When President Trump brought on John Kelly as his chief of staff in 2017, he reportedly had a task for him: "Get rid of my kids."
This is according to the new book Kushner Inc., in which reporter Vicky Ward describes the president asking Kelly to remove Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner from the White House early on in his tenure as chief of staff, telling him to get his children "back to New York," per The New York Times. The president reportedly fumed that they "didn't know how to play the game" and were generating negative news coverage.
Kelly, the Times writes, told Trump it would "be difficult" to fire them, so instead, the two came up with another solution: They would simply "make life difficult enough to force the pair to offer their resignations."
This, of course, never happened, and it ended up being Kelly who offered his resignation in December 2018. Trump's desire to fire his daughter and son-in-law, according to this report, has "come and gone in waves."
The book Kushner Inc, according to the Times, will also portray Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner as being the president's "chief enablers" and describe them "disregarding protocol and skirting the rules when they can." Kushner is already denying the account through his lawyer, whose spokesman said in a statement that it's "a book of fiction." Brendan Morrow
President Trump's North Carolina rally was panned by two people close to him: his wife, first lady Melania Trump, and his daughter, Ivanka Trump.
Both women, as well as Vice President Mike Pence, told Trump they didn't like how the crowd started chanting "Send her back!" after he attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), people with knowledge of the matter told CBS News on Thursday. Omar, a naturalized citizen who was born in Somalia and came to the U.S. as a young refugee, was one of the four Democratic congresswomen of color he tweeted needed to "go back" to their original countries.
Trump didn't try to stop the chanting, which lasted for about 13 seconds, or admonish the crowd. When asked about the incident on Thursday, Trump told reporters he "felt a little bad about it," and insisted he "started speaking very quickly" in order to get the crowd under control.
Earlier in the day, Trump discussed the chant with his inner circle, CBS News reports, and shared his concerns that if he backed down, his supporters would be upset. Catherine Garcia
Capitol Police arrested 70 people on Thursday during protests against the Trump administration's immigration policies.
The protesters were arrested inside the Russell Senate Office Building, with Capitol Police saying they were unlawfully demonstrating in the rotunda. Thursday was the Catholic Day of Action to oppose immigration policies like detaining migrants in overcrowded facilities without adequate necessities. The Sisters of Mercy traveled from Chicago to Washington, D.C., for the protests, and one nun, 90-year-old Sister Pat Murphy, was arrested.
The situation in immigrant detention centers is "immoral," Murphy told ABC News during a phone interview. "These are our brothers and sisters and they are part of the human family," she said, adding, "I mean, any person with any human compassion would reach out. What is going on is, it's just abominable. It's a horrific situation that's happening right now." Murphy, who has been with Sisters of Mercy for 71 years, said it's not fair that people are "being punished because our immigration system is broken, it's shattered, it doesn't exist." Catherine Garcia
President Trump will most likely nominate attorney Eugene Scalia to be the next Labor secretary, three people familiar with the matter told Politico.
Scalia is the son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and is a partner at the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. In 2006, he represented Walmart in the retail giant's fight against a Maryland law that would have forced the company to spend more money on employee health care.
Last week, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta stepped down following outrage over a 2008 plea deal he arranged with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in Florida. Acosta's deputy, Patrick Pizzella, will step into the role on Friday. Catherine Garcia
The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Thursday it will not ban the use of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide associated with health problems in children.
During the Obama administration, the EPA produced scientific studies showing chlorpyrifos could damage brain development in children and prohibited its use, but in 2017, Scott Pruitt, then the agency's administrator, reversed course. This led to a legal battle, and in April, a federal appeals court told the EPA it had to make a final decision on the ban by July. In a statement, the agency said there is not enough data to show that an unsafe amount of pesticide residue is left in or on treated foods.
Sold under the name Lorsban, chlorpyrifos cannot be used in homes, but can be used by farmers, who spray it on more than 50 nut, fruit, vegetable, and cereal crops, The New York Times reports. Since the legal battle began, several states, including California and New York, have announced they are looking into banning chlorpyrifos. Catherine Garcia
The U.S. Navy has "destroyed" an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump announced Thursday afternoon.
The U.S.S. Boxer was sailing in the strategic strait when the drone came within 1,000 yards of it and ignored "multiple calls to stand down," Trump told reporters. It then took "defensive action" and used electronic jamming to down the drone, Trump continued.
The attack comes after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Thursday claimed responsibility for seizing a foreign tanker that went missing this past weekend in the Strait of Hormuz, The Washington Post notes. It's the latest international incident in the waterway that connects the Persian Gulf with the rest of the world, and also comes amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Iran shot a U.S. drone in that area last month, but while America says it was in international airspace, Iran claimed it was flying in Iranian territory. Kathryn Krawczyk