Washington, D.C
Youngkin calls DC's transparency over drone sightings 'insufficient' – Washington Examiner
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) attempted to quell concerns over reported drone sightings in Virginia, but also called for federal authorities to release more information about the phenomenon.
Reports of drone sightings in various parts of the country, mostly in New Jersey, have caused national headlines, as residents express concern over what the flying objects may be. While federal officials have downplayed the flying objects, Youngkin called on officials to share more information with the public.
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“The Commonwealth of Virginia is home to a significant number of national security and critical infrastructure sites upon which our nation depends each and every day. I remain deeply concerned that Virginia has consistently sought information from federal partners, and to date, the information shared with the Commonwealth has been insufficient,” Youngkin said in a statement Saturday.
The Virginia governor also said that he would continue to work with state law enforcement and emergency officials to gather more information about the reported sightings.
“The Virginia State Police Homeland Security Division and Virginia Department of Emergency Management continue to closely coordinate through our Fusion Center with the greater law enforcement and first responder community regarding drone activity in the Commonwealth,” he added. “We will continue to engage with numerous federal partners and release further information as it becomes known and available.”
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The White House downplayed the reported sightings in a press call on Saturday, saying there was a “slight overreaction” from the public over the alleged incidents.
Officials said that many of the reported drones were likely manned aircraft, with many of the sightings near LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark airports in the New York City area, matching flight paths. A Department of Homeland Security official on the call said that “no threat has been identified from the drone sightings.”
Washington, D.C
D.C. server fired for saying she would refuse to serve some Trump officials
A server in Washington, D.C. has been fired after she said she would refuse to serve certain officials in Donald Trump’s incoming administration who have been accused of sexual misconduct.
The server was working at Beuchert’s Saloon on Capitol Hill when she made the comments to Washingtonian magazine for a story about D.C. preparing for the influx of Trump officials to the city’s dining spots.
After the story ran, Fox News ran its own story following up on her comments and learned she had been fired for what her employer called her “base prejudice.”
“I personally would refuse to serve any person in office who I know of as being a sex trafficker or trying to deport millions of people,” Suzannah Van Rooy told the magazine. “It’s not, ‘Oh, we hate Republicans.’ It’s that this person has moral convictions that are strongly opposed to mine, and I don’t feel comfortable serving them.”
She said that while she expects most servers will just grin and bear having to serve people they are morally and ideologically opposed to, she hopes that some will make their opposition clear.
“People were a lot more motivated the first time around to do those kinds of shows of passion. This time around, there is kind of a sense of defeat and acceptance,” she told the magazine. “But I hope that people still do stand up to this administration and tell them their thoughts on their misbehavior.”
Beuchert’s called Van Rooy’s comments to the magazine “unacceptable.”
“Recent comments made by a member of staff who had no authority to speak on behalf of our entire restaurant have been, quite rightly, flagged as inappropriate, hostile, intolerant, and unacceptable. This staff member does NOT speak for us as a restaurant,” the restaurant said in a statement.
As previously reported, a number of incoming Trump officials — and Trump himself — have been accused of sexual misconduct. Elle magazine writer E Jean Carroll was awarded more than $80 million following a defamation trial in which he was found liable for sexual abuse.
Former congressman Matt Gaetz was being investigated by both the Department of Justice and the House Ethics Committee for allegations of sexual relations with a minor before he dropped out of consideration for Trump’s Attorney General.
He withdrew his nomination hours before CNN published a report about a second alleged sexual encounter with a 17-year-old girl.
Elon Musk —who has been been tapped by Trump to co-lead the “Department of Government Efficiency” pseudo-agency alongside failed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy — has been sued by eight former SpaceX employees over sexual harassment-related allegations.
In the lawsuit, former employees allege Musk “treated women as sexual objects to be evaluated on their bra size, bombarding the workplace with lewd sexual banter.”
Trump’s proposed defense secretary, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, was accused of sexually assaulting a staff member from the California Federation of Republican Women in 2017, and Robert F Kennedy Jr — Trump’s nominee for the Department of Health and Human Services — has been accused of sexually assaulting a former babysitter in the 1990s.
Linda McMahon, Trump’s proposed pick for Secretary of Education, has been named in a lawsuit alleging that her and her husband, former WWE head-honcho Vince McMahon, failed to stop an employee form sexually abusing children in the 1980s and 1990s.
Vince McMahon is also being sued for allegedly sex trafficking a woman in his employ.
This isn’t the first time drama involving the Trump administration and D.C.-area restaurants has made headlines.
Former Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was kicked out of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia in 2018 by its co-owner, saying that she “publicly defended the president’s cruelest policies.”
Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters made headlines shortly after she called for supporters to confront Trump officials in public spaces like restaurants to let them know the public opposed their policies. Republicans argued at the time that Waters was encouraging public harm to administration officials.
Around the same time, protesters confronted Trump’s then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen while she was dining at a local Mexican restaurant and voiced their opposition to the administration’s mass deportation policies.
The protesters, including members of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America, entered the MXDC Cocina Mexicana near the White House with signs and jeered at the official.
Van Rooy has removed her LinkedIn profile, likely to avoid harassment by angry Trump supporters.
Washington, D.C
The Trump Organization eyes deal to convert DC Waldorf-Astoria back into Trump International Hotel: report
The Trump Organization is eyeing a possible reclamation of the Old Post Office building that is leased as a Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington, D.C.
According to the New York Post, citing three sources familiar with the matter, the Trump Organization is exploring various possibilities, including a licensing arrangement or a purchase of the lease for the historic Old Post Office building.
The building is 125 years old and government-owned.
“Our family has saved the hotel once. If asked, we would save it again,” Eric Trump told the outlet.
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According to the outlet, sources said President-elect Trump is considering hospitality investments in the D.C. region, though there has been no formal communication with Waldorf Astoria regarding a potential deal.
TRUMP TO TURN D.C.’S OLD POST OFFICE INTO HOTEL
According to sources, the final decision about whether the incoming president’s organization will seek to reclaim the property or pursue a licensing agreement remains pending.
Trump sold the Washington, D.C., hotel’s lease in May 2022 to a Miami-based investor fund.
The Trump Organization won rights to fix the building and run it as a hotel in exchange for paying the annual rent and a cut of profit upon a sale.
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The incoming president’s organization transformed the historic building into a 275-room luxury hotel.
Fox News Digital has reached out to a Hilton Group for comment.
Washington, D.C
D.C. restaurant server fired after comments about refusing service to some Trump officials
A Washington, D.C.-area restaurant server has been fired after she spoke out about possibly refusing service to incoming Trump administration officials.
“I personally would refuse to serve any person in office who I know of as being a sex trafficker or trying to deport millions of people,” Suzannah Van Rooy, a server at Beuchert’s Saloon on Capitol Hill, told the Washingtonian this week. “It’s not, ‘Oh, we hate Republicans.’ It’s that this person has moral convictions that are strongly opposed to mine, and I don’t feel comfortable serving them.”
Her remarks were part of a report about whether there would be local “resistance” to certain Trump figures when they were in public settings again after several high-profile incidents during his first term. They included then-aide Sarah Huckabee Sanders being ejected from a restaurant in Lexington, Va., and protesters swarming then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at a D.C. Mexican establishment.
“People were a lot more motivated the first time around to do those kinds of shows of passion. This time around, there is kind of a sense of defeat and acceptance,” Van Rooy said, according to the Washingtonian. “But I hope that people still do stand up to this administration and tell them their thoughts on their misbehavior.”
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According to a review of her LinkedIn page on Friday, which has since been taken down, Van Rooy listed her duties as doing daily operations, messaging strategies for the restaurant, developing relationships with influencers, and managing in-house events for political figures and VIPs.
Her page also said she worked as an organizer for Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s failed run for governor in 2022.
Beuchert’s Saloon told Fox News Digital that Van Rooy’s remarks were “reprehensible” and she had been fired for violating their “zero-tolerance policy on discrimination.”
Beuchert’s said the former employee was a part-time server and not a manager. It put out statements on social media condemning her remarks after being made aware of them on Thursday.
“Recent comments made by a member of staff who had no authority to speak on behalf of our entire restaurant have been, quite rightly, flagged as inappropriate, hostile, intolerant, and unacceptable. This staff member does NOT speak for us as a restaurant,” Beuchert’s initial statement on Thursday said.
“After the inauguration in January, we will begin serving our fourth administration as a neighborhood restaurant on Capitol Hill open to all and welcoming to all. We have always been a safe space for all. Everyone, especially anyone who feels prejudged or misunderstood, will always find friendly service and a sympathetic ear at Beuchert’s Saloon. Again, we deeply apologize for the comments made by a member of staff. They are NOT representative of our restaurant and do not reflect how we operate as a business, and how proud we are to be a gathering place on Capitol Hill.”
WASHINGTON, D.C., POLITICAL BAR TAKES DOWN REPUBLICAN SYMBOL AFTER FIERCE BACKLASH
By Friday, the restaurant said it had decided to dismiss the server because of this incident, calling her comments and subsequent behavior, “unforgivable.” It also said she had signed on to the restaurant’s social media accounts to speak on behalf of the restaurant without authorization.
“Not only do Ms. Van Rooy’s comments clearly violate our zero-tolerance policy on discrimination, but her decision to sign into our social media accounts in the middle of the night to post her own rhetoric in wildly offensive responses to comments is a further breach of conduct and protocol. She has no authority to speak on our behalf, and her comments do not reflect the positions of over twenty other people who make up our staff,” the Friday statement read.
“For these reasons as well as the sheer dismay and disgust we feel at her unforgivable behavior, Ms. Van Rooy has been dismissed immediately. Our staff and families (many of whom are personally offended by Ms. Van Rooy’s comments about them) are still reeling from what Ms. Van Rooy said and did, and we as a restaurant are simply horrified to be associated with base prejudice.”
The comment went on to urge the entire restaurant not to be blamed for her rogue actions.
“We are still the same restaurant known for its warm service and friendly staff, and hope you will all visit us soon. We look forward to serving you. All of you,” it wrote.
Fox News Digital reached out to Van Rooy for comment.
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