Trump delivers first rally-style speech since election win as he threatens to retake Panama Canal: Live
The president-elect addressed a Phoenix crowd on Sunday
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump gave his first rally-style speech since his election victory in Phoenix on Sunday.
At the event — AmericaFest 2024 — he discussed immigration, defended some of his most controversial cabinet picks, and laid out his plans for when he takes office on January 20, which he referred to as “liberation day.”
Trump also repeated his threats of retaking the Panama Canal.
“We’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else,” he said.
On Truth Social Saturday, Trump accused Panama of charging American vessels “exorbitant prices” to use the vital waterway that acts as a shortcut linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S.,” Trump vented.
“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he stridently added, referring to a 1977 treaty.
The 78-year-old Republican also echoed his plans to impose tariffs against the European Union, Canada and Mexico. He said he wouldn’t let the E.U. turn the U.S. into a “dumping ground.”
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Biden hails the spending bill ‘compromise’ as ‘good news’
After signing the spending bill into law, Joe Biden hailed the legislation as “good news for the American people” ahead of the holiday season.
“The bipartisan funding bill I just signed keeps the government open and delivers the urgently needed disaster relief that I requested for recovering communities as well as the funds needed to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge,” he said, in a statement shared by the White House.
“This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted. But it rejects the accelerated pathway to a tax cut for billionaires that Republicans sought, and it ensures the government can continue to operate at full capacity.
“That’s good news for the American people, especially as families gather to celebrate this holiday season.”
Senate Majority Leader Schumer celebrates after bill passed just in time
Spending bill to provide economic support for farmers
The American Relief Act, 2025, signed by Joe Biden on Saturday provides “economic assistance to farmers; extends the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018; and extends several expiring authorities,” the White House said.
The bill includes $10 billion in economic aid for farmers, which was one of the key issues in the negotiations, driven by lawmakers from agriculture-focused states.
The Agriculture Improvement Act is a sweeping package that governs many agricultural and nutrition assistance programs. It is is usually renewed every five years, but the most recent version was passed in 2018 and the extension ran out at the end of September.
The spending bill extends the act for a year.
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Kennedy has met with multiple Republicans throughout the week about his confirmation to lead the Department of Health and Human Services
Maryland bridge funding included in bill
The last-minute stopgap spending bill includes provision for the rebuilding of the Francis Key Scott bridge in Maryland, which collapsed in March after being struck by a cargo ship.
Under the bill, its replacement will be fully funded by the federal government. The legislation will also allow the US Treasury Department to recoup money from any settlements related to the bridge’s collapse to help pay for the rebuilding.
The Dali container ship crashed into the bridge in March, causing it to collapse and severing access to critical shipping routes in and out of the Port of Baltimore. Six workers on the bridge were killed in the incident.
The Maryland Transportation Authority earlier this year estimated that rebuilding the bridge could cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion.
Biden signs spending bill averting a government shutdown
Joe Biden has signed the last-minute stopgap spending bill into law, according to the White House.
The Senate passed the bill not long after midnight averting a shutdown that would have had widespread impacts, following a last minute scramble in Congress. The House passed the bill Friday evening.
A statement from the White House read: “On Saturday, December 21, 2024, the President signed into law: H.R. 10545, the "American Relief Act, 2025", which provides fiscal year 2025 appropriations to Federal agencies through March 14, 2025, for continuing projects and activities of the Federal Government; provides disaster relief appropriations and economic assistance to farmers; extends the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018; and extends several expiring authorities.”
Mitt Romney says he voted against spending bill in ‘protest’ of government
Republican Senator Mitt Romney said he voted against the spending bill in “protest” of how the government is run.
“While I support keeping government open, I voted no on the CR—a simple protest of the absurd way this is to run government,” he wrote on X.
US proposes voluntary guidelines for self-driving vehicles in waning days of Biden administration
In the waning days of President Joe Biden‘s administration, the government’s highway safety agency is proposing voluntary safety guidelines for self-driving vehicles.
But a rule from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration putting the plan in place won’t be approved before the end of Biden’s term in January and likely will be left to whoever runs the agency under Republican Donald Trump.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whom Trump has named to co-lead a “Department of Government Efficiency” to cut costs and regulations, has floated the idea of him helping to develop safety standards for self-driving vehicles — even though the standards would affect Tesla’s automated driving systems.
Read more:
US proposes voluntary guidelines for self-driving vehicles in waning days of Biden administration
The government’s highway safety agency is proposing voluntary safety guidelines for self-driving vehicles
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