Hegseth said US troops had ‘duty’ to refuse unlawful orders from Trump in resurfaced interview: Latest

When someone commented, “Your Dad would have loved Trump,” Nancy shot back, “Do some homework before you make a fool of yourself. My dad LOATHED Trump.”

Tom Murray has the full story…

Former representative Colin Allred has announced that he will not be running for the Texas Senate to avoid a “bruising” primary.

Instead, Allred will be running to become the representative for Texas’s new 33rd congressional district.

“In the past few days, I’ve come to believe that a bruising Senate Democratic primary and runoff would prevent the Democratic Party from going into this critical election unified against the danger posed to our communities and our Constitution by Donald Trump and one of his Republican bootlickers Paxton, Cornyn, or Hunt,” he wrote on X.

Democratic firebrand Jasmine Crockett is widely expected to run for the Texas Senate.

The incumbent John Cornyn is battling with other Republicans ahead of the primaries, as his hold on the seat looks increasingly uncertain.

He faces pressure Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Representative Wesley Hunt.

Donald Trump joked about renaming the Kennedy Center after himself as he compered the performing arts venue’s annual awards evening on Sunday.

“This place is hot,” the president said during his remarks at the 48th annual Kennedy Center Honors, as he admired the building’s latest makeover, carried out to his own specifications. “The Trump-Kennedy Center. I mean, the Kennedy Center. I’m sorry. This is terribly embarrassing.”

Joe Sommerlad has the full story…

Pete Hegseth repeatedly warned of Trump giving illegal military orders in 2016, in resurfaced interview clips, which come as the Secretary of Defense becomes increasingly mired in controversy over his alleged “double-tap” strike.

“You’re not just gonna follow that order if it’s unlawful,” Hegseth said on Fox and Friends in March 2016, referring to army officials.

“The military’s not gonna follow illegal orders,” he said on an appearance on Fox Business during the same month.

At the time, Trump claimed that military lawyers and officials should ignore the rules of war to meet their goals.

The news comes after Pete Hegseth allegedly ordered officers to “kill everybody” on board an alleged Venezuelan drug boat.

A strike was launched at the vessel shortly before the survivors were bombed in a second attack.

Experts have warned that Donald Trump’s top-pick to lead the Federal Reserve could send inflation soaring.

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, is expected to take over from the incumbent Jerome Powell, whom Trump has repeatedly clashed with.

However, economist Justin Wolfers has warned the president against appointing a loyalist to the role.

“We’ve seen it happen in other countries like Turkey—you appoint a loyalist, the loyalist puts in place policies that reflect the president’s idiosyncratic, utterly bizarre, dreamtime views about how the economy works,” Wolfers told MS NOW. “And what happened in Turkey was inflation rose to 80 percent.”

The truce in China and the United States’ trade war should hold into next year, according to experts.

Economists told The Telegraph that exports remain a key driver in the economies of both countries, so it makes sense for each nation to continue trading as normal for now.

“We believe exports will remain a key driver for growth next year,” an analyst at Citi told the publication. “In our base case, the US-China trade truce will likely be sustained through 2026 despite being fragile.”

Duncan Wrigley from Pantheon Macroeconomics added that Chinese economic growth could continue, even if the EU clamps down on imports.

Much of that growth will be driven by exports to Africa.

“November’s data suggest this approach remains viable, despite US tariffs, with shipments to non-US markets rising 12.1pc,” Wrigely told The Telegraph. “That said, some developed markets are likely to take protectionist measures, as President Macron said with respect to the EU.”

“Exports to the Global South should remain resilient, though growth rates to markets like Africa may slow given the meteoric rises this year,” he added.

Donald Trump has claimed that immigrants from the “fourth world” were coming into America, before he took office.

However, scholars have not normally defined any country as being “fourth world.”

Even the use of “third world” has become increasingly outdated, with economists generally using the term Economically Less Developed Countries.

While the president has stood by Hegseth in public, he has shown less enthusiasm behind closed doors, The Atlantic reported on Friday.

Several unnamed sources familiar with White House discussions spoke to the publication, with one describing it as a “rough week for Pete.”

Brendan Rascius has the full story…

In 2016, Trump bragged to CNBC that “without us, China would be in serious trouble.”

During his first administration, he banned the sale of advanced chip technologies to China and blacklisted Chinese tech firms.

Now, China controls 61 percent of the world’s rare earth minerals and 90 percent of the processing tools needed to refine them.

Those minerals are used in everything from defense technology, mobile phones and advanced medical equipment.

Trump told 60 Minutes that the U.S. would no longer be dependent on Chinese rare earth minerals in a year and a half but it is unknown how he plans to achieve this.

However, the United States’ current dependency on China’s minerals means that the US does not have as many cards to play against China as it once did.

During negotiations earlier this year, China was able to force Trump to lower tariffs and offer the country direct channels with tech firm Nvidia.

Trump, though, seemed optimistic.

Pastor Stuart Knechtle has claimed that he spoke with Barron Trump late into the night and that the president’s son is “very close” to declaring his Christian faith.

Speaking onThe George Janko Show, Knechtle said that he persuaded Barron by regailing him with stories about a missionary’s work in Africa. Knechtle claimed that this missionary had a divine revelation while conducting his work.

“He’s very close to putting his faith in Christ, very close,” he said, meaning Barron.

“He was like, ‘Oh, that’s a very, very interesting point,’” Knechtle added. “And you have eyewitness testimony.”