The Latest: California Republicans uneasy over Trump’s threat to condition wildfire aid

President Donald Trump is remaking the traditional boundaries of Washington, asserting unprecedented executive power and daring anyone to stop him.

Here's the latest:

The Kremlin is closely monitoring Trump’s ‘statements and rhetoric’

The response from the Kremlin came Thursday after the US president threatened Moscow with further sanctions if an agreement isn’t reached to end the fighting in Ukraine.

In a post to his Truth Social site on Wednesday, Trump urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “settle now and stop this ridiculous war.”

“If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries,” Trump added in the post.

During his regular call with journalists on Thursday morning, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said these threats were nothing new. “Trump, in his first iteration of his presidency, was the American president who most often resorted to sanctions methods. He likes these methods,” Peskov said.

Peskov added that Moscow “remains ready for an equal dialogue, for a mutually respectful dialogue.”

Trump uses a false premise to justify conditioning California wildfire relief

In an interview aired Wednesday night, Trump said he may withhold aid to California until the state adjusts how it manages its scarce water resources. He falsely claimed that California’s fish conservation efforts in the northern part of the state are responsible for fire hydrants running dry in urban areas.

“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Local officials have said the conservation efforts for the delta smelt had nothing to do with the hydrants running dry as firefighters tried to contain flames around Los Angeles. They cited limited municipal systems, which are not designed to battle such massive blazes.

“Los Angeles has massive amounts of water available to it. All they have to do is turn the valve,” the president said.

Cracks emerge in House GOP after speaker’s threat to saddle California wildfire aid with conditions

California Republicans are pushing back against suggestions by President Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans that federal disaster aid for victims of wildfires that ravaged Southern California should come with strings attached, possibly jeopardizing the president’s policy agenda in a deeply divided Congress at the outset of his second term.

Several Republicans who narrowly won California House seats in November have expressed dismay that the state relief could be hitched to demands in exchange for helping the thousands of Californians in their districts still reeling from this month’s disaster.

“Playing politics with people’s livelihoods is unacceptable and a slap in the face to the Southern California wildfire victims and to our brave first responders,” Republican Rep. Young Kim, whose closely divided district is anchored in fire-prone Orange County, southeast of Los Angeles, said in a statement.

▶ Read more about Trump’s threat to withhold wildfire aid

House passes immigrant detention bill that would be Trump’s first law to sign

The House on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that requires the detainment of unauthorized immigrants accused of theft and violent crimes, marking the first legislation that President Donald Trump can sign as Congress, with some bipartisan support, swiftly moved in line with his plans to crackdown on illegal immigration.

Passage of the Laken Riley Act, which was named after a Georgia nursing student who was murdered last year by a Venezuelan man, shows just how sharply the political debate over immigration has shifted to the right following Trump’s election victory. Immigration policy has often been one of the most entrenched issues in Congress, but a crucial faction of 46 politically vulnerable Democrats joined with Republicans to lift the strict proposal to passage on a 263-156 vote tally.

“For decades, it has been almost impossible for our government to agree on solutions for the problems at our border and within our country,” said Sen. Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican. She called the legislation “perhaps the most significant immigration enforcement bill” to be passed by Congress in nearly three decades.

Still, the bill would require a massive ramp-up in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s capabilities, but does not include any new funding.

▶ Read more about the Laken Riley Act