Salem News Channel

Melania Trump planned a rare appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to join a roundtable discussion with House lawmakers who are sponsoring legislation to update a nearly 30-year-old foster care program by broadening access to a range of services. The first lady began working on foster care issues after President Donald Trump's first term in office ended in 2021. Her trip to the branch of government at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue follows a similar and successful lobbying effort last year for Congress to send legislation to the president to protect women and children from online sexual exploitation. The visit also comes a week after Melania Trump's surprise on-camera statement at the White House in which she denied ties to Jeffrey Epstein and knowledge of his crimes, and urged Congress to hold a hearing for his victims. She also demanded an end to “lies” linking her to the late financier and convicted sex offender. The first lady said on social media that she looked forward to working with Congress to “advance new legislation designed to protect and empower individuals from the foster care community.” Their shared mission, she said, is "to strengthen America’s next generation.” She was meeting Wednesday afternoon with members of the House Ways and Means Committee, and people who were in foster care. Republican and Democratic members of the committee have introduced several bills to update the Chafee foster care program to improve outcomes for young people aging out of the foster care system. The measures would increase their access to housing, education and workforce training programs, among other things, to help them succeed in the transition to adulthood and independence. The program provides support to foster youth and former foster youth, ages 14 to 21, as they leave the system. The committee said the bipartisan proposals would be the most significant update since the Chafee program was created in 1999. The Government Accountability Office published a report in January 2025 detailing how states were returning millions of dollars in unused Chafee program funds to the federal government, despite unmet needs of foster youth. Last November, President Trump created the “Fostering the Future” program by executive order to have federal entities, nonprofits, educational institutions and the private sector work together to improve career and educational opportunities for children raised in foster care. The first lady, who joined her husband in the Oval Office for the executive order signing, separately spearheads a broader “Fostering the Future” initiative that is part of the “Be Best” child-focused campaign she launched during his first presidential term. The program offers scholarships to current and former foster youth. Last month, she hosted a similarly themed summit with counterparts from more than 40 countries and called on them to work together to improve access to education and technology for children around the world. In March 2025, Melania Trump used her first public appearance after resuming the role of first lady to join a Capitol Hill roundtable discussion of the Take It Down Act. President Trump signed the bill into law two months later, making it a federal crime to knowingly publish or threaten to publish intimate images without a person’s consent. Last week, Melania Trump and the White House separately called attention to the first conviction under the new law after an Ohio man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to cybercrimes that included real and AI-generated sexually explicit images and threats of violence to numerous victims.

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Pakistan’s army chief has arrived for talks in Tehran in the latest diplomatic move to ease tensions in the region and arrange a second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran. That's according to the Pakistani military, which said Wednesday that the delegation included Field Marshal Asim Munir, the country's interior minister and other senior security officials. The military said the visit was “part of the ongoing mediation efforts,” but gave no further details. Pakistan has emerged as a key mediator in the conflict. It also hosted rare direct talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad.

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Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk, withdrew on Tuesday from a Turning Point USA event featuring U.S. Vice President JD Vance due to threats on her life, the vice president said. "I know that she did get some threats," Vance told an audience of University of Georgia students in Athens, Georgia. "I was a little worried that we were going to have to cancel the event because Erika was not going to come, and she was very worried about it." Vance said he had talked to the Secret Service and was not concerned about his own safety. He gave no details about the threats to Erika Kirk, who is the CEO of Turning Point USA. The Secret Service and Turning Point did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A gunman, who faces murder charges, killed Charlie Kirk in September during a campus speaking event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Authorities describe the shooting as politically motivated. Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA to galvanize young voters for conservative causes. The killing intensified debate over political violence in the United States, prompting condemnation from officials across the political spectrum and leading to increased security at subsequent campus events involving high-profile political figures.

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The tax filing deadline for most Americans is Wednesday, and the Trump administration is highlighting the impacts of Republicans' massive tax and spending law. The law includes eliminating taxes on tips and overtime, exemptions for interest on certain car loans, and new deductions for some seniors. The administration says more than 53 million filers claimed deductions under these provisions, as of Tuesday. Despite these changes, recent polling shows that 7 in 10 Americans still think their taxes are too high. The IRS has faced leadership turnover and workforce reductions, and on Wednesday, its CEO Frank Bisignano is set to testify before the Senate Finance Committee.

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Can New York City Make a Comeback?

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emocrats Abandoning Swalwell Means They Are Up to Something

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Kindness isn’t a slogan; it’s refusing to let good news die in the darkness of partisan hatred.

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When a dedicated cop trying to do his job gets railroaded like this, it’s not justice — it’s open season on the Thin Blue Line. With Patrick Brosnan, host of The Batcave on AM 970.

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M & M Experience: Immigration Enforcement & Gen Z's Disturbing Trend With Mike Gallagher, host of The Mike Gallagher Show, 9-12 on The Salem Radio Network and Salem News Channel | @GallagherShow

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With Brian Jodice, National Press Secretary of the American Federation for Children | FederationforChildren.org | @BrianJodice

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With Luke Pettit, Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets, U.S. Treasury ||| @USTreasury

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Faith & Freedom 250 - Episode 24: Christianity & The Civil Rights Movement Courtesy of The Herzog Foundation.

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The Trump administration has fired four Justice Department prosecutors who worked on cases involving anti-abortion activists. Officials say the move comes amid accusations that the Biden administration misused a law designed to protect abortion clinics from obstruction and threats. The Justice Department says it will not tolerate what it calls a “two-tiered system of justice,” arguing that past prosecutions were politically driven. Critics, however, say the firings are politically motivated and raise concerns about the independence of federal law enforcement.

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A California woman says she was raped by Congressman Eric Swalwell in 2018 and plans to file a report with law enforcement. Lonna Drewes made the allegation during a news conference, claiming Swalwell drugged and sexually assaulted her at a hotel. She also alleged she lost consciousness during the incident. Swalwell’s attorney has not publicly responded to the latest accusation. The claim comes as Swalwell recently withdrew from California’s governor’s race amid growing controversy.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson says he urged President Donald Trump to remove a controversial AI-generated image posted on Truth Social that depicted the president in a religious, Jesus-like portrayal. The image sparked backlash from critics and supporters, who questioned its appropriateness and tone. Johnson confirmed he spoke with Trump about the post and encouraged him to take it down following growing public criticism. The controversy comes amid broader debate over Trump’s recent social media activity, including other provocative posts that have drawn attention from lawmakers and religious leaders.

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The House has approved a new aviation safety bill aimed at preventing future midair collisions, following last year’s deadly crash near Washington, D.C. that killed 67 people. Lawmakers say the legislation addresses key safety recommendations by requiring aircraft flying near busy airports to be equipped with advanced tracking and locator systems. The National Transportation Safety Board has said such technology could have helped prevent the collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter. The bill now moves forward as lawmakers continue working to strengthen the measure and build broader support before it becomes law.

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Vice President J.D. Vance says there are signs Iran may be willing to reach a deal, even as deep mistrust between the two countries remains a major obstacle. Speaking during a Turning Point USA event in Georgia, Vance said progress is being made in negotiations, but cautioned that rebuilding trust between the United States and Iran will take time. He noted that Iranian negotiators have shown interest in reaching an agreement, despite recent talks in Pakistan ending without a final deal. Vance emphasized that the U.S. is looking for long-term commitments from Iran, particularly on its nuclear program, as a key condition for any agreement moving forward. The comments come as both sides signal a willingness to continue diplomacy, even amid rising tensions and uncertainty surrounding a fragile ceasefire.

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President Trump versus the Pope

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President Donald Trump's administration plans to launch next Monday the system it will use for issuing refunds to American importers for $166 billion the companies paid in tariffs that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in February as unlawful. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a court filing on Tuesday that it has completed the development of the initial phase of the refund system, known as CAPE. The system will consolidate refunds so importers will receive one electronic payment, with interest when applicable, rather than processing refunds on an entry-by-entry basis. Agency official Brandon Lord made the declaration in the filing with the New York-based Court of International Trade. The agency disclosed the CAPE launch date in a separate announcement on Friday. The Supreme Court ruled that Trump overstepped his authority in imposing sweeping global tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law meant for use in national emergencies. Tuesday's filing said that as of April 9 some 56,497 ?importers had completed the process to receive electronic refunds for tariffs affected by the court's ruling, an amount totaling $127 ?billion. The agency has said it plans to roll out the refund system in phases. Lord said in his declaration that the agency is considering options for processing refunds on a subset of entries that were subject to $2.9 billion in tariffs. Lord said these normally would require manual processing, which would dramatically increase the workload and divert personnel from the agency's trade operations and enforcement. After the Supreme Court's decision, importers sued for refunds in the Court of International Trade, which is monitoring the development of the refund system. More than 330,000 importers paid the tariffs at issue on 53 million shipments of imported goods, according to court documents. Customs and Border Protection has said the CAPE system will initially process refunds on recently imported goods and straightforward entries. Many ?smaller importers feared the cost of the refund process would outweigh the benefits of trying to get reimbursed, forcing some companies to explore creative financing options related to refunds. Trump denounced the Supreme Court after its ruling and imposed a new temporary global tariff under a different law, though that also has been challenged in court.

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Israel’s Long War and Suffering

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