The News

 When President Donald Trump lands in California on Friday to survey the devastating wildfires that have ravaged metropolitan Los Angeles this month, the state's Democratic governor will be among the officials greeting him.

But Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared to be showing up uninvited.

"I look forward to being there on the tarmac to thank the president, welcome him, and we’re making sure that all the resources he needs for a successful briefing are provided to him," Newsom told reporters on the eve of Trump's stop in Los Angeles.

A couple of hours before Trump touched down in Los Angeles, Newsom director of communications Izzy Gardon told Fox News Digital that "in coordination with the White House, the governor will greet President Trump on the tarmac upon his arrival in California."

"The governor is committed to advocating for the needs of Californians in partnership with the federal administration," she emphasized.

Since the fires, which have killed nearly 30 people and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, broke out earlier this month, Trump has repeatedly criticized Newsom's handling of the immense crisis. He has accused the governor of mismanaging forestry and water policy, and pointing to intense backlash over a perceived lack of preparation, he has called on Newsom to step down.

People watch the smoke and flames from the wildfires in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood on Jan. 7, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.  (Tiffany Rose/Getty Images)

"Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!" Trump charged in a social media post on Jan. 8, as he repeated a derogatory name he often labels the governor.

And in his first Oval Office interview since returning to power in the White House, Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity this week, "This fire was just raging, and then it would catch to another area, another area, another area."

"It took a week and a half — and I’ve never seen anything like it. We look so weak," Trump argued in the appearance on Fox News’ "Hannity," as he pointed towards his repeated claim that a main reason the blazes raged was because firefighters didn't have access to water.

Trump and some top Republicans in Congress have pushed toward placing conditions on continuing the massive federal wildfire aid to California in order to force policy changes.

The president said on Friday, ahead of his arrival in Los Angeles, that he wanted to see "two things" before he would support federal disaster relief funds for California.

"I want to see two things in Los Angeles: Voter ID so that the people have a chance to vote. And I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state. Those are the two things. After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen," Trump said.

Newsom on Thursday signed a $2.5 billion state relief package. But California will need much more help from the federal government.

California Governor Gavin Newsom (right) tours the downtown business district of Pacific Palisades as the Palisades Fire continues to burn on January 8, 2025, in Los Angeles, California.  (Eric Thayer)

And Newsom, the governor of the nation's most populous state, one of the Democratic Party's leaders in the resistance against the returning president, and a potential White House contender in 2028, has pushed back, as the two larger-than-life politicians trade fire.

The governor has noted that reservoirs in the southern part of California were full when the fires first sparked, and has argued that no amount of water could tackle fires fueled by winds of up to 100 miles per hour.

Newsom has also charged Trump has spread "hurricane-force winds of mis-and-disinformation.

U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs for North Carolina at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, January 24, 2025.  (Leah Millis/Reuters)

And in a letter to Congress last week, Newsom emphasized that "our long national history of responding to natural disasters, no matter where they occur, has always been Americans helping Americans, full stop."

The wildfires are far from the first time Newsom and Trump have taken aim at each other. Their animosity dates back to before Trump was elected president the first time in 2016, when Newsom was California's lieutenant governor.

The verbal fireworks continued over the past two years, as Newsom served as a top surrogate on the campaign trail for former President Biden and then former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democrats' 2024 standard-bearer last summer.

 Country music sensation Morgan Wallen is set to make not one, but two stops in Cleveland as part of his highly anticipated "I'm the Problem Tour."

  One day after a deadly shooting at Antioch High School, alarming online messages forced the Metro Nashville Police Department to focus on possible threats to other area schools on Thursday.

A parent posted a screenshot of text messages circulating online that claimed the Antioch High School shooter had collaborated with students at other schools on a coordinated attack.

The other schools mentioned in messages included Cane Ridge High School, Glencliff High School, McGavock High School, and Hillsboro High School.

A spokesperson for Metro Nashville Public Schools confirmed the district was aware of the threatening messages, and that MNPD investigated their validity overnight.

“The MNPD investigated this situation overnight,” Sean Braisted with MNPS explained. “The threat was unsubstantiated, and they do not believe there is any connection between the shooter and these schools.”

Despite finding the threats to be false, an “additional police presence” is expected at each campus on Thursday.

Authorities said the arrest of a student who had a gun in his backpack at McGavock High on Wednesday evening was not related to the investigation into additional threats, to their knowledge.

“The information circulating online is not believed to be credible and we are not aware of any connection between the two incidents,” MNPS explained.

The 18-year-old student was arrested and charged with carrying a weapon on school property.

 In one of the more wide-open Oscar fields in recent history, there were plenty of nominations surprises Thursday.

Not too long ago, it seemed that people like Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman were destined for best actress nominations, while general audience disinterest in the young Donald Trump movie “The Apprentice” might have indicated its awards chances were dead on arrival.

But the members of the film academy had something different in mind. Here are some of the biggest snubs and surprises from the 97th Oscar nominations.

SURPRISE: Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan, “The Apprentice”

The young Trump movie “The Apprentice” has been one of the bigger awards season question marks, especially after it failed to resonate with moviegoers in theaters. And yet both Jeremy Strong, for his portrayal for Trump lawyer Roy Cohn, and Sebastian Stan (who was also in the conversation for “A Different Man” ), for playing the future two-time president, made it in. Only Strong got nominated by the Screen Actors Guild.

SNUB: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, “Hard Truths”

This will forever be one of the more confounding awards season oversights. Marianne Jean-Baptiste delivered one of the all-time great performances in Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths,” as the perpetually aggrieved and sharp-tongued London woman Pansy. The general thinking is that it was either going to be Jean-Baptiste or Fernanda Torres, and Torres got in for the equally beloved “I’m Still Here.”

SNUB: Pamela Anderson, “The Last Showgirl”

This is perhaps up for debate, but there was certainly a lot of goodwill behind Anderson’s movie-star turn in Gia Coppola’s “The Last Showgirl,” especially considering her SAG nomination. But like with Jennifer Lopez and “Hustlers” a few years ago, it was not meant to be at the Oscars.

SURPRISE: James Mangold, “A Complete Unknown”

James Mangold has directed several awards darlings, including “Ford v Ferrari” and “Walk the Line” but had consistently missed out on a best director nomination, until this year with “A Complete Unknown.” It may have come at the expense of Edward Berger, who missed out on a nod for “Conclave” or Denis Villeneuve for “Dune: Part Two.”

SNUB: Daniel Craig, “Queer”

Daniel Craig gave one of his best performances as an American expat in Mexico in the torrid May-December romance in “Queer,” but it hasn’t been resonating with awards voters. The Oscar snub is the final piece in a puzzle that just never came together.

SNUB: Angelina Jolie, “Maria”

If there ever were a shoo-in for a nomination and an Oscar, on paper at least, it would be for Angelina Jolie playing opera legend Maria Callas. Filmmaker Pablo Larraín had not missed yet in getting best actress nominations for his famous, tragic women biopics, including Natalie Portman for “Jackie” and Kristen Stewart for “Spencer.” But somehow Jolie did not make the cut in the end.

SNUB: Nicole Kidman, “Babygirl”

“Babygirl” is not a cliche awards movie by a long stretch, but Nicole Kidman’s performance as Romy, the buttoned-up, married CEO who begins a dangerous affair with a young intern at her company was undeniable. But a best actress win at the Venice Film Festival has never guaranteed Oscar success.

SURPRISE: Felicity Jones, “The Brutalist”

Despite the wide love for “The Brutalist,” Felicity Jones has been curiously absent from many nominations lists for her sharp portrayal of Erzsébet Tóth. The cast did not even get recognized by SAG. But it just goes to show that it’s never too late to sneak in for the big one

SNUB: Danielle Deadwyler, “The Piano Lesson”

A few years after Danielle Deadwyler was famously snubbed for “Till,” she has another snub to add to her resume for Malcolm Washington’s adaptation of “The Piano Lesson.” This latest campaign might not have had as much steam behind it as “Till,” but at the very least one would assume that it could have been a make good.

SURPRISE: Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown

Supporting actress was one of the more chaotic and unpredictable categories this year, with so many deserving performers in the mix. Monica Barbaro was one of those that was on the fringe of possibilities for her turn as Joan Baez, singing and all, for “A Complete Unknown.”

SNUB: Selena Gomez, “Emilia Pérez”

One who was not so lucky was Selena Gomez for “Emilia Pérez,” perhaps because she was partially competing with her co-star, Zoë Saldaña who simply had more momentum (and gave a moving speech at the Golden Globes).

SNUB: Clarence Maclin, “Sing Sing”

The incarceration drama “Sing Sing” did get several significant nominations including for Colman Domingo, adapted screenplay and original song. But Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, who delivered a revelatory performance based on his own experience, was not among them. He is, however, credited with helping to write the story.

SNUB: Margaret Qualley, “The Substance”

Margaret Qualley seems to have been unfairly left out of much of the awards conversation around “The Substance,” a movie that only works with a great Sue. But the focus has been more on Demi Moore, overdue for such recognition, and Coralie Fargeat — the only woman to score a best director nomination.

SNUB: “Challengers” score

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross delivered one of their most popular scores ever this year for “Challengers” and yet were left off in a batch of nominees that included “The Brutalist,” “Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Wicked” and “The Wild Robot.” It’s not even that they’re consistently overlooked by the academy — they’ve already won twice, for “Soul” and “The Social Network.”

SURPRISE: “Flow”

Everyone expected the Latvian cat movie “Flow” to get a best animated feature nomination, especially after it won the Golden Globe. But the big surprise is that it got a second for best international feature — a first for Latvia. This is not a first for an animated movie to get into the international category, though: “Waltz with Bashir” and “Flee” had the honor before “Flow,” but neither ended up winning.

SURPRISE: “Nickel Boys”

RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys” has had quite the rollercoaster awards season journey, even though it’s widely considered one of the best films of the year. The film academy thought so too, including it among the 10 best picture nominees (alongside other relative surprises like “I’m Still Here” and “Dune: Part Two”). Oddly, though, it missed out on cinematography despite its inventive first-person point of view.

SNUB: Denzel Washington, “Gladiator II”

Denzel Washington was not about to hit the campaigning trail for “Gladiator II” but he was, at least at one point, thought to be a sure thing for a supporting nomination. In his review, AP film writer Jake Coyle wrote that Washington’s “performance as the Machiavellian power broker Macrinus is a delicious blur of robes and grins — so compellingly over-the-top that he nearly reaches 1990s Al Pacino standards.” But don’t cry for Washington: He’s notched an incredible 10 Oscar nominations in his career, including one for producing “Fences,” and two wins: supporting actor for “Glory” and best actor for “Training Day.”

 President Trump early Wednesday morning slammed the reverend at a National Cathedral prayer service for the inauguration who called on him to have mercy on transgender children and immigrant families.

Trump, in a lengthy post on Truth Social, called Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s remarks “nasty” and not smart.

“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart,” he said.

“She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions,” the president added. “It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA. Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one.”

Trump also called on her and the church to apologize to him.

“She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!”

Hours earlier, Budde made a plea to Trump during her sermon as he was sitting in the first pew at the service.

“I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared. There are gay, lesbian, transgender children, Democratic, Republican, independent families — some who fear for their lives,” she said.

“The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals — they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals,” she added.

During her comments about migrants, Budde noted that migrant workers “pay taxes” and are “faithful members” of U.S. churches, mosques, synagogues and temples, arguing that their children “fear their parents are going to be taken away.” And, she called on Trump to aid people fleeing war zones and persecution.

Budde also told Trump that people in our country are scared of his presidency.

When Trump returned to the White House after the prayer service, he told reporters it “wasn’t too exciting.”

“They can do much better,” he added.

Others have joined Trump in criticizing the Bishop’s remarks, including Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.), who said on X that “the person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list.”

Trump on Monday signed a flurry of executive orders, including one recognizing only two sexes — male and female — and others restricting immigration to carry out his campaign promise to target migrants, especially those who have committed crimes in the U.S.

He signed an order effectively pausing refugee admissions for a minimum of three months, signed an order that seeks to boost detention capacity in the U.S. to house migrants and said he would end birthright citizenship for children born to people living without legal status in the U.S.

He also reinstituted the “Remain in Mexico” program which requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico until their U.S. immigration court date in addition to shutting down the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) One app which facilitates appointments for immigration proceedings.