboarding for thousands of firefighters and could contribute to a shortfall ahead of the next fire season.“I urge you to immediately exempt federal firefighters from the freeze on federal funding, to stop encouraging firefighters to resign, and to provide information on how these actions have impacted the…

Newsom told NBC News last month that the fires would be the costliest in U.S. history in terms of destruction.NBC News witnessed U.S. Forest Service firefighters respond to the Palisades Fire, and they also battled the Eaton Fire in Angeles National Forest, where they deployed five large air tankers, 10 firefighting helicopters and dozens of fire engines, according to the publication Government Executive, which covers federal business news.Federal crews are credited with saving a neighborhood in the Eaton Fire, according to video obtained by KTLA-TV of Los Angeles.The Forest Service, the largest of the federal firefighting agencies, is under a…

As unions and Democrats denounced the Trump administration’s effort to slash the federal workforce through worker buyouts, some social media users have said the president’s actions parallel those of former President Bill Clinton. “To all you Democrats freaking out over President Trump’s buyout programme, I present to you a piece of history,” LD Basler, a retired federal law enforcement officer, wrote on X. His post quoted a 1995 statement Clinton made a year after he signed the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act. “I guess Clinton didn’t have the authority either, when he did it in the 90s? (Because) the precedent was…