President Donald Trump has said the U.S. was sending a hospital ship to Greenland because people there are not getting care, but the claim faces pushback. He said in a Truth Social post Saturday that the ship was already on the way, though at the time he posted, the two U.S. ships appeared to be docking in Alabama. Publicly available ship tracking data shows that on Tuesday one of the ships, the USNS Mercy, went out to sea. It's not clear from the public data where the ship is headed, and Pentagon officials didn't comment when asked about its destination. The leaders of Greenland and Denmark have defended their health care system in response to Trump's allegations.
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President Donald Trump has used a record-length State of the Union to argue that the country is “winning” under his leadership, even as his approval ratings slide. In Tuesday's speech, the president focused on jobs, manufacturing and an economy he says is stronger than many Americans believe. Trump tried at points to appeal to bipartisan patriotic sentiments, introducing a series of surprise guests that included U.S. military heroes and the Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team. Trump also highlighted his immigration crackdowns and spending cuts. Democratic lawmakers stayed seated without clapping during most of Trump's speech, and when Democrats heckled him, Trump proclaimed, “You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Democrats are focusing on health care in the November elections and making it a key issue. Republicans have cut Medicaid through new work requirements and they've declined to extend COVID-era subsidies. That's led to increased costs for people covered under Affordable Care Act plans. Democrats are using campaign ads and personal stories to emphasize the impact on Americans. Jon Ossoff is one Democrat in a tough reelection campaign this year. The Georgia senator said at an Atlanta-area rally Saturday that health care cuts are part of Donald Trump's abandonment of working people. Republicans have struggled to pass legislation to offset health costs. Democrats see a chance to gain leverage in the midterms.
AP Wire
The Trump administration has launched TrumpRx, a website it says will help patients buy prescription drugs directly at a discounted rate. “You’re going to save a fortune,” President Donald Trump said at the site’s unveiling Thursday night. The government-hosted website is not a platform for buying medications. Instead, it’s set up as a facilitator, pointing Americans to drugmakers’ direct-to-consumer websites, where they can make purchases. It also provides coupons to use at pharmacies. The site launches with over 40 medications, including weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy. The site is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to show it’s tacking the challenges of high costs.
AP Wire
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has given a full-throated defense of President Donald Trump's military operation to oust and arrest then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Rubio also used his wide-ranging congressional testimony Wednesday to touch on Greenland, NATO, Iran and China. In the first public hearing since the Jan. 3 intervention to depose Maduro, Rubio said Trump had acted to take out a major U.S. national security threat in the Western Hemisphere. Rubio said America was safer and more secure as a result and that the Republican administration would work with interim authorities to stabilize the South American country.
Wire
Diet-related illnesses are a growing burden on the United States economy, worsening health disparities and impacting national security, according to a white paper published Monday in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.