Trump looks ahead to 2025 in first post-election press conference, the President-elect calls out Biden for selling off border wall components, and multiple people are dead and several others injured in a Wisconsin school shooting. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.Lumen: Get 15% off your Lumen at https://lumen.me/WireZBiotics: The drink before drinking with ZBiotics. Get 15% off your order with promo code WIRE at https://www.ZBiotics.com/Wire
President Trump gives his first post-election press conference, laying out his plans for 2025.
We're going to go full prosperity and to build the greatest economy the world has ever seen.
We break down the highlights, including a deal promising to create 100,000 jobs.
I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, December 17th, and this is Morning Wire. Donald Trump demands the Biden administration stop trying to sabotage his border wall by selling off materials for pennies on the dollar.
This has nothing to do with Democrat or Republican. This has to do with common sense.
And multiple people are dead and several others injured after a school shooting in Wisconsin. What do we know about the incident and the shooter?
Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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In his first post-election news conference, Donald Trump laid out his second-term plans and weighed in on a wide range of pressing issues.
Here with the highlights is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips. Hey, Cabot, so this press conference getting a lot of attention yesterday for good reason. What did we hear from the soon-to-be president?
Well, the event started with major economic news. As Trump announced, the Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank had agreed to invest at least $100 billion in America over the next four years. According to the company's CEO, who joined Trump at the podium, that investment will create 100,000 American jobs.
We've just concluded a very productive meeting, and today I'm thrilled to announce that SoftBank will be investing $100 billion in America, creating 100,000 American jobs at a minimum. And he's doing this because he feels very optimistic about our country since the election.
Now, Trump campaigned on a promise to attract businesses from around the world and create jobs here in America.
And this is quite the start before he even takes office. Yeah, indeed. Now, he also touched on another story that's dominating the news cycle, the drones in New Jersey and other states. What did we hear on that front and what's the latest there?
Yeah, this story has only gained attention as more and more sightings have been reported online. Like you said, not just in New Jersey, but a number of other surrounding states. Over the weekend, unknown drones were spotted over Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. That's one of the largest such bases in the country.
That drone activity prompted officials to close airspace over the base for roughly four hours early Saturday morning. Here's just fascinating audio of air traffic control warning a plane of, quote, extreme UAS activity over the base. UAS means unmanned aircraft systems, aka drones.
Med Flight 8, Patterson Tower, use extreme caution for heavy UAS movement on the base. Security forces is handling the situation. Suggest that or above 1700 AGL. We will maintain 2000 on our transition for Med Flight 8. And I got to keep the lights down so that security forces can see.
Lawmakers have continued to express outrage with the Biden administration and Pentagon, saying the American people deserve answers. They say if the drones belong to the U.S., their silence on the matter is only creating more fear and confusion. And if they aren't ours, the Pentagon ought to be taking action to get them out of our airspace.
For his part, Trump said he believes the White House and Pentagon know what's going on, but are hiding it from the public. The government knows what is happening.
Look, our military knows where they took off from. And for some reason, they don't want to comment. And I think they'd be better off saying what it is our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense.
Trump would not comment on whether he's received intelligence briefings on the drones, but did say he was confident they do not belong to a foreign adversary.
I can't imagine it's the enemy because it was the enemy that blasted out. Even if they were late, they'd blast it. Something strange is going on. For some reason, they don't want to tell the people and they should.
Later on, he addressed alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione and specifically the folks who've celebrated him as a hero.
I think it's really terrible that some people seem to admire him, like him. That was a terrible thing. It was cold-blooded, just a cold-blooded, horrible killing. And how people can like this guy is, that's a sickness, actually. That's really very bad, especially the way it was done. It was so bad, right in the back.
Now, one final note, the president also discussed his recent settlement with ABC, which agreed to pay $15 million after falsely claiming he'd been found guilty of rape and another million for his legal fees. He suggested some further action. Tell us about that.
Yeah, a major victory there with ABC. But Trump said Monday he'll continue to pursue legal action against a number of other media outlets he feels defamed him or engaged in election interference. That list includes CBS for seemingly editing a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. Remember, They seem to remove bad answers of hers.
That includes author Bob Woodward, who Trump says repeatedly misquoted him, and the Pulitzer Prize board for giving awards to reporters covering the now-debunked Russia collusion story.
I'm doing this not because I want to. I'm doing this because I feel I have an obligation to. We have to straighten out the press. Our press is very corrupt.
So Trump vowing to continue his legal fight against a number of legacy media outlets and reporters. I'll certainly be following those cases very closely as he prepares to take office. Indeed, as will those legacy outlets, no doubt.
Kevin, thanks for reporting.
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Donald Trump called on President Biden to stop the fire sale of construction material for the border wall. In the event that Biden won't, Trump said he's seeking a restraining order until he can take office on January 20th.
Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about Trump's plan to stop the border wall sale. So, Tim, what can you tell us about this sale?
Yeah, Trump gave his first press conference since he won the 2024 election and chose to directly address a story that was first reported by The Daily Wire, the sell-off of tons of construction materials from the southern border. Here's Trump calling this almost criminal.
It's almost a criminal act. They know we're going to use it. And if we don't have it, we're going to have to rebuild it. And it'll cost double what it cost years ago. And that's hundreds of millions of dollars because you're talking about a lot of wall.
Trump slammed Biden for what he described as failing his commitment to a smooth transition.
They're trying to sell it for five cents of the dollar. That has nothing to do with a smooth transition. That has to do with people really trying to stop our nation. And all it means really is that we're going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more.
Trump said that he is already hearing offers to sell sections of the border wall back to the federal government at a price much higher than what the Biden administration is selling it for now.
So how could Trump stop this sale if he wanted to?
Well, we'll see. Trump said he was working with officials in Texas on an application for a restraining order to block the sale of what border wall material is left.
I spoke with the attorney general of Texas. I spoke to the senators of Texas. I spoke to a lot of people and hopefully they'll be able to stop. We're going to be having a restraining order. But just think about how ridiculous it is.
And that's not the only way Texas is trying to help. After the Daily Wire reported on this, state officials offered to buy what the Biden administration is putting up for sale to sell it back to the federal government after Trump is in office. However, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has said that the materials put up for sale so far are useless.
Patrick wrote in a post on X, quote, the Texas Facilities Commission told us today that the material for sale was mostly junk with most panels covered in concrete and rust. He said the few panels that might have been usable weren't worth the cost of shipping from Arizona to Texas.
And is Patrick correct about that? Is most of the material junk?
We're not sure, but either way, GOP lawmakers want to look into it. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday to, quote, "...demand full accountability and transparency from the Department of Defense about its role in the disposal of excess border wall materials."
Now, according to Fox News, the Defense Department says it is selling off excess materials as was authorized in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. According to one defense official, the materials being sold currently have already been purchased by GovPlanet. That's the government surplus site the materials are being auctioned off on.
But the important point is that the DOD can't stop the sale of this material because it doesn't belong to the government anymore.
Now, this is taxpayer-funded materials, correct?
Right.
Very frustrating. Tim, thanks for reporting.
Thanks for having me. Several people are dead following a shooting at a Christian school in Wisconsin on Monday.
Here with the details is Daily Wire reporter Zach Jewell. So, Zach, first off, what do we know about what happened?
At least two people were killed and seven others were wounded after a 15-year-old female opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison. During a late-night press conference, police said the shooting happened in a classroom study hall, something they say had several students from different grades.
Earlier on Monday, the Madison Police Department reported that five people, including the shooter, were killed, but they later amended that number. The teenage shooter who police say attended the school was found dead when officers arrived on the scene from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police arrived on the scene after a second grader called 911 and they immediately began life-saving efforts on the wounded. Here's Chief Sean Barnes.
A teacher and a teenage student were pronounced dead at the scene at that school. Six other students and a teacher were injured and taken to area hospitals. Two students remain in critical condition and have life-threatening injuries. A teacher and three students were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Two of these have been released and discharged from the hospital.
Fortunately, the medics who responded to the scenes were at a training just three miles away at the time of the shooting, so that contributed to a fast response time.
What do we know about the school where this happened?
So the website for Abundant Life Christian School indicates the students range from kindergarten through 12th grade, and according to the Associated Press, they're around 390 students. The school was founded in 1978 to, quote, "...offer students academic excellence in a Christ-focused context." The school said it will share more information as it's able and ask for prayer from the community.
Right now, we don't have any information about what kind of security they had in place, if any, or what measures were taken when the shooting occurred. A representative of the school said that they do not allow staff members to carry guns on the property.
Now, this is obviously very reminiscent of the Nashville Christian school shooting. What do we know, if anything, about the shooter or the motive?
Yeah, initially the only information we had was that the shooter was dead prior to police arriving. Chief Barnes said at the press conference that responding officers did not fire a single shot after arriving on the scene. Police have since reported that the female student used a handgun, and that was later recovered from the scene.
The Madison police initially did not release the age or gender of the shooter, but in the third press conference of the day, the police chief finally revealed that the shooter was a 15-year-old female. Barnes also said that the shooter's family has been contacted by authorities and is cooperating with the investigation.
The chief also addressed social media rumors surrounding a Google Doc allegedly being the shooter's manifesto.
We haven't been able to verify that it's authentic. We're certainly aware that it's been posted, and the person who posted it alleged to have a connection with the victim. We have not located him yet, so I cannot say whether or not that's something that she was a part of. As soon as we can, we'll let you know.
The good news is we have shared that with our partners, with the FBI, and so we're certainly looking into some of the things that were written in that particular document.
The chief also addressed rumors spreading about the shooter identifying as transgender.
I don't think that's even important. I don't think that's important at all. I don't think that whatever happened today has anything to do with how she or he or they may have wanted to identify. And I wish people would kind of leave their own personal biases out of this. So whether or not she was transgender,
He was, they were, transgender is something that may come out later, but it is of no consequence at this time. And so I would encourage people to be responsible with your social media.
So far, police are releasing less information than we typically get in these cases, but we will likely get more in the next few days.
Well, another extremely disturbing crime. And yes, hopefully we will get more information soon. Zach, thanks for reporting.
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