The Trump administration has moved to freeze more than $10 billion in federal funding to several Democrat-led states, taking aim at childcare and social services.eRIt comes Recently, there have been public concerns that taxpayer-funded benefits, including the Child Care Development Fund, Social Services Block Grant program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) have been improperly distributed to non-US citizens.
The move is part of President Donald Trump’s approach to tackling immigration in the country, with the Department of Health and Human Services set to pause the programs in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York.
The largest portion of the freeze involves TANF, with at least $7.35 billion now blocked from reaching each state, while nearly $2.4 billion from the Child Care Development Fund is also affected – alongside an additional $869 million tied to the Social Services Block Grant program.
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As reported by the New York Post, letters notifying state governments of the funding freeze were expected to be sent out Monday (January 5), citing fears that benefits were being fraudulently routed to non-US citizens.
President Donald Trump has took aim at five democrat-lead states accusing them of mishandling taxpayers money (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Taking to Truth Social, the 79-year-old POTUS slammed Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for allegedly mishandling tapayer money.
“Minnesota’s Corrupt Governor will possibly leave office before his Term is up but, in any event, will not be running again because he was caught, REDHANDED, along with Ilhan Omar, and others of his Somali friends, stealing Tens of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars,” Trump blasted.
“I feel certain the facts will come out, and they will reveal a seriously unscrupulous, and rich, group of ‘SLIMEBALLS.’ Governor Walz has destroyed the State of Minnesota, but others, like Governor Gavin Newscum, JB Pritzker, and Kathy Hochul, have done, in my opinion, an even more dishonest and incompetent job. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!”
As well as Minnesota, Trump seemingly hints at California, Colorado, Illinois, and New York as states to get their funding cut.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz acknowledged concerns over fraud but criticized the federal response while ending his re-election campaign.
“We cannot effectively deliver programs and services if we can’t earn the public’s trust,” the governor said.
“We’ll win the fight against the fraudsters, but the political gamesmanship we’re seeing from Republicans is only making that fight harder.”
Concerns about misuse of funds are not new, as a little over six years ago, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General found that New York City had improperly billed over $24.7 million in child care subsidies.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Minnesota has also been under heightened scrutiny, with federal agencies previously questioning whether public funds were used to unlawfully ‘fuel illegal and mass migration‘.
Those inquiries triggered further investigations by the Treasury Department and the House Oversight Committee into alleged large-scale fraud involving nonprofits connected to the Somali community in the Twin Cities.
In 2019, there was around 90,000 illegal immigrants living in Minnesota. By 2023, that had surged to an estimated 130,000 – roughly 2 percent of the state population, according to the Pew Research Center.
Of those, the Somali diaspora population is a little over 100,000.
Around $250 million in funds have been secured by federal prosecutors, with the funds having been stolen by a Somali-linked organization, Feeding Our Future, and used to purchase luxury cars and properties.Featured Image Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty
Trump speaks out after Putin claims Ukraine attacked his house with 91 drones amid WW3 fears
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the claims ‘typical Russian lies
President Donald Trump has spoken out after Vladimir Putin claimed Ukraine launched a dramatic overnight drone attack on his residence, sparking fresh fears about the conflict escalating even further.
According to Russian officials, Ukraine targeted Putin’s state residence in Russia’s northwestern Novgorod region using 91 long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the claim on Monday (December 29), saying all of the drones were intercepted and destroyed by Russian air defence systems before causing any damage.
In a statement shared on Telegram, Lavrov said there were no reports of casualties or structural damage following the alleged attack. However, he warned that the incident could have serious consequences for ongoing peace talks.
“Given the final degeneration of the criminal Kyiv regime, which has switched to a policy of state terrorism, Russia’s negotiating position will be revised,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of attempting to bomb his home (Contributor/Getty Images)
Despite this, Lavrov added that Russia does not intend to completely withdraw from negotiations with the US, according to Russian state news agency Tass.
It remains unclear where Putin was at the time of the alleged drone strike.
The claim came shortly after talks between the US and Ukraine in Florida on Sunday, where Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed a revised peace plan aimed at ending the war.
Trump addressed the situation yesterday while greeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
“Yeah, I don’t, I don’t like it – it’s not good. I heard about it this morning. Do you know who told me about it? President Putin told me about it early in the morning – he said he was attacked,” Trump told reporters.
He continued: “It’s no good, it’s no good. Don’t forget, you know, the Tomahawks? I stopped the Tomahawks. I didn’t want that, because we’re talking about, you know, it’s a delicate period of time. This is not the right time.
President Donald Trump said he was ‘very angry’ about the alleged bombing, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted the claims as ‘typical Russian lies’ (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
“It’s one thing to be offensive because they were offensive. It’s another thing to attack his house. It’s not the right time to do any of that and can’t do it – and I learned about it from President Putin today. I was very angry about it.”
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy strongly denied the accusation, dismissing it as ‘typical Russian lies’ in a post on X.
“Russia is at it again, using dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump’s team. We keep working together to bring peace closer,” he wrote.
“This alleged ‘residence strike’ story is a complete fabrication intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine, including Kyiv, as well as Russia’s own refusal to take necessary steps to end the war. Typical Russian lies.”
He added: “Ukraine does not take steps that can undermine diplomacy… It is critical that the world doesn’t stay silent now. We cannot allow Russia to undermine the work on achieving a lasting peace.”Featured Image Credit: C-Span
Trump makes major threat to three other countries after capturing Venezuelan president and conducting military strikes
Trump has turned his attention south of the border once more
President Donald Trump has doubled down on his hardline approach to Latin America, issuing a new round of threats just days after US forces dramatically captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a covert military operation.
The comments came as international outrage continued to grow over Washington’s decision to seize the Venezuelan leader and fly him to America to face ‘narco-terrorism’ charges.
While the White House has framed the move as a law enforcement action, critics argue the operation was designed to remove a hostile government and reopen Venezuela’s vast oil reserves to US interests.
On Sunday (January 4), Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that America was now ‘in charge’ of Venezuela, despite the country’s Supreme Court appointing Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as interim leader.
The 79-year-old went on to warn the South American nation that the US military could return if the country ‘doesn’t behave’, while also turning his attention to Colombia and Cuba.
He described both Colombia and Venezuela as ‘very sick’ and accused Colombian President Gustavo Petro of running a government led by ‘a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States’.
“And he’s not going to be doing it very long. Let me tell you,” Trump added.
When asked whether that meant a similar operation would take place against Colombia, he replied: “Sounds good to me.”
His comments triggered a response from Petro, who urged Trump to ‘stop slandering’ him on X and warned that Latin America must unite or risk being ‘treated as a servant and slave’.
The Republican also claimed Cuba was on the verge of collapse following his intervention in Venezuela.
“Cuba is ready to fall. Cuba looks like it’s ready to fall,” he said. “Cuba now has no income. They got all of their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil. They’re not getting any of it. Cuba literally is ready to fall.”
As for whether he’d send his troops to intervene with power in Cuba, he claimed that it would be unnecessary.
Trump shared this image on his social media after announcing Maduro had been captured (Truth Social/Donald Trump)
Finally, Trump turned his attention south of the border once more, firing a warning shot at Mexico and claiming the country ‘has to get their act together because they’re [drugs] pouring through Mexico and we’re going to have to do something’.
He said that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is a ‘terrific person’, adding: “But unfortunately, the cartels are very strong in Mexico.”
Following the manner in which Maduro was captured, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Spain issued a joint statement condemning Trump’s actions.
It read in part: “We express our profound concern and firmly reject the military actions undertaken unilaterally in Venezuelan territory.
“These actions contravene fundamental principles of international law, particularly the prohibition on the use or threat of force, and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, as enshrined in the UN Charter.
“They constitute an extremely dangerous precedent for peace and regional security and endanger the civilian population.”