President-elect Donald Trump revealed in a phone interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker on Saturday that he is “most likely” to grant TikTok a 90-day reprieve from a U.S. ban. This extension would allow the app’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, more time to sell to a non-Chinese buyer. The current compliance deadline is Sunday, a day before Trump’s inauguration.
“I think that would be, certainly, an option we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will most likely happen because it’s appropriate,” Trump stated, adding he would announce a decision on Monday.
Although the extension aligns with the bipartisan law passed last year, TikTok has warned it might still need to “go dark” temporarily without clear legal assurances. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed TikTok’s warning as “a stunt,” emphasizing that enforcement responsibility would shift to the next administration.
The law, signed by President Joe Biden last April, mandates ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban due to national security concerns over its ties to the Chinese government and the collection of Americans’ personal data. Trump’s stance marks a reversal from his previous attempts to ban TikTok during his first term.
The Supreme Court recently upheld the law, rejecting TikTok’s free speech arguments. Following the ruling, Trump said he needed time to review the situation and hinted at finding alternatives to banning the app. TikTok CEO Shou Chew thanked Trump for his efforts and is expected to attend Monday’s inauguration alongside other tech executives.
Despite the looming deadline, Biden administration officials confirmed they would not enforce the law on Sunday, leaving the decision in Trump’s hands. TikTok’s future in the U.S. remains uncertain, as users and lawmakers await Trump’s final decision.
Michigan House Bill 5711, which would roll back the state’s clean energy mandates for utilities, has cleared the House Energy Committee and is headed to the full House for a vote.
If approved there, it would move to the Senate for consideration.
🚨The Village of Birch Run, Michigan doesn’t record or live stream their public meetings. They’re not legally required to, but I think it would be something good to do for transparency. I talked to the village president who did not want to touch the issue.
The USGS says a magnitude 2.9 earthquake hit about 7 km south southeast of Amherstburg, Canada, just across from the Detroit area. It happened at a shallow depth of about 2 km.
Did you feel anything in Mid Michigan or Metro Detroit?
No livestream. No recording. No transparency. So I showed up. St. Charles, Michigan school board. Know a school board or local government keeping meetings off camera? Tell me where to go next.
Thank-you for being here. M to F I send out this morning email. The stories they don’t want you to see.
SOS Benson’s Past Ties to SPLC Draw Scrutiny Amid Federal Investigation Allegations
LANSING, Mich. – Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat who is running for governor, isn’t shy about her longtime ties to the now federally-indicted Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
The left-leaning SPLC is under a U.S. Department of Justice criminal investigation, and faces 11 counts related to wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. It centers on the SPLC paying people to infiltrate groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazi organizations in order to incite racial unrest. These are the very groups the SPLC said they fought against.
The Michigan Fair Elections Institute (MFEI) stressed that Benson’s affiliation with the SPLC wasn’t “peripheral.” It said, “By her own account, [Benson] worked at the organization as an undercover operative in the late 1990s, going so far as to pose as a freelance journalist to gain access to neo-Nazi leaders and white supremacist groups.” Click here to read more.
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FBI looks into dead or missing nuclear and space defense scientists tied to NASA, Blue Origin, and SpaceX
Almost a dozen scientists related to nuclear and space defense programs tied to NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin are dead or missing in cases as far back as 2022, and they’ve gone largely unnoticed by authorities and the public—until now.
The House Oversight Committee formally demanded answers from four federal agencies Monday on the deaths and disappearances of at least 11 American scientists and researchers with ties to NASA, nuclear research, and classified defense programs—several of them directly connected to the space defense technologies now being commercialized by SpaceX and Blue Origin.
Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), the chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs, sent letters to FBI Director Kash Patel, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, requesting staff-level briefings no later than April 27. Click here to read more.
Alabama boy’s secret Facebook post asking for cancer drug grabs national attention
RALPH, Ala. - An Alabama teenager took a chance on Wednesday, filming a two-minute video on his mom’s Facebook page without his parents knowing.
He didn’t expect what happened next.
Will Roberts, 15, lives in Ralph, an unincorporated community in Tuscaloosa County. He’s fighting for his life against stage 4 bone cancer, called osteosarcoma, which has spread throughout his body.
“From a parent’s aspect, you’re just getting by day to day in hopes that this miraculous treatment is advanced in the time that you’re allowed to fight every day,” said Will’s mother, Brittney. Click here to read more.
Appeals court keeps Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ open
ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” can continue operating, overturning a lower court’s order that had required it to begin winding down.
In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the state-run center did not trigger requirements for a federal environmental review. The majority said Florida officials built and control the facility on state land, without sufficient federal involvement to invoke the National Environmental Policy Act.
“Florida, not the federal government, controls the site and bore the full cost of construction,” the opinion stated. At the time of the district court’s injunction last August, no federal reimbursement had been provided, the panel noted. Click here to read more.
Fairfax Schools’ ‘Equity’ Calendar and Its Classroom Consequences
In January 2022, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) adopted a calendar containing fewer five-day school weeks and more early release days with the explicitly stated goals of “equity and inclusion.”
At that time, the 12 Democratic-endorsed school board members also voted to decouple spring break from Easter—a terrible idea that lasted only a year—as part of broader efforts to create a more “equitable” school calendar.
FCPS’s updated calendar further recognizes several religious and cultural holidays, including Eid al-Adha, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Día de los Muertos, Diwali, Bodhi Day, Three Kings Day/Epiphany, Orthodox Christmas, Orthodox Epiphany, Lunar New Year, Ramadan, Good Friday, Theravada, Orthodox Good Friday/Last Night of Passover and Eid al-Fitr. Click here to read more.
