DUE PROCESS: President Trump said yesterday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he’s not certain everyone in the US is owed due process of the law, despite what it says in the 5^th Amendment to the Constitution..

  “I don’t know,” Trump said to host Kristin Welker, “I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.” In regard to deportation of illegal immigrants he said, “I don’t know. It seems — it might say that, but if you’re talking about that, then we’d have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials.”

  Trump said he is not worried about the economy slipping into recession and that it’s a good thing for his tariffs to have forced the country to go “cold turkey” on trade with China. “We were losing hundreds of billions of dollars with China,” he said. “Now we’re essentially not doing business with China. Therefore, we’re saving hundreds of billions of dollars. Very simple.”

  Responding to a question about how the economy shrunk slightly last month and when he will take responsibility for what happens, Trump said, “I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy because he’s done a terrible job.”

  Asked whether he would use military force to take Canada, Trump said; “Well, I think we’re not going to ever get to that point. It could happen, something could happen with Greenland. I’ll be honest, we need that for national and international security.”

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE:

— In a new move in his trade wars, President Trump announced a 100 percent tariff on movies made overseas.

— Trump ordered the re-opening of the notorious Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay for the “most ruthless and violent” criminals. Alcatraz, which is on an island, has been a tourist attraction for decades.

  Trump wrote on his Truth Social that; “When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

— An exhibit portraying 120 people killed by guns has been removed from headquarters of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The exhibit showed portraits of 120 people, including children and police officers.

  A statement to NPR from the ATF said, “The ATF will continue to honor the memory of all victims of violent crime while at the same time preserving the rights of law-abiding Americans.”

— Donald Trump posted a picture on his Truth Social portraying himself as the pope, causing many people to say it’s in bad taste. If you think that’s in bad taste, you should see how he has decorated the Oval Office. 

TOXIC DIRT: Following the refusal by federal agencies and FEMA to test the soil in residential areas burned out by wildfire, testing by the Los Angeles Times found that high levels of toxins remain, particularly lead.

  The paper reports that; “Although soil testing has been carried out as a precautionary measure after every major wildfire in California since 2007, this time the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Army Corps of Engineers have only agreed to remove hazardous ash and up to a 6-inch layer of topsoil from destroyed properties — but not to test what toxic substances might remain.”

THE WAR ROOM: The Israeli government approved a plan to expand military operations in Gaza, which would include occupation of the territory. An official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be shifting from “raid-based operations to the occupation of territory and sustaining it.”

  A ballistic missile launched by Houthi militants in Yemen struck yesterday near the international airport outside Tel Aviv. Four people were treated for injuries. Evidently the Israel anti-missiles defenses were not able to intercept the incoming missile.

  Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, said in a statement after the attack that, “Whoever harms us will be harmed by us sevenfold.”

  On the Russian front, the BBC reports that the invaders last year lost at least 45,287 people, bringing the total of Russian dead in the three-year war with Ukraine to 106,745.

THE OBIT PAGE: Ruth Buzzi, a comedian who became famous on the ground-breaking on 1970s comedy revue “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”, has died at age 88 at home in Texas. Her primary act on “Laugh-In” was playing  Gladys Ormphby  a curmudgeonly woman whose hair was tightly bound in a hair net who would swing her purse at people who annoyed her. 

THE SPIN RACK: The federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial of hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs begins today. If convicted, the 55 year old could spend the rest of his life in prison. — Voters who mostly work for Elon Musk’s SpaceX voted to create their own city of Starbase in the area that surrounds the company’s Texas launching base. — Authorities is Rio de Janeiro’s say they foiled a planned attack with explosives on Lady Gaga’s free concert in Copacabana Beach. Police said the attacks were to target children, adolescents, and members of the LGBTQ community. — At least 10 people were killed and 70 hospitalized after high winds capsized four tourist boats in southwestern China.

BELOW THE FOLD: The horse “Journalism” was the favorite at Saturdays Kentucky Derby, but came in second. If they had made it the deadline instead of the finish line he would have been first.

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