Washington, D.C
Press: Dueling Republicans descend on Washington
The South Carolina primary gave both Trumpers and never-Trumpers something to cheer about. For Trumpers, it was the former president’s fourth victory in a row, catapulting him closer to securing the Republican nomination. For never-Trumpers, it was evidence that not all Republicans believe he should get a second chance. Fifty percent of Republicans voted against Trump in Iowa. Forty percent voted against him in South Carolina.
That fracture in the GOP was also on full display last weekend in Washington, where two wings of the Republican Party held dueling conventions. National Harbor hosted the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Downtown Washington’s Conrad Hotel welcomed members of Principles First. They were both Republican gatherings, but they could not have sent a more dissimilar message to the American people.
No surprise, CPAC was pure “MAGA Central.” Over the first two days, like a mini-version of “The Apprentice,” politicians vying to be Donald Trump’s running mate — entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) — took turns wooing the crowd.
The star of the show, of course, was Trump himself, who vowed in a chilling speech that reelection would be his “ultimate and absolute revenge,” would serve as “judgment day” for his political opponents and would result in the “biggest deportation in American history.”
The MAGA crowd endorsed Trump over Nikki Haley, 94-5 percent. What a contrast with the scene at the Principles First conference, which I attended. Founded in 2019 by a group of right and center-right conservatives who didn’t like where Trump was taking the Republican Party, Principles First has emerged as the home base of conservative Republicans opposed to Trump.
In a Saturday panel, three former top Trump staffers — presidential assistant Alyssa Farah Griffin, deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson — painted their former boss as a serious danger to the country.
Charlie Sykes, a former conservative talk show host and founder of The Bulwark, stressed that Trump didn’t represent true conservatives. “We’re still Republicans,” he insisted, “but we’re not crazy. We signed up for a libertarian party, not a fascist party.”
Sunday morning, three prominent legal conservatives — attorney George Conway, former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) and retired federal judge J. Michael Luttig — warned that Trump’s reelection would pose a threat to “American democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law.” And they blasted conservative organizations like the Federalist Society for not opposing Trump’s authoritarian agenda.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), member of the January 6 Committee, wrapped up the event. Like others before him, he stressed that he was still a Republican who believed in limited government. But, Kinzinger added, “I want to make this clear. If it comes down in November to Trump vs. Biden, I’m going to vote for Biden.” The crowd of Republicans roared its approval.
In her remarks, Hutchinson reminded the audience of former Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-Wyo.) criticism of fellow Republicans for slavishly following Donald Trump: “There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”
Just the opposite is true of those brave Republicans who attended the Principles First conference. They may not succeed in stopping him. But there will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, and the honor of those who dared stand up and oppose him will remain.
Press hosts “The Bill Press Pod.” He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Washington, D.C
12th Honor Flight Tallahassee returns home from successful trip to Washington D.C.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Seventy-two veterans took a trip Saturday to our nation’s capital to visit memorials honoring their service in the armed forces.
This year marks the 12th trip to Washington, D.C. for Honor Flight Tallahassee.
Early Saturday morning, veterans and their guardians met to take a charter flight up to D.C.
Throughout the day, veterans were taken to the World War II memorial, as well as the Korean and Vietnam War memorials. The veterans also visited Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
More Tallahassee news:
The day ended with a wonderful welcome home celebration.
Our Jacob Murphey, Julia Miller, Taylor Viles, and Grace Temple accompanied the veterans, capturing moments from throughout the day.
The team will have live coverage from Washington, D.C. on Monday to share more from the day’s events.
We will continue to have coverage throughout the month of May, leading up to our Honor Flight special on Memorial Day.
To keep up with the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Nextdoor and X (Twitter).
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Copyright 2026 WCTV. All rights reserved.
Washington, D.C
Storm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week
4 things to know about the weather:
- Chances of rain in the morning
- Gusty Sunday
- Chilly Monday
- Temps will rise again through the work week
Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.
After a nice and warm Saturday, changes arrive for part two of the weekend.
The first half of your Sunday will have a chance for showers. Winds will pick up with our next system and are expected to gust to about 20-30 mph. Cooler air will settle in, and lows Sunday night fall into the 40s.
Highs temps Monday will reach only into the mid to upper 50s.
However, temperatures will rise through the week, so you won’t need your jackets every day.
QuickCast
SUNDAY:
Showers, then partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 30 mph
HIGH: Lower 60s
MONDAY:
Partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 25 mph
HIGH: Upper 50s
Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.
Washington, D.C
‘It’s a twilight zone’: Iran war casts deep shadows over IMF gathering in Washington
The most severe energy shock since the 1970s, the risk of a global recession and households everywhere stomaching a renewed surge in the cost of living – hitting the most vulnerable hardest.
In a sweltering hot Washington DC this week, the message at the International Monetary Fund meetings was chilling: things had been looking up for living standards around the world. But then came the Iran war.
“Some countries are in panic,” said the fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, addressing the finance ministers and central bank bosses in town for the IMF and World Bank spring meetings. “The sooner it [the Iran war] ends, the better for everybody.”
Such gatherings are not typically used to fight geopolitical battles. “You don’t get people shouting at one another at these things,” one senior figure remarked. But, as a record-breaking April heatwave swept the US capital, no one could ignore the mounting damage from the Iran war.
Those familiar with the mood over breakfast at a meeting of the G20’s representatives on Thursday, which included Donald Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and the outgoing US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell – said the atmosphere in the room was sombre amid an open exchange of serious views.
“It is such a twilight-zone meeting,” said Mohamed El-Erian, a former IMF deputy managing director who is now chief economic adviser at the Allianz insurance group. “There are several shadows hanging over it: one is the shadow that comes from concern about the global economy as a whole.
“The second is that some countries are going to be particularly hard hit, and it’s mostly countries that very few people are talking about. But the third concern is the adding of insult to injury: the fact that the US, which started a war of choice, is going to be hit, but by a lot less than elsewhere in relative terms.”
Before Thursday’s breakfast, Rachel Reeves had started her day with an early-morning jog. Joined by her counterparts from Spain, Australia and New Zealand for a run down the iconic National Mall, she posted an Instagram selfie with a not-so-subtle dig: “Friends that run together – work together.”
A day earlier, the chancellor had told a CNBC conference that she thought “friends are allowed to disagree on things” as she criticised Trump’s Iran war as a “mistake” and a “folly” that had not made the world safer.
Speaking at a venue just steps away from the White House, before a one-on-one meeting with Bessent, she said this “fair message” was needed because UK families and businesses were feeling the pain from higher energy prices triggered by the conflict.
Those close to Reeves insist her meeting remained cordial. Britain and the US have significant shared interests in AI, financial services and trade. The chancellor also said the UK government had little time for the Iranian regime.
But with the IMF having warned on Tuesday that the Iran war could risk a global recession – in which Britain would be the biggest G7 casualty – it was clear Reeves had travelled to Washington ready to pick a fight.
“I’m struck by how vocal she has been and the words she used,” said one global financier. “We know the disagreement between Bessent and [European Central Bank president] Christine Lagarde earlier in the year. But that was in private.”
At a cocktail party held at the British ambassador’s residence for hundreds of diplomats and financiers – including the Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of Barclays, CS Venkatakrishnan, and dozens of senior figures – this transatlantic tension, weeks before King Charles’s US state visit, was a major topic of conversation.
The other, in the balmy residence gardens, was one of its former occupants, Peter Mandelson, as revelations about the former ambassador’s appointment threatened to further rock the UK government.
Before the war, the agenda for the IMF had been about global cooperation; the adoption of AI, jobs and work to eradicate poverty. Each of those tasks had now been complicated, but not least the task of countries working together.
For many at the meetings, the focus was on forging closer global cooperation without the world’s pre-eminent superpower.
“Everybody is talking about how you hedge against American decisions,” said David Miliband, the former UK foreign secretary, who now runs the International Rescue Committee. “You can’t do without them, because they’re 25% of the global economy. But, in a lot of fora, they’ve pulled out.
“So everyone has to think, how does one structure international cooperation? The old west is not coming back. And so everyone has to figure out how to position themselves for that world.”
For those gathering in Washington, there was irony in the fact that they were meeting in the halls of institutions founded, under US leadership, to promote global cooperation after the second world war. The whole idea of the Bretton Woods institutions was to avoid the dire economic conditions and warfare of the 1930s and 1940s. Yet this year’s meeting was taking place amid these intertwining problems.
In their conversations about the best economic policy response to the shock of conflict, the economists also knew the real power to make a difference lay two blocks across town from the IMF and the World Bank – behind the security cordons and construction equipment blocking the White House from public view. “It is not clear they can do anything about it,” said El-Erian.
Still, with a booming economy driven by AI – including Anthropic’s powerful Mythos model, the topic of much conversation – most countries cannot afford to completely break off US ties.
“People want to find ways to insulate themselves from the mess. But, on the other hand, they admire the US private sector,” El-Erian said. “The best way I’ve heard it put, is: they want to go long the private sector and short the mess. But it’s almost impossible to do.”
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