Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Swipe for next article
Trump renewed his call for federal intervention in the Chicago area
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
President Donald Trump has called for Democrats who urged the military to defy illegal orders to be jailed in a series of late-night Truth Social posts.
Trump labelled the Democratic lawmakers “TRAITORS” who “SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW” after accusing them of telling the military to “DISOBEY MY ORDERS.” In another post, he accused these Democrats of committing a “CRIME OF SERIOUS PROPORTION.”
This comes after a group of Democratic lawmakers published a video telling members of the military and intelligence community to “refuse illegal orders” on Tuesday. Trump claimed it was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL,” and in another post claimed such behavior is “punishable by DEATH.”
The Democratic lawmakers responded to Trump’s threats on Thursday, writing that what’s “most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law.” Trump later claimed he was “not threatening death,” but thinks “they’re in serious trouble.”
Meanwhile, Trump also once again called for federal intervention in Chicago on Saturday, citing “massive crime” in the area. The president accused Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson of “refusing Federal Government help for a situation that could be quickly remedied” in a Truth Social post.
Trump’s post comes after a 14-year-old boy was killed and eight other teens were injured in separate shootings late Friday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The Trump administration has presented Kyiv with a 28-point proposal to end the war in Ukraine.
The plan would force Kyiv to give up land while compensating the United States for upholding the peace.
Here’s what you need to know about the plan:
Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon lambasted Donald Trump over his proposal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, warning it could be the president’s “legacy.”
The president’s 28-point peace plan has been criticized as being favorable to Moscow, demanding Kyiv cede additional territory, limit the size of its military, and agree to never join NATO. Trump has asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept the proposal by Thanksgiving.
Keep reading:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticized the Democratic lawmakers who published a video this week telling members of the military and intelligence community that they must “refuse illegal orders.”
“What I am confident of is that this was a display of gross, gross negligence,” Bessent said Sunday on NBC News’ Meet the Press. He did not answer a question about whether the Trump administration is issuing illegal orders.
“There is one commander in chief, and when you step outside of the chain of command and try to create the noise and chaos, that only helps our enemies,” he added.
President Donald Trump wants to “free” Tina Peters, the former clerk of Mesa County, Colorado, who is currently in prison after she was convicted in a 2020 election interference case.
“FREE TINA PETERS, WHO SITS IN A COLORADO PRISON, DYING & OLD, FOR ATTEMPTING TO EXPOSE VOTER FRAUD IN THE RIGGED 2O20 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION!!!” Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social.
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which Joe Biden won.
Trump cannot pardon Peters or commute her sentence because she received a state conviction, Colorado Public Radio reports.
The Trump administration asked to transfer Peters into federal custody this week, a move opposed by state officials, according to Colorado Public Radio.
Senator Amy Klobuchar responded to criticism from President Donald Trump and other Republicans over a video by Democratic lawmakers — many of whom are veterans — urging members of the military and intelligence community to “refuse illegal orders.”
“Well, it’s very clear in this code for the military, you cannot follow unlawful orders,” Klobuchar, a Democrat, told NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday.
Klobuchar later added: “But the key is, this has been a long-time tenet of the American military, and it is very clearly right there, and that is all our colleagues were saying, and they have every right to say it. They have served our country bravely, they know what they’re talking about.”
President Donald Trump claimed that Chicago residents have been chanting “bring in Trump” as a series of shootings in the Windy City this weekend prompted him to raise the prospect of sending troops into the city.
A 14-year-old boy was killed and eight other teenagers were injured in separate shootings late Friday in Chicago’s Loop, part of the city’s downtown, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Less than 24 hours after violence during a so-called “teen takeover,” Trump took to his Truth Social platform to condemn the violence and again raise the prospect of deploying federalized troops to Chicago, as he has already done in cities including Los Angeles and Washington D.C.
Keep reading:
Six Democratic lawmakers, many of whom are veterans, published a video this week urging members of the military and intelligence community to “refuse illegal orders.”
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that the video was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL.” In another post, Trump wrote: “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
The lawmakers responded to Trump’s threats in a statement on Thursday, writing that what’s “most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law.” Trump later claimed he was not “threatening death,” but that “they’re in serious trouble.”
Late Saturday, Trump also called for the Democratic lawmakers to be jailed.
Senator Elissa Slotkin, who appeared in the video, told ABC News on Sunday that she thinks Trump is “trying to get us to shut up because he doesn’t want to be talking about this.”
Senator Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat who urged members of the military and intelligence community to “defy illegal orders” in a video with her colleagues this week, called President Donald Trump’s response a “tool of fear.”
On Truth Social this week, Trump labelled the video “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR,” and at one point claimed that sedition is “punishable by DEATH.”
“He’s trying to get us to shut up because he doesn’t want to be talking about this,” Slotkin said Sunday on ABC News’ This Week.
“In fact, I would argue that one of the things that he’s been doing by repeating it and talking about it is trying to distract us from the big stories of last week, which were the [Jeffrey] Epstein files and then the economy,” she added.
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has addressed concerns that President Donald Trump could send the National Guard to the city on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Mamdani said he told Trump that he trusts the NYPD to deliver on public safety. But Mamdani didn’t respond to a question about whether Trump ruled out sending in the National Guard during their meeting on Friday at the White House.
“I made it very clear what we wanted to do was to deliver public safety and affordability — the NYPD would be the ones to do so,” Mamdani said.
This comes after Trump told reporters Saturday that he has no immediate plans to send troops to New York City, but it remains a possibility.
“If they need it,” Trump said. “Right now, other places need it more, but if they need it — we had a very good meeting yesterday. We talked about that, but if they need it, I would do it.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials are in Geneva today meeting with Ukrainian officials over Washington’s 28-point plan for ending the war
Kyiv has until Thursday to decide whether to accept the plan.
Follow The Independent’s live coverage of the talks below:
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in