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Tag: Donald Trump

A disabled Ecuadoran immigrant faces deportation. Del. Gov. Matt Meyer hopes to stop it.

Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer has stepped into the case of a 52-year-old disabled Ecuadoran immigrant, telling the judge it would be “cruel” and “egregious” to deport the Seaford resident to face gang violence in his homeland.

The man, Victor Acurio Suarez, is unable to live on his own, always cared for by his younger brother. He tried to flag down a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in a Lowe’s parking lot near his home in September, apparently thinking the officer could help him find work. Instead, he was arrested and placed in detention and is scheduled for an Immigration Court hearing on Jan. 16.

“Given Mr. Suarez’s medical and functional limitations, I am concerned that he is unable to safely care for himself, effectively represent himself in legal processes, or access the necessary support without his family,” the governor wrote to Judge Dennis Ryan.

A disabled Ecuadorian immigrant tried to flag down an ICE officer. Now he faces deportation.

Meyer also advocated for Acurio Suarez in a series of social media posts, saying, “I want Delawareans to know about Victor Acurio Suarez,” and calling what has happened to him “deeply disturbing.”

Meyer’s advocacy is notable. While many elected officials have spoken out against President Donald Trump’s broader immigration policies, advocating for specific individuals has been typically reserved for high-profile cases like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was illegally deported to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, returned to Moshannon Valley Processing Center, and was recently released.

Meyer argued that with no criminal history, not even a traffic violation, Acurio Suarez “poses no threat to public safety.”

Yet how much weight the backing of a governor carries in the immigration system remains to be seen.

In the past, someone with Acurio Suarez’ profile might have been allowed to stay home as their case moved forward in Immigration Court.

A medical assessment submitted for his asylum application this week said Acurio Suarez has autism and aphasia, a language disorder that affects his ability to produce or understand speech.

Dr. David W. Baron noted Acurio Suarez can’t safely live on his own. He requires supervision to perform daily hygiene activities or cook and has a hard time communicating his needs to others, a condition made worse by being in an unfamiliar setting while in detention, where he doesn’t have access to the support needed for his neurocognitive disabilities.

More than 65,000 immigrants are being held in federal detention, a big increase from when Trump took office

Still, as the Trump administration pursues a mass deportation agenda, undocumented immigrants without violent criminal histories are increasingly held in mandatory detention, unable to seek release on bond, as their cases play out.

The latest federal data from November says 74% of the roughly 65,000 people in detention have no criminal convictions.

It’s unclear what impact the governor’s letter might have. The judge on the case can only approve or deny the asylum application.

ICE does have discretion in releases but has so far denied a September request from Acurio Suarez’ attorney, Kaley Miller-Schaeffer.

“The letter from the governor, if anything, could maybe persuade ICE to relook at the request for release on parole,” she said, noting that Meyer’s letter brings more attention to the case.

An ICE spokesperson said in a statement that the agency was committed to the “health, safety, and welfare of all detainees in custody.”

“ICE’s National Detention Standards and other ICE policies require all contracted facilities to provide comprehensive medical and mental health screenings from the moment an alien arrives at a facility and throughout their entire time in custody,” the statement said.

Miller-Schaeffer said she will still have to prove Acurio Suarez met all the strict requirements for asylum in Immigration Court. Should ICE not reconsider releasing Suarez on bond, he will remain in Moshannon Valley Processing Center until he is either granted asylum or deported.

Deportation could be deadly, according to Acurio Suarez and his brother. In addition to lacking the necessary support to perform daily tasks, Acurio Suarez fears the gang that drove him and his brother to flee the country would find him again in an effort to recruit or kill him.

Acurio Suarez told Baron he fled to the United States in 2021 after a group of gang members beat and kicked him with steel-toe boots, knocking out his gold front teeth and stealing them. The group was part of Los Lobos, a criminal organization with a national presence in the country, designated a foreign terrorist organization by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio this year.

Acurio Suarez said the group also set his home on fire after they learned his younger brother reported the attack to the police.

According to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, gang violence has risen in Ecuador amid economic hardship and subsequent battles over the illicit economy. The Geneva-based group estimates that the country will reach about 9,100 intentional homicides in 2025, a 40% increase from the previous year.

In his passionate defense of Acurio Suarez, Meyer said the 52-year-old is at “high risk of re-victimization by the Los Lobos gang” should he be deported.

“If you believe compassion belongs in our immigration system, join me in calling for Victor’s release,” Meyer wrote.

December 20, 2025
CHOP faces threat as Trump administration proposes rules to stop gender-affirming care for minors

President Donald Trump’s administration proposed a sweeping set of rules Thursday designed to prevent hospitals from providing gender-affirming care to minors, a move that could have consequential implications for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

CHOP runs one of the nation’s largest clinics providing medical care and mental health support for transgender and gender-nonbinary children and teens and their families. Each year, hundreds of new families seek care at CHOP’s Gender and Sexuality Development Program, created in 2014. The information of CHOP patients who have sought gender-affirming care had been the target of a recent unsuccessful lawsuit from the Trump administration.

The proposals constitute the most significant moves the administration has taken to restrict the use of puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgical interventions for transgender people under the age of 18 — including cutting off federal Medicaid and Medicare funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to children and prohibiting federal Medicaid dollars from being used to fund such procedures.

“This is not medicine, it is malpractice,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, referring to gender-affirming procedures, at a news conference Thursday. “Sex-rejecting procedures rob children of their futures.”

CHOP, like most other hospitals in the country, participates in both Medicare and Medicaid.

CHOP declined to comment Thursday.

The renowned pediatric hospital treats children and teens with gender dysphoria — a medical condition in which a person’s body does not match their gender identity. Its doctors prescribe hormone therapy and puberty blockers.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and other major medical associations, citing research, widely accept such medications as safe, effective, and medically necessary for the patients’ mental health.

CHOP has said its doctors do not prescribe any medication before its patients undergo extensive medical and psychological evaluations.

Gender-affirming care is legal in Pennsylvania, and states, not the federal government, regulate medicine and doctors.

But Trump has sought to criminalize this care for minors, saying doctors are engaged in “chemical mutilation,” akin to child abuse, and he has called the research “junk science.”

Just days into his second term in office, the president issued an executive order titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” which contains inflammatory and misleading descriptions of largely medically approved transgender care. Kennedy has followed the president’s lead, signing a declaration Thursday rejecting these procedures.

Other actions proposed Thursday include the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issuing warning letters to 12 manufacturers and retailers for what an HHS news release claims to be “illegal marketing of breast binders to children for the purposes of treating gender dysphoria.”

The court battle over gender care for minors

In June, the U.S. Department of Justice issued subpoenas to CHOP and at least 19 other hospitals that treat transgender youth as part of an investigation into possible healthcare fraud. The federal subpoenas demanded patient medical records, including their dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and addresses, as well as every communication by doctors — emails, voicemails, and encrypted text messages — dating back to January 2020.

The subpoenas touched off a wave of legal battles that continue to play out. Several hospitals around the country, including CHOP, filed motions asking federal judges to block the release of private patient information.

So far, federal judges in Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington state have sided with the hospitals, ruling the subpoenas were politically motivated.

In Philadelphia, U.S. District Judge Mark A. Kearney last month determined that the “privacy interests of children and their families substantially outweighs the department’s need to know” such confidential and sensitive information. The federal government has 60 days to appeal the Nov. 21 ruling.

In September, patients and their parents joined the legal fight to limit the scope of the subpoenas issued to CHOP and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. The Philadelphia-based Public Interest Law Center (PILC) filed separate but similar legal relief on behalf of families with children and teens who have received gender-affirming care at CHOP and in Pittsburgh.

The federal judge presiding over the Pittsburgh hospital’s case has yet to issue a ruling. Earlier this week, however, DOJ lawyers said they are willing to accept redacted medical records. They argued that would solve the dispute over patient privacy rights.

On Thursday, Mimi McKenzie, PILC’s legal director, said the center “strongly disagrees” and would fight the release of redacted medical records.

“These records are so deeply personal and contain such highly sensitive information about these young patients,” McKenzie said. “There is no anonymization or redaction that can protect their privacy interests.”

McKenzie said the proposed federal rule to ban all federal funding to hospitals that treat transgender youth would “face a myriad of legal challenges.” She described gender-affirming care as “lifesaving” for many children.

“The notion that our federal government would tell hospitals to pick which children you want to save — the children who need gender-affirming care or all the other children — is despicable. The cruelty of this administration knows no bounds.”

Other institutions have recoiled in the face of the Trump administration’s threats.

Earlier this year, Penn Medicine and Penn State Health cut back gender-affirming care for youth. Nemours Children’s Hospital in Delaware and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh announced they will no longer provide gender-affirming care beyond behavioral health services to new patients.

All cited fear of federal funding cuts.

December 18, 2025
A state board has plans to improve college affordability and increase the number of people who complete degrees
Pennsylvania’s fledgling State Board of Higher Education on Thursday rolled out its first strategic plan, setting goals addressing affordability, increased degree attainment, the state’s workforce and economic development needs, and the fiscal health of colleges.

The board voted unanimously to post the 10-year plan for public comment. It will consider adoption in February.

“The plan will strengthen partnerships, break down silos, and enable effective reinvestment in the sector,” Cynthia Shapira, chair of the board, said in a statement introducing the plan.

The new state board for higher education is getting started as colleges face challenges and scrutiny

It comes as the sector faces perhaps its greatest challenge in decades. Both private and public universities have been losing enrollment as the number of high school graduates falls — with another dip beginning next year and a 12% decline expected in Pennsylvania by 2037. Public trust in colleges has faltered, while concerns about cost and student debt have mounted.

They are also facing scrutiny from President Donald Trump’s administration and a forecasted gap in workers who require a postsecondary credential in essential areas, such as healthcare, teaching, and advanced manufacturing.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which oversees the state’s 10 universities, endorsed the plan’s emphasis on collaboration across private and public colleges and universities.

“Within our own system, we have learned that when universities work together, they can innovate, overcome challenges and better serve students and the Commonwealth,” the system said in a statement. Shapira is also the chair of PASSHE’s board.

New Pa. higher ed board zeroes in on how to make college more affordable and better coordinate among colleges at hearing

What is the board and what’s in its plan?

The 21-member higher education board includes college presidents, administrators, legislators, and students. It was formed in 2024 by the governor and General Assembly to help public and private colleges work more cohesively and better serve students and the state’s workforce needs. The plan rollout follows public hearings that drew comments from more than 1,200 people, the board said.

The plan outlines the challenges facing the higher education sector including another coming decline in the high school population, financial constraints, and the lack of coordination among institutions. Student debt averages more than $40,000 per student in Pennsylvania, the plan notes.

“Multiple comparative state-level analyses … place Pennsylvania at or near the bottom in terms of affordability, attainment, and state investment per capita,” the report stated. “Adding to these challenges are a large and growing postsecondary workforce credential gap, and a range of closures and mergers that threaten to reduce access to postsecondary education.”

Financially Fragile

In the Philadelphia region, Cabrini University and the University of the Arts closed in 2024 and Rosemont College announced earlier this year that it would cease operations in 2028 and that Villanova University would purchase its campus. Salus University was merged into Drexel University. Six of Pennsylvania’s state universities were merged into two entities in 2022, and St. Joseph’s University absorbed the University of the Sciences the same year.

Other local colleges have struggled with enrollment declines and deficits. Temple University, for example, has gone from more than 40,000 students in 2017 to less than 30,000 this year.

What are the specific goals in the plan?

The new plan set six goals:
1. Increase postsecondary attainment.
2. Ensure affordable pathways to postsecondary credentials.
3. Support the economic development needs of the state.
4. Support the workforce development needs of the state.
5. Ensure accountability and efficient use of state funds.
6. Strengthen the fiscal health and stability of the higher education sector.
How will the board work toward those goals?

To meet the goals, the board proposes a “strategic communications plan” that touts the benefits of postsecondary education and how it impacts employment outcomes.

It also emphasizes expanding funding for dual credit programs and enrollment in those programs to streamline the path from high school to college and allow students to accumulate more credits before they graduate high school. In addition, the plan proposes studying how to improve retention rates and focusing on reenrolling adults who started college but didn’t finish; there are more than 1.1 million Pennsylvanians with some college experience.

Among its plans for addressing affordability are support of policies that “expand financial aid and forgive debt for in-demand, high-quality credentials,” take advantage of new federal Pell grants for workforce programs, and boost access to “open educational resources” to reduce the cost of course materials.

The report also discusses the intent to “maximize the impact of research universities,” recruit out-of-state students to broaden the talent pool, and increase access to paid work experiences for students.

To promote fiscal health, the plan recommends identifying and promoting best practices for fiscal efficiency and cost savings, and developing resources and an advisory group to help financially struggling colleges.

“If institutions decide to close or merge, tools and expertise to assist in this process will help maximize savings, retain access to critical academic programming, and mitigate negative effects on students and communities,” the plan states.

Another advisory group is recommended to help communities where colleges close maintain access to postsecondary education.

What comes next?

After the public comment period and the plan’s final adoption, the board intends to report annually on progress toward the goals and to consider revisions to the plan every five years.
December 18, 2025
Two Philly men accused of ‘fraud tourism’ in a Minnesota scandal that has drawn criticism from President Donald Trump

Two Philadelphia men are facing federal charges in Minnesota after authorities said the men had learned of the state’s lax controls around a government-funded housing program, then traveled there to learn how to exploit it — the latest development in a long-running fraud scandal that has enveloped Minnesota and drawn the ire of President Donald Trump.

Anthony Waddell Jefferson, 37, and Lester Brown, 53, were accused of fraudulently obtaining more than $3.5 million in government proceeds — funds that should have gone to Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services Program, prosecutors said, but were instead diverted to two companies the men oversaw in Philadelphia.

Jefferson and Brown “came [to Minnesota] not to enjoy our lakes, our beautiful summers, or our warm people,” Joseph H. Thompson, Minnesota’s first assistant U.S. attorney, said Thursday. “They came here because they knew and understood that Minnesota was a place where taxpayer money could be taken with little risk and few consequences.”

Jefferson and Brown each face one count of wire fraud and were charged by information, prosecutors said, which typically means a defendant intends to plead guilty.

Court records for their cases were not immediately available, and it was not clear if either man had retained an attorney.

Thompson cast their case as a novel twist in a scandal that he said was “swamping Minnesota” and had likely bilked taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars intended for daycares, hunger programs, autism support, and other endeavors.

The state had become such a magnet for fraudsters, Thompson said, that Jefferson and Brown had effectively performed “fraud tourism,” visiting the state purely to learn how to take advantage of its reputation for having programs that were ripe for abuse.

The broader issues over the state’s lax disbursements have burst into national view in recent months as Trump and other Republicans have taken interest in the situation. Trump on social media called Minnesota a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” and, because many of those charged have ties to Minneapolis’ Somali community, said “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great state.”

Republicans have also blamed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee — for allowing the situation to unfold on his watch. And right-wing groups have questioned whether some funds were being disbursed to terrorist groups in Somalia or elsewhere in Africa.

Thompson said Thursday that he did not believe that was being done at a large scale, but that the exploitation of the programs was troubling and a phenomenon that had become uniquely common in Minnesota.

Fraud scandals targeting government programs date back at least a decade in that state. But they received renewed attention in 2022, when the FBI raided the offices of Feeding Our Future, a food relief nonprofit that had rapidly expanded through pandemic relief efforts.

Investigators later pointed to about $250 million in federal funding the group had received as part of the Department of Human Services’ Child Nutrition Program, some of which had allegedly been funneled into fraudulent claims for the Medicaid-backed meals program.

Prosecutors did not have evidence to show exactly how much they said had been misspent, but said last month 78 people had been charged in connection with the scheme, which they called one of the largest pandemic-related frauds in the country.

The Feeding Our Future investigation is just one of several schemes that have been fueling discourse over Minnesota’s government disbursements. The discussion has taken a dark turn in recent weeks, as Trump used the situation to insult Walz with a slur for people with intellectual disabilities, and to lash out at Somali immigrants, saying, “I don’t want them in our country.” During a speech in Pennsylvania this month, he called Somalia “about the worst country in the world.”

As for the Philadelphia defendants, prosecutors said the men created two companies — Chozen Runner LLC and Retsel Real Estate LLC — in order to submit “fake and inflated bills” for housing services that were never provided. The program they ripped off was intended to create housing for people with disabilities or substance abuse issues, prosecutors said.

Jefferson and Brown “repeatedly flew together from Philadelphia to Minneapolis,” purportedly to recruit beneficiaries for their LLCs from Section 8 housing or shelters, prosecutors said. But Jefferson and his employees created fake paperwork, sometimes listing bogus employees, to dupe insurance companies into reimbursing them.

In all, prosecutors said, they submitted $3.5 million worth of claims for services they said they provided to 230 people.

Thompson said the men and their companies had virtually no connections to Minnesota other than viewing the state housing funds as “easy money.”

Jefferson, a Brewerytown resident according to voter registration data, describes himself in social media profiles and an online biography as a serial entrepreneur — selling a line of perfumes, working as a gospel musician, while also serving as the CEO of “The Housing Guys,” a group that says it provides housing stabilization services. In a photo posted to social media last summer, Jefferson was pictured being presented with an honorary citation from City Council President Kenyatta Johnson.

Contacted Thursday by an Inquirer reporter, Jefferson hung up.

He was pursued earlier this year in Philadelphia courts over a $103,000 federal tax lien.

Brown formed Retsel — “Lester” spelled backward — in 2021, according to Pennsylvania corporate documents, using a mailing address in the West Oak Lane neighborhood.

Attempts to reach Brown for comment Thursday were unsuccessful.

December 18, 2025
Trump signed an order to reclassify marijuana as a less-dangerous drug. It’s not full legalization.

President Donald Trump announced he would advise federal agencies to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance to Schedule III, easing federal restrictions on the plant.

Trump announced the executive order Thursday in the Oval Office, alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a line of medical workers in white coats and scrubs. The president does not have the direct authority to reschedule marijuana but can request his federal agencies to do so.

Jeff Hodgson smokes a pre-roll at his home in Cape May, NJ on Thursday, May 2, 2024. Hodgson mostly uses medical marijuana to help him sleep.

Marijuana has been a Schedule I controlled substance since the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, meaning the federal government considers marijuana to have no accepted medical use, with a high risk of abuse. Schedule I drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, and LSD, are illegal and strictly regulated, making medical research on these drugs, including cannabis, nearly impossible.

A reclassification would be the most significant reform on marijuana in more than half a century, opening the doors for medical research. But it would not be full legalization, said Adam Smith, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. It could also pave the way to federal intervention in the state-run medical and recreational marijuana industries, something stakeholders fear.

“There is a possibility that in moving cannabis to Schedule III, instead of opening up access, what it will do is incentivize federal agencies to clamp down control on the availability of cannabis,” Smith said. “Treating it as other Schedule III substances, which virtually all require prescriptions, is not how this works in medical cannabis and could really create chaos and a lot of economic pain in the industry.”

Frank Burkhauser of Woodbury displays the legal marijuana purchase that he just made at Cannabist in Deptford, N.J. on April 21, 2022. Burkhauser said he has been working for the legalization of marijuana since the early 90’s.

Smith said stakeholders are unsure what this might mean for the wider industry but remain optimistic, as rescheduling of marijuana has been a priority for decades.

Former President Joe Biden’s administration had moved to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule III drug; however, those plans stalled in bureaucratic limbo.

This executive order has plenty of positives, said Joshua Horn, a Philadelphia cannabis lawyer at Fox Rothschild. Loosening restrictions could clear the way for the IRS to allow cannabis businesses to deduct business expenses (which they currently cannot do). Additionally, more traditional banking options might become available to entrepreneurs.

“It could also rectify the criminal injustice that has been ongoing since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act, where people of color have been disproportionately impacted by the ‘war on drugs,’” Horn said. “In the end, rescheduling should reinvigorate these businesses out of their current tax and financial struggles.”

This federal rescheduling of marijuana would come on the heels of Congress’ banning all intoxicating hemp products, which are derived from cannabis plants. While this may seem like a policy flip-flop, Smith said, these are two different issues at hand.

Hemp products photographed at the Philadelphia Inquirer, November 21, 2025.

“The hemp ban is the result of the fact that the market was chaotic and, in many cases, unsafe. Without regulation, that market was rife with pesticides, heavy metals, and products that should not be on shelves,” Smith said.

But he contends there is a movement to push back against wider marijuana legalization. “There’s always pushback when there’s big change,” Smith said. “But also because of the instability created when we have state-regulated markets operating in a federally illegal area.”

Industry folks are hoping this move better aligns the federal government and state markets, opens the doors to research, and provides better clarity to states that are hesitant to legalize marijuana, Smith said.

In this July 19, 2019, file photo, Pierce Prozy examines a Yolo! brand vape oil cartridge marketed as a CBD product at Flora Research Laboratories in Grants Pass, Ore.

Reducing restrictions on commercially available cannabis is “a key missing ingredient toward making clinical breakthroughs,” said Stephen Lankenau, director of Drexel University’s Medical Cannabis Research Center.

“A key issue is that any reclassification efforts need to reduce restrictions for university-based researchers to have access to cannabis-derived THC — commercially available products in particular — for clinical studies, whether laboratory or human subjects,” Lankenau said.

Researchers now are only able to examine hemp-derived nonpsychoactive cannabinoids like CBD or CBC. However, Lankenau said, it is unclear whether Trump’s proposal would give them the green light.

December 18, 2025
Can the Brown University tragedy bring the left and the right together?

Let’s start with the easy part. There is absolutely no evidence so far to suggest that the shooter at Brown University targeted Alabama native Ella Cook — one of two students who died in the massacre last Saturday — because of her political opinions.

That’s what several right-wing commentators said, noting that Cook had been vice president of the College Republicans at Brown. Cook “was targeted for her conservative beliefs, hunted, and killed in cold blood,” the national chairman of the College Republicans wrote in a post on X, which has garnered nearly two million views.

Please. We still don’t know who opened fire in a classroom building at Brown, or why. It’s reckless — and cynical — to pretend that we do.

But behind every crazed conspiracy theory lies a small grain of truth. Conservative students are not in danger for their lives, but they do experience ostracism and discrimination. People who claim otherwise are like climate change deniers, except in this case the naysayers are on the left.

I’m on the left, too. And it’s time for us to come clean about the biased environments we have created.

I feel that every time I hear a colleague say all Trump voters are white supremacists or fascists. I feel it when students email me to complain about the left-wing groupthink in their classes.

And I feel it, most of all, when they come out to me as Trump supporters in my office, with the door closed. I plead with them to share their views with others, which is the only way we learn anything. But they tell me the cost would be too high: They’d be vilified and canceled.

A poster seeking information about the shooting suspect is seen on the campus of Brown University on Wednesday.

That’s why so many Republicans disdain higher education. They know that we abhor their views, and they return the favor.

Now they’re trying to impose their will upon us. Start with President Donald Trump’s “compact,“ which is really just an act of extortion: Do what we say, or we’ll cut off your funding. I’m glad that Brown — like Penn — rejected it, but schools with smaller endowments might face a more difficult choice when deciding whether to do so.

Then there are state measures restricting instruction about race and gender. The logic goes like this: You taught things we didn’t like, so we’re going to prevent you from teaching about them at all.

Remember the adage about two wrongs? We seem to have forgotten it. Liberals created an intolerant atmosphere on our campuses. In response, conservatives are taking political measures to silence us.

It’s time to end this madness. And perhaps we can use the Brown tragedy to do just that.

The other student who was murdered was a naturalized U.S. citizen from Uzbekistan, Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov. He survived a serious childhood illness and wanted to become a doctor, so he could assist other people who had suffered like he did.

You haven’t heard a lot about Umurzokov in right-wing media, which has been busy memorializing Ella Cook. But neither have my fellow liberals made much mention of Cook; instead, they have been commemorating the remarkable life of Mukhammad Umurzokov.

Imagine a national day of mourning, where we switched all of that up. In Congress and in statehouses, Democratic leaders would hoist large blow-up pictures of Cook — the kind you see in sports stadiums — to memorialize her. And GOP officials would do the same for Umurzokov.

That would require courage on both sides, which is in short supply these days.

Democrats would need to celebrate a brave churchgoing conservative who bucked the dominant liberal consensus on campus. And Republicans would need to challenge their party’s nativist and anti-Islamic rhetoric by praising a young Muslim immigrant who wanted to do good in and for America.

They would also have to call out the conspiracy theorists in their midst. Political violence is real, but there’s no evidence that Ella Cook was killed because of her politics. Honest Republicans know that. They need to say it.

And maybe, just maybe, that can begin the healing that our battered nation so desperately needs. We simply cannot make anything better by hating on each other.

At our schools and universities, we’ll resolve to welcome all points of view. Instead of maligning the other side — or trying to censor it — we’ll bring different sides together.

And we will educate a new generation of citizens, who have both the will and the skill to converse across their differences. That will be a great way to remember Ella Cook and Mukhammad Umurzokov. And it will make America great, too. For all of us.

Jonathan Zimmerman teaches education and history at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of “Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools”.

December 18, 2025
A Main Line man who brought guns to a ‘No Kings’ protest and had bombs at his house pleaded guilty in federal court

A Malvern man who brought a gun and other weapons to a “No Kings” protest in West Chester over the summer — and who was rearrested days later after police found homemade bombs at his house — pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday morning.

Kevin Krebs, 32, said little while pleading guilty to a charge of possessing an unregistered firearm or explosive device. Krebs had been taken into federal custody this fall, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged him earlier this month by information, a process that typically indicates a defendant plans to plead guilty.

The charges against him relate to his conduct in West Chester six months ago. On June 14, Krebs was arrested by local police after other attendees at a “No Kings” protest in the borough told authorities they thought they had seen Krebs carrying a gun.

When police stopped Krebs and searched him, they found a loaded Sig Sauer handgun along with extra rounds of ammunition, a knife, a bayonet, pepper spray, and other weapons, prosecutors said. He also had an AR-15 rifle in his car nearby.

Krebs did not have a concealed carry permit for his handgun, and he was charged with illegal gun possession.

Two days later, police searched his home on Conestoga Road and found 13 homemade pipe bombs, prosecutors said, as well as components used to make detonators, tactical vests, and bullet-resistant armor. Some of the bombs had nails and screws inside, which are often added to improvised explosive devices to increase the amount of shrapnel they can generate.

Krebs was initially charged by Chester County prosecutors, who said his political beliefs or potential motives were not straightforward.

Krebs was a registered Democrat but had previously been registered as a Republican and said online that he voted for President Donald Trump. In online postings, he later said he came to regret that vote, and in the weeks preceding the “No Kings” protest he had been posting violent rhetoric aimed at Trump and police officers.

Before his arrest, Krebs was a licensed electrician and onetime Home Depot employee. His attorneys and relatives previously said he had been diagnosed with autism and Asperger’s syndrome.

Krebs is scheduled to be sentenced in March by U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Costello. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

December 18, 2025
U.S. consumer prices slowed unexpectedly in November but are still up 2.7% from last year

WASHINGTON — U.S. inflation slowed unexpectedly last month, the government said in a report that was delayed and likely distorted by the government shutdown.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that its consumer price index rose 2.7% in November from a year earlier. Yet, year-over-year inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, and Americans are complaining loudly about the high cost of living.

This holiday season isn’t very merry for consumers, an AP-NORC poll finds

The report was delayed eight days by the federal government’s 43-day shutdown, which also prevented the Labor Department from compiling overall numbers for consumer prices and core inflation in October. Thursday’ report gave investors, businesses and policymakers their first look at CPI since the September numbers were released on Oct. 24.

Consumers prices had risen 3% in September from a year earlier, and forecasters had expected the November CPI to match that year-over-year increase.

Energy prices, driven up by sharply higher fuel oil prices, rose 4.2% in November. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation rose 2.6%, compared with a 3% year-over-year gain in September and the lowest since March 2021.

Trump’s handling of the economy is at its lowest point, according to new AP-NORC polling

U.S. inflation is still stubbornly high, partly because of President Donald Trump’s decision to impose double-digit taxes on imports from almost every country on earth along with targeted tariffs on specific products like steel, aluminum and autos.

The president’s tariffs have so far proved less inflationary than economists feared. But they do put upward pressure on prices and complicate matters at the Fed, which is trying to decide whether to keep cutting its benchmark interest rate to support a sputtering job market or whether to hold off until inflationary pressures ease. The central bank last week decided to reduce the rate for the third time this year, but Fed officials signaled that they expect just one cut in 2026.

Kay Haigh, global co-head of fixed income and liquidity solutions at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, warned that the November numbers were “noisy … The canceling of the October report makes month-on-month comparisons impossible, for example, while the truncated information-gathering process given the shutdown could have caused systematic biases in the data.

“The Fed will instead focus on the December CPI released in mid-January, just two weeks before its next meeting, as a more accurate bellwether for inflation.’’

Trump gives a partisan prime-time address insisting the economy is stronger than many voters feel

Trump delivered a politically charged speech Wednesday carried live in prime time on network television, seeking to pin the blame for economic challenges on Democrats.

The speech was a rehash of his recent messaging that has so far been unable to calm public anxiety about the cost of groceries, housing, utilities and other basic goods. Trump has promised an economic boom, yet inflation has stayed elevated and the job market has weakened sharply in the wake of his import taxes.

December 18, 2025
You may not have healthcare but you can get into a national park for free on Trump’s birthday

Soon, you may no longer be able to afford healthcare since Republicans have once again blocked efforts to subsidize the Affordable Care Act.

The most recent government shutdown became the longest in history because Democrats insisted on continuing to fund healthcare while the GOP balked. The Republicans won. America lost.

But don’t despair.

When President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday rolls around on June 14 — which happens to coincide with Flag Day — you will be able to visit a national park for free.

See? Trump really is making America great again.

Kidding aside, most of us aren’t going to mark Trump’s birthday — he hasn’t earned that from us. He can accept all the fake awards he wants, but he’s no hero. He’s a billionaire who has the nerve to claim that “the word affordability is a Democrat scam.” Remember that the next time you’re at the grocery store. Trump promised to bring down costs. It hasn’t happened.

President Donald Trump picks up his FIFA Peace Prize medal before the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, in December.

Trump also said he would fix healthcare. That hasn’t happened either. He said he was going to fix the situation at the border. We now have masked ICE agents terrorizing undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. Entry into America is for sale y’all. As long as you have $1 million to pay for a green card. Make that a gold car with Trump’s image on it. Next up, a Trump platinum card.

The president’s actions remind me of a narcissist whose world begins and ends with himself. This nation, however, is expansive and needs a president who puts the American people first. That’s not what we have with Trump. He demonstrates that over and over again.

His administration’s decision to make entrance at national parks free on his birthday wouldn’t be quite as egregious if it hadn’t also revoked free admission for visitors on not one, but two federal holidays that honor Black history — Juneteenth and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. It feels like just another way to antagonize African Americans who still haven’t gotten over his calling Somalis “garbage” and saying they should leave the country.

But wait, there’s more.

The Trump administration has ordered the Park Service to clear the shelves of its gift shops, bookstores, and concession stands of any merchandise that runs afoul of its anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. Employees have until Dec. 19 to get rid of any of the so-called offending merchandise. (Note: Let us know when the fire sale is and we’ll take it off your hands.)

Trump only wants to present a sanitized version of American history: So no mention of slavery and Jim Crow and that sort of thing. But lots of red, white, and blue like he sells in his Trump store.

As with practically everything else he sticks his suspiciously bruised hand into, he’s making a mess of things at the National Park Service.

And I’m not just talking about the way officials have slapped the president’s scowling face on the prized annual park pass. An environmental group is suing him for that. I hope the lawsuit wins. I’d love to get one to give as a present for Christmas but I’m not doing it if his face is on it.

A 2026 America the Beautiful National Park Service annual pass features President Donald Trump’s portrait. The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration, saying the pass must have a contest winner photo taken in federal lands, as deemed by federal law.

The Trump administration also has cut numerous jobs and services at national parks, imposed a $100 fee for foreign visitors to certain parks, and stripped conservation protections for public land. I shudder to think about what could be next. Selling off national parks to the highest bidder? I wouldn’t put it past him to try it. We’ve seen what he did to the East Wing of the White House.

Healthcare premiums for more than 24 million Americans may soon skyrocket without government subsidies to bring down costs for everyday people. Remember who is to blame when your insurance premiums suddenly spike.

The day can’t come soon enough when Trump is finally out of office for good. That’s when we, the people, can set about undoing all the damage he has done.

And that includes reinstating admission fees at national parks on Trump’s birthday.

December 18, 2025
Trump gives a partisan prime-time address insisting the economy is stronger than many voters feel

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump delivered a politically charged speech Wednesday carried live in prime time on network television, seeking to pin the blame for economic challenges on Democrats while announcing he is sending a $1,776 bonus check to U.S. troops for Christmas.

The remarks came as the nation is preparing to settle down to celebrate the holidays, yet Trump was focused more on divisions within the country than a sense of unity. His speech was a rehash of his recent messaging that has so far been unable to calm public anxiety about the cost of groceries, housing, utilities and other basic goods.

Trump’s handling of the economy is at its lowest point, according to new AP-NORC polling

Trump has promised an economic boom, yet inflation has stayed elevated and the job market has weakened sharply in the wake of his import taxes. Trump suggested that his tariffs — which are partly responsible for boosting consumer prices — would fund a new “warrior dividend” for 1.45 million military members, a payment that could ease some of the financial strains for many households. The amount of $1,776 was a reference to next year’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“The checks are already on the way,” he said of the expenditure, which would total roughly $2.6 billion.

Presidential addresses to the nation carried on network television are traditionally less partisan than rally speeches, but Trump gave a condensed version of his usual political remarks.

Flanked by two Christmas trees with a portrait of George Washington behind him in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room, Trump sought to pin any worries about the economy on his predecessor, Joe Biden.

“Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” Trump said. “We’re poised for an economic boom, the likes of which the world has never seen.”

This holiday season isn’t very merry for consumers, an AP-NORC poll finds

Trump seeking to stop the slump in his approval ratings

His holiday wishes came at a crucial time as he tries to rebuild his steadily eroding popularity. Public polling shows most U.S. adults are frustrated with his handling of the economy as inflation picked up after his tariffs raised prices and hiring slowed.

In 2026, Trump and his party face a referendum on their leadership as the nation heads into the midterm elections that will decide control of the House and the Senate.

The White House remarks were a chance for Trump to try to regain some momentum after Republican losses in this year’s elections raised questions about the durability of his coalition. He openly leaned into the politics despite television networks’ past reluctance to broadcast presidential addresses loaded with campaign-style rhetoric.

For example, in September 2022, networks declined to give the Biden White House a prime-time slot for a speech the then-president gave about democracy because it was viewed as too political.

Trump strays from script at Poconos rally, calling affordability a ‘hoax’ and Pa. a ‘dumping ground’ for immigrants

Trump spoke at a rapid-fire clip with a tone that bordered at times on anger. He responded to the public frustration this year over the economy by making even bolder promises on growth next year, saying that mortgage rates would be coming down and that he “would announce some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history.”

Trump brought charts with him to make the case that the economy is on an upward trajectory. He made claims about incomes growing, inflation easing and investment dollars pouring into the country as foreign leaders, he claimed, have assured him that “we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world,” a statement he has frequently repeated at public events.

If the argument seemed familiar, that’s because it has echoes of the case that Biden made about the U.S. economy with little success. He, too, in the face of inflation pointed to the enviable rate of U.S. economic growth compared to other nations.

The public sees the economy differently from Trump

The hard math internalized by the public paints a more complicated picture of an economy that has some stability but few reasons to inspire much public confidence.

The stock market is up, gasoline prices are down and tech companies are placing large bets on the development of artificial intelligence.

But inflation that had been descending after spiking to a four-decade high in 2022 under Biden has reaccelerated after Trump announced his tariffs in April.

The consumer price index is increasing at an annual rate of 3%, up from 2.3% in April.

The affordability squeeze is also coming from a softening job market. Monthly job gains have averaged a paltry 17,000 since April’s “Liberation Day,” when Trump announced import taxes that he later suspended and then readjusted several months later.

The unemployment rate has climbed from 4% in January to 4.6%.

Trump said that investment commitments for new factories will boost manufacturing jobs and that consumer activity will improve dramatically as people receive increased tax refunds next year.

While emphasizing the economy, he also faces challenges on other policy fronts.

Trump’s mass deportations of immigrants have proved unpopular even as he is viewed favorably for halting crossings along the U.S. border with Mexico. The public has generally been unmoved by his globe-trotting efforts to end conflicts and his attacks on suspected drug boats near Venezuela.

Trump sought to blame Democrats for the likely increase in health insurance premiums as the subsidies tied to the 2010 Affordable Care Act are expiring. Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans have sought to address that issue, but Trump has pushed back and suggested instead that payments should go directly to the buyers of health insurance instead of the companies. The president has yet to commit to a specific legislative fix.

After his speech ended and the video was no longer being broadcast, Trump turned to his gathered aides and asked them how his address to the nation went. The aides assured him it was great.

Trump then indicated that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had told him he needed to address the nation. After some back and forth, he asked Wiles how he had done.

“I told you 20 minutes and you were 20 minutes on the dot,” Wiles said.

December 18, 2025