Trump scolds CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins for not smiling as she asks about Epstein abuse survivors – live | Trump administration
White House deflects Trump’s call to ‘nationalize’ elections, says it is in reference to Save Act
Speaking to reporters outside the White House today, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president’s comments on Dan Bongino’s podcast, where he urged Republicans to “nationalize the voting” in 15 states, were in reference to the Save Act. This is a piece of legislation which would require people registering to vote to present proof of citizenship in person, like a passport or birth certificate.
“The president believes in the United States constitution. However, he believes there has obviously been a lot of fraud and irregularities that have taken place in American elections,” Leavitt said, re-upping Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud. “Voter ID is a highly popular and commonsense policy that the president wants to pursue, and he wants to pass legislation to make that happen for all states across the country.”
Key events
Trump scolds CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins for not smiling as she asks about survivors of Epstein’s abuse
Frustrated by her persistence in asking questions about Jeffrey Epstein during an Oval Office event he wanted to use to promote himself and his party, Donald Trump scolded the CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins for supposedly not smiling enough in his presence.
The exchange began with Collins pointing out that Trump’s attempt to frame the disclosures in the latest batch of Epstein files as damning only for Democrats by pointing out that they also revealed that Epstein had close ties to two of his allies, Elon Musk and Howard Lutnick, his commerce secretary.
Trump shrugged dismissively as Collins mentioned Musk and Lutnick and said that while he had not read their friendly emails with Epstein, the late sex offender he was also friends with for 17 years. “I’m sure they’re fine,” Trump said, “otherwise there would’ve ben major headlines.” There were, in fact, headlines about the revelations that Musk and Lutnick were closer to Epstein than they had previously stated.
When Collins noted that “a lot of women who are survivors of Epstein are unhappy with” the way the justice department redacted the docuemnts, including, “entire witness interviews are totally blacked out”, Trump attempted to end the discussion by saying: “I think it’s really time for the country to get on to something else, now that nothing came out about me”.
The president then suggested that there was “a conspiracy against me”, in reference to a previously disclosed email exchange in which the author Michael Wolff had urged Epstein to “help finish” Trump’s 2016 campaign by coming forward after the Access Hollywood recording of Trump’s claim that he liked to grab women by their genitals was published. Epstein, however, did not agree to do that, so there was no conspiracy.
When Trump tried to end the exchange by repeating, “I think it’s time, now, for the country maybe to get on to something else”, Collins asked: “But what would you say to people who feel they haven’t gotten justice, Mr President?”
“What did you say?” an irritated Trump shot back. He then launched into a personal attack on Collins, a former reporter for the conservative Daily Caller who he has repeatedly vented anger at during both of his terms in office.
“What would say to people the survivors who feel that they haven’t gotten justice?” Collins asked.
“You know, you are the worst reporter,” Trump said disdainfully. “You know, she’s a young woman,” Trump said the Republican lawmakers arrayed around his desk. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile,” he said, turning back to Collins. “
“I’ve known you for ten years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face,” Trump said bitterly.
“Well,” Collins interjected, “I’m asking you about survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, Mr President.”
Ignoring her reply, Trump continued his rant: “You know why you’re not smiling? Because you know you’re not telling the truth. And you’re a very dishonest organization, and they should be ashamed of you.”
“These are survivors of a sexual abuser” Collins replied.
Trump then ended the exchange by turning to another reporter who obliged by changing the subject away from Epstein, the notorious pedophile the future president called “a lot of fun to be with” at the height of his abuse. “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,” Trump said of his friend in 2002.
Trump’s aides were so proud of the tantrum he threw at Collins on Tuesday that they immediately clipped video of the exchange and posted it on an official White House social media account with a caption suggesting he had “nuked” her.
In 2020, Trump memorably stormed out of a news conference when Collins refused to help him take the floor away from a fellow reporter Trump had cut off for asking what he called “a nasty question”.
Trump repeats claim that federal government should run elections in some states
Asked by a reporter to explain his suggestion on Monday, to podcaster-turned-FBI deputy-director-turned-podcaster-again Dan Bongino, that the US should “nationalize” elections and have them run by the federal government, Trump repeats his false claims that elections in states he lost in 2020 were “crooked”.
“I want to see elections be honest,” Trump said.
“If you think about it, the state is an agent for the federal government” in the conduct of elections for federal office, the president claimed, which is an incorrect statement of the provisions for elections in the US constitution, which give states the power to run their own elections.
Trump claimed that when there are “rigged crooked elections” the federal government should have the power to take control of the counting of votes. He went on to cite what he said were American cities where previous elections were corrupt, specifically naming Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta, cities with large numbers of Black voters.
In 2020, Trump lost all three of the states those cites are in, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia, to Joe Biden, but refused to admit that he had lost and instead shared conspiracy theories about the vote counts and pressed local officials to claim the results were fraudulent. In court, however, his lawyers failed to produce any evidence to support those claims in dozens of cases.
After his 2020 loss, Trump notoriously called the secretary of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, and pressed him to “find 11,780 votes” and declare that they were fraudulently cast for Biden, to deliver the state’s electoral votes to him instead. As president, he had no role in the counting of Georgia’s votes, but he apparently now wants the Republican Congress to change the law to give him that right.
“If they can’t count the votes legally,” Trump said, the federal government should be prepared to step in.
When it was pointed out to him that this would violate the Constitution, Trump did not address the question but moved on to take another question.
Trump uses appearance to sign government funding bill to air grievances and campaign for Republicans
Donald Trump is currently speaking, at length, at a televised ceremony in the Oval Office to sign the spending package to end the partial government shutdown, using the opportunity to boast about what he calls his accomplishments, unveil a new red campaign hat and invite Republican lawmakers to praise him and tout what they call the policies that should deliver them success in the midterm elections for the House and Senate they are in danger of losing.
The cap has the slogan “America Is Back” on the front, the numbers 45 and 47 on the side, to refer to Trump’s two terms, as the 45th and 47th president on the side.
After Trump signed the bill, he took questions from the reporters invited to be present.
The funding re-opens the federal government and keeps the Department of Homeland Security funded for two weeks, to allow Democrats and Trump to negotiate reforms to how the administration’s immigration crackdown is conducted.
The White House press secretary just announced that Donald Trump plans to sign the funding bill to end the partial government shutdown in a few minutes, at 4:30 pm ET.
Here’s a recap of the day so far
The House narrowly passed a package of five annual funding bills, and a stopgap measure to keep the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) open for two weeks – ending the partial government shutdown. By a vote of 217-214, the package funds most of the federal government through 30 September. It includes a short-term bill to fund DHS until 13 February. The bills head to Trump’s desk for his signature, and tee up a bitter negotiation between Democrats and the White House over guardrails for federal immigration enforcement.
Donald Trump has continued to sow doubt in the election system. While appearing on former deputy FBI director Dan Bongino’s podcast on Monday, the president called on Republicans to “nationalize the voting,” in at least “15 places”, although he did not clarify which ones. In the interview, Trump repeated baseless claims that undocumented immigrants being “brought to our country to vote, and they vote illegally”. Later, the White House deflected and said the president’s comments were in reference to the Save Act – a piece of legislation which would require people registering to vote to present proof of citizenship in person, like a passport or birth certificate.
James Comer, the Republican chair of the House oversight committee, announced that former president Bill Clinton, and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, have agreed to appear for closed-door depositions as part of the committee’s ongoing investigation into the handling of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes. Hillary Clinton will give testimony first, on 26 February, and the former president will appear for his deposition on 27 February. Their respective testimonies will be transcribed and filmed.
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, is running her own review into the 2020 election with Donald Trump’s approval, the Guardian has learned, working separately from a justice department investigation even as she joined an FBI raid of an election center in Georgia last week. Her presence at the raid drew criticism from Democrats and former intelligence officials, who questioned why the country’s top intelligence officer with no domestic law enforcement powers would appear at the scene of an FBI raid.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has vowed to challenge a federal judge’s ruling that blocks the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians in the US. “Supreme Court, here we come,” said assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “This is lawless activism that we will be vindicated on.” Judge Ana Reyes, a Joe Biden appointee, issued a halt on the expiration of the program for more than 300,000 Haitian immigrants who are living and working with authorization in the US.
Renee Good’s brothers testify on Capitol Hill
On Capitol Hill, Renee Good’s brothers – Luke and Brent Ganger – are testifying before Democratic lawmakers at a hearing to discuss the violence and use of force by federal immigration agents throughout the country.
“The completely surreal scenes taking place on the streets of Minneapolis are beyond explanation. This is not just a bad day, or a rough week, or isolated incidents,” Luke Ganger said in his opening remarks. “These encounters with federal agents are changing the community and changing many lives, including ours, forever. I still don’t know how to explain to my four year old what these agents are doing when we pass by.”
White House deflects Trump’s call to ‘nationalize’ elections, says it is in reference to Save Act
Speaking to reporters outside the White House today, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president’s comments on Dan Bongino’s podcast, where he urged Republicans to “nationalize the voting” in 15 states, were in reference to the Save Act. This is a piece of legislation which would require people registering to vote to present proof of citizenship in person, like a passport or birth certificate.
“The president believes in the United States constitution. However, he believes there has obviously been a lot of fraud and irregularities that have taken place in American elections,” Leavitt said, re-upping Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud. “Voter ID is a highly popular and commonsense policy that the president wants to pursue, and he wants to pass legislation to make that happen for all states across the country.”
Speaking to reporters today, Walz added that federal officials have yet to confirm to the governor the identities of the officers who shot and killed Alex Pretti.
“This assault on Minnesota for whatever false reason they want to give, and it continues to change, they don’t care,” Walz said of the Trump administration. “We’re just the test grounds for this and what works here and what doesn’t work here.”
The governor had choice words about the arrival of Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar”, in the Twin Cities. Homan replaced the belligerent border official Gregory Bovino in Minnesota following Pretti’s death.
Walz said the “only reason” Homan was now in charge was because “Donald Trump was watching TV last Saturday, a week ago, saw the horrific aftermath of Alex’s murder, and told them that this doesn’t look good … This is reality TV for him, and he was losing in the ratings.”
‘This is called damage control’: Walz slams Noem as immigration officers issued body cameras in Minnesota
Minnesota governor Tim Walz slammed homeland security Kristi Noem at a press conference today. When asked about her latest update, that all immigration officers deployed will be issued with body cameras, Walz said Noem is the “absolutely worst choice for any cabinet position”. The governor also noted that he’s asked for body camera footage of Alex Pretti’s fatal shooting which he’s yet to receive.
“This is called damage control,” Walz said. “I put no stake in what she says at all. But here’s the good thing, every single Minnesotan has a camera. Keep filming. Keep keeping track of this.”
House narrowly passes funding bills to end partial government shutdown
The House narrowly passed a package of five annual funding bills, and a stopgap measure to keep the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) open for two weeks – ending the partial government shutdown.
By a vote of 217-214, the package funds most of the federal government through 30 September. It includes a short-term bill to fund DHS until 13 February.
The continuing resolution was met with severe pushback from House Democrats, who say that the Trump administration will not use the window to negotiate in good faith, and argue any guardrails on federal immigration enforcement (including the use of judicial warrants and the need for officers to remain identifiable) should be guaranteed now.
House oversight chair sets dates for Clintons’ depositions
James Comer, the Republican chair of the House oversight committee, announced that former president Bill Clinton, and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, have agreed to appear for closed-door depositions as part of the committee’s ongoing investigation into the handling of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes. Hillary Clinton will give testimony first, on 26 February, and the former president will appear for his deposition on 27 February. Their respective testimonies will be transcribed and filmed.
The Clintons’ concession follows a months long standoff between the pair and Republicans on the oversight committee, which included Comer marking up legislation to hold the Clintons in contempt of Congress.
“Once it became clear that the House of Representatives would hold them in contempt, the Clintons completely caved,” Comer said in a statement. “We look forward to questioning the Clintons as part of our investigation into the horrific crimes of Epstein and Maxwell, to deliver transparency and accountability for the American people and for survivors.”
On Monday, the Clintons finally agreed to testify as part of the House investigation. “They negotiated in good faith. You did not,” Angel Ureña, a spokesperson for the Clintons, replied to Comer, in a post on social media. “They told you under oath what they know, but you don’t care. But the former president and former secretary of state will be there. They look forward to setting a precedent that applies to everyone.”
Man accused of attacking Ilhan Omar appears in federal court
The man accused of spraying congresswoman Ilhan Omar with an unidentified substance at a Minneapolis town hall last week is appearing before a federal judge today.
The justice department charged Anthony James Kazmierczak, 55, on a single count of “forcibly assaulted, opposed, impeded, intimidated and interfered” with Omar – a crime that carries up to a year in prison.
A magistrate judge today denied Kazmierczak’s request for release while he awaits trial.
In a criminal complaint and attached affidavit, signed by an FBI special agent, a forensic team determined that the substance sprayed at Omar was a mixture of “water and apple cider vinegar”. Court documents state that Kazmierczak rushed the lectern after Omar called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be abolished “for good” and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, Kristi Noem, to resign. “She [Noem] is not resigning. You’re splitting Minnesotans apart,” Kazmierczak said after he sprayed the lawmaker, according to the affadavit.
