Day: February 3, 2025

China’s Mineral Glut Cuts EV Costs, Deepens U.S. Reliance

The Center Square
ev charging

A recent survey shows that China’s mineral oversupply is lowering EV costs but increasing U.S. dependence on foreign materials just as President Donald Trump rolls back Biden-era EV policies.

China dominates the global production and processing of key minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, all of which are essential for electric vehicles. As Chinese companies ramp up production, the international market is experiencing an oversupply, leading to lower prices for raw materials, which in turn results in cheaper EV batteries and ultimately reduced vehicle costs.

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Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell Confirms Parts of Transit Plan Jeopardized by Federal Funding Cuts Under Trump

Tom Pappert
Freddie O'Connell

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell told reporters that termination of federal funding sources under President Donald Trump could jeopardize elements of the Choose How You Move transit plan that was passed by voters last November, but claimed a possible lack of federal money will not mean Nashvillians pay higher taxes.

O’Connell acknowledged in a Monday press conference reported by Fox 17 that the transportation plan he championed “does have some expectations about federal funding, and if programs evaporate from a federal level,” the speed at which parts of the 15-year program are set to be completed would need to be reconsidered.

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Attorney General Kris Mayes Offers to Hire Prosecutors and FBI Agents Who Were Fired by Trump Over Their Lawfare Against Him

Rachel Alexander
Arizona A.G. Kris Hayes

In response to the Trump administration firing prosecutors and FBI agents in the Biden administration who came after Donald Trump and others concerned about election fraud in 2020, Attorney General Kris Mayes posted on X that she would hire them. Mayes is prosecuting several of Trump’s allies over their work regarding the botched 2020 election, including Trump’s former attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, with Donald Trump himself an unindicted co-conspirator. While other prosecutors across the country have backed off on targeting Trump and those around him since he won the 2024 presidential election, Mayes is doubling down on her antagonism.

“My message to all FBI agents and federal prosecutors who are being wrongfully fired by Trump: come see me about a job,” Mayes said. “We are hiring at the AZ Attorney General’s office and we actually support law enforcement.” She linked to a CBS news article about the terminations of the employees involved in the prosecutions of Trump and the J6 protesters. There were hundreds of comments after her post, almost all very critical of her. 

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Steve Cortes: President Trump Played the ‘Strong Hand’ with Tariffs, Now Mexico Is ‘Crying Uncle’

Kaitlin Housler
Mexican troops

Steve Cortes, former senior spokesman and strategist for the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns and current head of the League of American Workers, said President Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariff threat on Mexican imports shows that the president “knows how to wield the power of the United States” as a negotiator.

On Monday, Trump announced that he and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum participated in a “very friendly conversation” in which the pair negotiated a deal which will see Mexico supply 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to “stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants” into the U.S. in exchange for Trump pausing the anticipated 25 percent tariffs on Mexican imports for a one month period.

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Mexico Caves, Deploys 10,000 Troops to Border in Exchange for Trump Pausing Tariffs

Daily Caller News Foundation
Mexican troops

Mexico is immediately deploying thousands of troops to the U.S. southern border in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs against the country’s imports.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Monday announced she is immediately deploying 10,000 National Guard soldiers to the southern border to help mitigate the flow of drugs and illegal immigration through the U.S.-Mexico border. In exchange, the Trump administration will pause its 25% tariff on Mexican imports for one month and work to quell the flow of arms south of the border.

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Prosecutors Withdraw from Investigation Involving MAGA Rep. Andy Ogles After DOJ Confirmed Tennessean Not ‘Target’

Tom Pappert
Andy Ogles

Two federal prosecutors voluntarily withdrew from the investigation that involves Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), a close ally of President Donald Trump who had his cellphone confiscated as he filed amended campaign reports to reflect that he only pledged to fund his campaign with a $300,000 cash injection, but did not actually transfer the money.

A legal filing reported Friday revealed that both Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Levine and Christopher Suedekum were withdrawn by the Department of Justice (DOJ) from the legal case related to the warrant to obtain Ogles’ cell phone, which the FBI confiscated last year.

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State Senator Brent Taylor Details General Assembly’s Plans to Address Chaos in Memphis-Shelby County Schools

Kaitlin Housler
Memphis-Shelby County Schools

Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) detailed how the Tennessee General Assembly plans to address the dysfunction within the Memphis-Shelby County School Board this legislative session during an exclusive interview last week on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.

Last month, the Memphis school board voted 6-3 to fire superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins, who had been in the role for less than 10 months.

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Trump Says America Will Cut Aid to South Africa Due to Land Confiscation Law

Zachery Schmidt

President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that America would suspend aid to South Africa over its new land confiscation law.

“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY. It is a bad situation that the Radical Left Media doesn’t want to so much as mention. A massive Human Rights VIOLATION, at a minimum, is happening for all to see,” Trump said on Sunday.

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Tennessee Filmmaker Robby Starbuck’s Documentary ‘The War on Children’ Unbanned from Amazon Streaming Service

Kaitlin Housler
the war on children

Robby Starbuck, Tennessee political commentator and documentary filmmaker, announced Monday that Amazon’s streaming service, Prime Video, unbanned his 2024 documentary “The War On Children” nearly six months after the film was removed from the platform due to “offensive content.”

Starbuck’s documentary features conversations with the likes of “whistleblowers, leftists caught on camera, survivors of child mutilation, trafficking victims, corporate executives exposing the plan to sexualize children” and others surrounding different issues facing children in today’s world, including human trafficking and gender mutilation.

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New Lawsuit Alleges Locals Died as Result of 2023 East Palestine Derailment Disaster

Daily Caller News Foundation
East Palestine train derailment

A new lawsuit has been filed alleging for the first time that the February 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment resulted in deaths, according to The Associated Press.

The complaint alleges that the disaster led to seven deaths, including the death of a one-week old baby, while other plaintiffs allege that they have developed mysterious health problems that they believe could get worse over time, according to the AP. Norfolk Southern, the rail company at the center of the derailment, has already agreed to a $600 million settlement to compensate locals affected by the disaster, though a litany of other lawsuits filed against the company by business owners argue that the settlement is insufficient.

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Automatic Voter Registration Let Non-Citizens in South Dakota, Oregon onto Voter Rolls, Report Says

Just the News
Election Day

A new election integrity report examining how non-citizens have been registered to vote in South Dakota and Oregon warns that automatic voter registration is the culprit.

A report released by the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) last week shows that both South Dakota and Oregon, which have automatic voter registration, found non-citizens on their respective voter rolls last year. The report explains that this occurs easily and warns states about using automatic voter registration.

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Trump Reportedly Eyes 70 Percent Cut to Federal Agency with Virginia Footprint

Tom Pappert
Donald Trump

The Trump administration has reportedly ordered a 70 percent cut to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the agency which manages personnel for the federal bureaucracy. According to OPM, about 160 of its jobs are located in Virginia.

A Federal News Network report published Friday claimed that top members of the Trump administration directed OPM officials to draft plans to cut both programs and personnel by 70 percent, with the Washington, D.C. outlet citing multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting with Trump officials.

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