J.D.Vance Visits East Palestine On 2-Yr. Anniversary Of Train Derailment, Assures More Assistance To Ohio Community

US Vice President JD Vance speaks at the East Palestine Fire Department as he visits East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3, 2025. Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, were forced to evacuate in February 2023, when a Norfolk Southern train carrying chemicals derailed, covering the area in thick black smoke. (Photo by Rebecca DROKE / POOL / AFP) (Photo by REBECCA DROKE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
US Vice President JD Vance speaks at the East Palestine Fire Department as he visits East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3, 2025. (Photo by REBECCA DROKE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Abril Elfi
1:03 PM – Monday, February 3, 2025

Vice President JD Vance traveled to East Palestine, Ohio, on the second anniversary of the toxic train derailment that shook the Ohio community.

East Palestine is 20 miles south of Youngstown and 40 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance, his wife, joined local officials and other Republican Party leaders on Monday — flocking to the scene in order to view the remaining damage, give a speech, and discuss related matters with environmental agency representatives.

Vance was joined by Governor Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin, Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway (R-Ohio), and members of the village council.

The tragedy in East Palestine occurred on February 3rd, 2023, in which a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed and caught fire. The fire spread over several days, releasing extremely toxic fumes, oil spills, and forcing locals to flee their homes with their pets and most important belongings. It also prompted those in the area to worry about the long-term health and economic impacts of the derailment.

Zeldin noted that this was his first stop as the EPA’s new administrator.

“I know how much of a priority this is for Vice President Vance. And because it is such a priority for him, I will make sure that for the EPA it is our highest priority day in day out doing everything in our power to make sure this is completed as quickly as possible,” Zeldin said.

Vance also went on to praise several local officials in the village, including Conaway and Fire Chief Keith Drabick, as well as the village’s firefighters.

“I think this community will build back stronger, and part of that is because of the leadership of [Mayor Conaway] and of course the great firefighters. I know that a lot of you took it upon yourselves to make sure this community thrived and survived in the wake of that disaster,” Vance said.

“Whether you’re a United States Senator or the Vice President of the United States [Chief Drabick] tells you exactly what he thinks you need to hear,” Vance continued.

DeWine stated that he is looking forward to working with Zeldin and the Trump administration on continuing efforts to clean up the area following the derailment.

“This is a community that is resilient, is tough [and] is strong. It is a great, great community, it is a great place to raise a family. … But it is also a community that continues to need some assistance, and we’re certainly going to be doing that,” DeWine said.

The GOP vice president promised that the Trump administration would be completely transparent with how much longer the cleanup process would take, once they knew all the details. Vance also criticized the Biden administration for its lack of transparency following the initial incident, arguing that Biden officials were not clear or very concerned with the damage being inflicted on the community during Vance’s time as a U.S. senator.

“I would say, ‘well, when is the cleanup going to be done,’ and they’d give me a date, and I’d call a couple weeks after that date and I’d say ‘is the cleanup done’ and they’d say ‘no, it’s going to take another few months,’ Vance said.

“I’m not saying everything’s going to go perfect because it never does, but we’re always going to be honest and transparent with the people here,” Vance continued.

He later promised to continue long-term testing on the village’s air, water, and wells.

“People have to be confident that they can invest in a business here, that they can build a business here, that they can raise a family here. That’s going to take the long-term commitment of [not only] the Environmental Protection Agency, but the whole administration, and that’s certainly something that people here can expect and they’ll have,” Vance said.

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Donald And Melania Trump Celebrate 20th Wedding Anniversary

NEW YORK - OCTOBER 15: Real Estate mogul and TV personality Donald Trump and fiance Melania Knauss attend the Donald Trump Friars Club Roast Luncheon at the New York Hilton October 15, 2004 in New York City. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)
Real Estate mogul and TV personality Donald Trump and fiancé Melania Knauss attend the Donald Trump Friars Club Roast Luncheon at the New York Hilton October 15, 2004 in New York City. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)

OAN Staff Sophia Flores
4:40 PM – Tuesday, January 21, 2025

45th and 47th President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary today.

The president shared a heartfelt message and throwback photograph on social media to celebrate their wedding anniversary date, calling Melania an “extraordinary wife and a wonderful mother.”

The couple married on January 22nd, 2005, at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-By-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida.

Their luxurious wedding reportedly included endless amounts of caviar and Cristal champagne. In addition, the venue was adorned with “over 10,000 white orchids and roses” and was attended by at least 350 guests.

Some of the more notable attending guests were Bill and Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, Donna Summer, Billy Joel, Paul Anka, Shaquille O’Neal (Shaq), and Barbara Walters.

Melania, looking absolutely gorgeous as always, stunned in a $100,000 Christian Dior wedding gown. The dress consisted of a 13-foot train and was accompanied by a 16-foot-long veil that was covered in beading.

In her bestselling memoir, “Melania” the first lady recalled her wedding day and what was going through her mind before the celebration.

“Although my wedding was grand in scale … what I felt in my heart was what every other bride feels on her special day. The pressure to ensure everything went smoothly was certainly real, but ultimately, my primary focus was celebrating Donald and my love and commitment, surrounded by my loved ones,” she wrote.

A younger Donald Trump and Melania Knauss first met in 1998 at a New York fashion party.

Trump and Melania welcomed their only child together, a son named Barron Trump, on March 20th, 2006. The eldest son is currently a freshman at New York University, where he is enrolled in the NYU Stern School of Business.

During his 2024 presidential campaign run, Trump openly credited his 18-year-old son for playing a crucial role in winning the youth vote — suggesting certain podcasts that Trump, his father, should appear on.

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Trump Pays Tribute To Service Members Killed In Afghanistan On 3-Year Anniversary

Trump Pays Tribute to Service Members Killed In Afghanistan On 3-Year Anniversary

 Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump lays a wreath alongside Marine Cpl. Kelsee Lainhart (Ret.), who was injured at the Abbey Gate Bombing, during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on August 26, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Monday marks three years since the August 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which killed 13 American service members. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, lays a wreath alongside Marine Cpl. Kelsee Lainhart (Ret.), who was injured at the Abbey Gate Bombing, during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on August 26, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Monday marks three years since the August 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which killed 13 American service members. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

OAN Staff Abril Elfi
11:03 AM – Monday, August 26, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/trump-pays-tribute-to-service-members-killed-in-afghanistan-on-3-year-anniversary/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Former President Donald Trump honored the 13 service members who died three years ago during the United States’ chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal.

On Monday, Trump joined the families and loved ones of the fallen service members at Arlington National Cemetery.

On August 26th, 2021, 13 U.S. service members were killed along with almost 200 people by ISIS-K suicide bomber Abdul Rahman al-Logari, who detonated an explosive vest at Abbey Gate in Hamid Karzai International Airport.

Even though President Joe Biden shared a brief statement regarding the fallen service members, the White House and his administration do not have any events planned, as Biden is vacationing at his beach house in Delaware.

“These 13 Americans — and the many more that were wounded — were patriots in the highest sense,” Biden said. “Some were born the year the war in Afghanistan started. Some were on their second or third tour. But they all raised their hand to serve a cause greater than themselves — risking their own safety for the safety of their fellow Americans, Allies, and Afghan partners. They embodied the very best of who we are as a nation: brave, committed, selfless. And we owe them and their families a sacred debt we will never be able to fully repay, but will never cease working to fulfill.”

Vice President Kamala Harris also shared a statement, but she similarly did not have any events planned in regard to honoring the service members.

“As I have said, President Biden made the courageous and right decision to end America’s longest war,” Harris said Monday. “Over the past three years, our Administration has demonstrated that we can still eliminate terrorists, including the leaders of al-Qaeda [sic] and ISIS, without troops deployed into combat zones." I will never hesitate to take whatever action necessary to counter terrorist threats and protect the American people and the homeland.”

Meanwhile, the Trump team has continued to criticize Biden over how the evacuation was handled. Trump advisers skewered the current president for refraining from honoring service members with an official ceremony.

Trump adviser Brian Hughes told The New York Post in a statement that the anniversary is a reminder of “the failure of Harris and Biden to protect our standing in the world and the cost of that failure. Harris has proudly declared she was the last person in the room when she and Biden directed the botched withdrawal that cost the lives of Americans and our allies.”

Trump has previously had conversations and held events with Gold Star families. At the Republican National Convention (RNC) last month, a number of family members, including Christy Shamblin, took the stage to applaud Trump’s handling of the tragedy.

“While Joe Biden has refused to recognize their sacrifice, Donald Trump spent six hours in Bedminster with us,” Shamblin, the mother-in-law of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee said in Milwaukee.

“He allowed us to grieve. "He allowed us to remember our heroes,” she added.

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