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Your guide to California's Congressional District 22 race: San Joaquin Valley

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Your guide to California's Congressional District 22 race: San Joaquin Valley
  • Rep. David Valadao, Republican, incumbent

Valadao is defending his seat in the heavily agricultural district. He was one of 10 House Republicans who voted in 2021 to impeach former President Trump for his role as a “driving force” behind the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Valadao was first elected to Congress in 2012 after one term in the state Assembly. He served in Congress for three straight terms before losing his 2018 reelection bid. But he returned to Congress in 2020, and was reelected in 2022, defeating Democratic challenger Rudy Salas by a 3% margin.

  • Rudy Salas, Democrat, former member of the state Assembly

Salas is challenging Valadao once again. The son of farmworkers, in 2010 he became the first Latino elected to the Bakersfield City Council. Salas served five terms in the Assembly. He has been endorsed by the California Democratic Party, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the United Farm Workers union. Salas told the Times he is running “to continue delivering for Valley families.”

  • Melissa Hurtado, Democrat, state senator

Hurtado declared her intention to run in August, setting up a potentially competitive primary. Hurtado has branded herself as part of a new generation of Latina political leaders; in 2018, at age 30, she became the youngest woman ever elected to the state Senate. Previously, she served on the Sanger City Council.

  • Chris Mathys, Republican, former Fresno City Council member

Mathys also is challenging Valadao, framing himself as being further to the political right than the congressman. The cattle ranch owner told The Times he is running because he believes Valadao “betrayed voters” when he voted to impeach Trump. “I will fight for our conservative values and will always put Americans first,” he said.

Under California’s top-two primary system, the two candidates who receive the most votes in the March primary will advance to November’s general election, regardless of their political party.

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Who Is Coming to the Inauguration — and Who Isn’t

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Who Is Coming to the Inauguration — and Who Isn’t

Three of the richest men in the world, foreign dignitaries, tech and business executives, former presidents and an assortment of performers and other celebrities are on the guest list for President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inauguration on Monday, even as much of the midday ceremony has been moved indoors amid forecasts of extreme cold.

It is unclear what impact, if any, the relocation of Mr. Trump’s second swearing-in ceremony into the Capitol Rotunda will have on the seating arrangements. Unlike the outdoor venue, the Capitol Rotunda only seats about 600 people.

Four years ago, Mr. Trump skipped President Biden’s inauguration in a snub to his political rival. Every living former president is set to witness his return to power, but some prominent Democrats are opting out.

Here’s the list of those who are planning to attend the inauguration, and notable no-shows.

Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, three of the world’s wealthiest men, were reported to be among the major tech executives who would sit in a position of honor on the dais at Mr. Trump’s inauguration — before the event was moved indoors. Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, and Shou Chew, the chief executive of the imperiled social media app TikTok, had also been invited to sit on the dais.

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Seating for other high-dollar donors from the business world was already highly competitive even before the last-minute move indoors. Some offered donations to Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee as high as $1 million without receiving any access to the inauguration or accompanying receptions in return.

China’s vice president, Han Zheng, will attend the inauguration on behalf of Xi Jinping, whom Mr. Trump had invited to the inauguration.

Unlike at the inaugurations of President Biden and former President Barack Obama, a number of other world leaders will be in attendance. Many of them share Mr. Trump’s ideology and policy preferences.

From Latin America, Javier Milei, the right-wing populist president of Argentina, is reportedly planning to make an appearance. Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil and another right-wing populist, had intended to attend, but his passport was previously seized by federal police in Brazil and his request to a Brazilian Supreme Court justice to make the trip was denied.

From Europe, Giorgia Meloni, the right-wing prime minister of Italy, affirmed that she planned to attend. The press secretary of Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary who has a friendly rapport with Mr. Trump, told a Hungarian media outlet that the prime minister had received an invitation but would not be attending.

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Three representatives from key U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific region will also be attending: S. Jaishankar, the external affairs minister for India; Penny Wong, the foreign minister of Australia; and Takeshi Iwaya, the foreign minister of Japan.

Mr. Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will all attend Mr. Trump’s inauguration — as they did his first inauguration, eight years ago. They will not, however, attend a traditional lunch with the president-elect on that day, according to NBC News.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is also planning to attend the inauguration, according to two people with knowledge of the planning. He received an invitation, as is the custom for all former presidents and vice presidents.

Carrie Underwood will sing “America the Beautiful” at Mr. Trump’s inauguration, according to a program of events. Victor Willis, the last surviving founding member of the Village People — whose music Mr. Trump frequently plays at this political rallies — announced on Facebook on Monday that the group had accepted an invitation to participate in Mr. Trump’s inaugural activities.

NBC News also reported that several athletes and musicians would be in attendance: They include Antonio Brown, the football player; Mike Tyson, the boxer; Jorge Masvidal, the martial arts fighter; and Evander Kane, the hockey player. The musicians Anuel AA, Justin Quiles, Rod Wave, Kodak Black and Fivio Foreign will also attend, NBC said.

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Mr. Obama is scheduled to attend, but Michelle Obama, the former first lady, will not. A statement from Mrs. Obama’s office did not specify a reason for the scheduled absence but noted that she had not attended another event this month: She did not accompany her husband to the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter, which every other living former president and first lady attended.

Representative Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House and a chief antagonist of Mr. Trump during his first term in office, will also skip the inauguration. Ms. Pelosi, 84, is still recovering from a hip replacement after falling while on an official trip to Luxembourg, but she has been attending votes in the House. A spokesman would not specify why she would not attend, but there is long-running acrimony between Mr. Trump and Ms. Pelosi.

Democratic members of Congress who have announced or told reporters of their plans to skip the inauguration include: Representative Adam Smith of Washington, Representative Judy Chu of California, Representative Delia Ramirez of Illinois, Representative Donald S. Beyer Jr. of Virginia, Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas, Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Representative Veronica Escobar of Texas.

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Trump wants to visit China again after he takes office: report

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Trump wants to visit China again after he takes office: report

President-elect Trump is discussing the possibility of visiting China again as president with aides, according to a report. 

The incoming president, who takes office on Monday, visited Beijing during his first term in 2017, and spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping over the phone on Friday. 

Trump has been threatening China with tariffs but has told advisers that he wants to strengthen ties with the communist country with the visit, possibly even traveling there within his first 100 days in office, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

“I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China. The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A.,” Trump wrote on Friday on Truth Social. “It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!” 

HOUSE DEMS THREATEN TO BLOCK TRUMP’S BIG TARIFF PLANS: ‘UNACCEPTABLE’

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President-elect Trump is discussing the possibility of visiting China again as president with aides, according to WSJ report.  (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

He didn’t say if they had spoken about a visit. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment. 

It is also possible Xi could come to the White House for a visit, the Journal reported.

TRUMP LEAVES CHINA GUESSING WHAT HIS NEXT MOVE IS WITH UNUSUAL INAUGURATION INVITATION

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Trump shaking hands with Xi

Then-President Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Nov. 9, 2017.  (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Xi also met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida in 2017. 

Xi was invited to Trump’s Monday inauguration – no senior Chinese official has ever attended a U.S. presidential inauguration – but Chinese Vice President Han Zheng will be attending instead, in a first. 

Trump and Xi plan to establish a strategic communication channel, China said of their Friday phone call, adding that Trump said he was “looking forward to meeting with President Xi as soon as possible.”

Hang Zheng speaking

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng will attend Trump’s inauguration.  ( Lionel Ng/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump has also mentioned the possibility of going to India to aides, the Journal reported. 

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Trump expected to survey Los Angeles-area wildfire damage next week

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Trump expected to survey Los Angeles-area wildfire damage next week

President-elect Donald Trump will likely visit the Los Angeles area next week to view the wildfire damage, he said on Saturday. The trip is expected to be his first outside the nation’s capital after being inaugurated Monday.

“I will be, probably, at the end of the week. I was going to go, actually yesterday, but I thought it would be better if I went as president,” Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker in a phone interview. “It’s a little bit more appropriate, I suspect.”

Representatives for Trump did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.

At least 27 people have died and more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed during the catastrophic fires in Pacific Palisades, Altadena and surrounding communities. Asked whether he would sign disaster relief for the region after being inaugurated, Trump said his response will be conditioned to demand policy changes in California.

“We’re going to be [looking] at it from a lot of standpoints,” he said. “We’re going to be demanding that the water be released from the north into the lower parts of California.”

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Asked whether he has spoken with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who Trump has called on to resign over his wildfire response, the president-elect said he had not.

Newsom’s office invited Trump to view the devastation last week.

The governor’s office said that the president-elect’s transition team acknowledged receipt of the invitation but had not otherwise responded.

“As our invitation says, we hope Trump comes to California to see the devastation, to meet firefighters and survivors, and to get the facts instead of sniping from the sidelines,” the governor’s office said in a statement Saturday.

Times staff writer Taryn Luna in Sacramento contributed to this report.

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