Trump's National Guard Victory, Real Story Behind Drug Boat Strikes, KJP on Tour: AM Update 10/21

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Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly.
It's Tuesday, October 21st, 2025, and this is your AM update.

A major win for the Trump administration as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals allows the National Guard to deploy to Portland.

We'll have so much critical mineral and rare earths that you won't know what to do with them.

President Trump and the Australian Prime Minister agreeing to a framework deal aimed at increasing cooperation in producing rare earth minerals.

You get in line and you start to crack down on some of these foreign terrorist organizations and these narco-terrorists. And if you don't, then we will.

President Trump carries out another strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs to the United States. But what's the end game here? And Carrine Jean-Pierre's book tour is off to a ridiculous start.

All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.

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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals delivering a major victory to the Trump administration on Monday, permitting National Guard troops to be deployed to Portland, Oregon to protect immigration operations, as predicted by AM update.

After more than three months of turmoil and attacks at an ICE facility in Portland, the Department of Homeland Security on September 26th, requesting from the Department of War, quote, immediate and sustained assistance to safeguard federal personnel, facilities, and operations in the state of Oregon.

The next day, President Trump writing on Truth Social that he had directed War Secretary Pete Hegseth, quote, to provide all necessary troops to protect war-ravaged Portland.

Secretary Hegseth on September 28th calling up 200 members of the Oregon National Guard into federal service, quote, immediately for a period of 60 days.

The city of Portland and the state of Oregon suing.

And despite the case being assigned to the Trump-appointed judge, Karen Immergut, plaintiffs won a temporary restraining order or TRO prohibiting the federalization and deployment of members of the Oregon National Guard.

In response, the Trump administration, capitalizing on the words Oregon National Guard, instead sending 100 members of the already federalized California National Guard to Portland with plans to send more, possibly from Texas and other states.

Judge Immergut then issuing a second TRO stopping Trump from deploying any federalized members of the National Guard to Oregon.

Judge Immergut ruling that Trump likely exceeded both his statutory and constitutional authority in sending the Guard to Portland.

The Trump administration only appealing the first TRO, explaining that it believed Judge Immergut would be required to dissolve both of them if the Trump administration prevailed, since they relied on the same legal reasoning.

By a two-to-one vote, the court siding with Trump's Department of Justice and issuing a stay on Judge Immergut's ruling from the majority opinion.

Quote: We conclude that it is likely that the president lawfully exercised his statutory authority, which authorizes the federalization of the National Guard when the president is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.

The evidence the president relied on reflects a colorable assessment of the facts and law within a range of honest judgment.

The two judges in the majority, Judges Bridget Bade and Ryan Nelson, both appointed by Donald Trump in Trump 1.0.

Though the Ninth Circuit has been traditionally dominated by liberal judges, thanks to Trump 1.0, it is now more balanced with 16 Democrat-appointed judges and 13 Republican appointees, thus increasing Mr.

Trump's chances of getting a fair hearing before this court.

Judge Susan Graeber, a President Bill Clinton nominee, issuing a blistering dissent, quote, today's decision is not merely absurd, it erodes core constitutional principles, including sovereign states' control over their states' militias and the people's First Amendment rights to assemble and to object to the government's policies and actions.

Lawyers for Oregon and Portland immediately asking for an on-bank rehearing, another appeal before the Ninth Circuit's chief judge and 10 randomly selected judges.

An unnamed judge on the Ninth Circuit also calling on the court to vote on whether to hold an on bank hearing.

Lawyers on both sides have until midnight midnight Wednesday to file arguments on whether there should be such a rehearing. Regardless, Monday's decision is unlikely to be the last word on this issue.

Judge Immergut has scheduled a trial on the full case on October 29th.

President Trump on Monday meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House, signing an agreement to increase production and refinement of rare earth minerals, which are key components for producing electronics and advanced technologies.

China currently controls the vast majority of the world's extraction and refinement capabilities, yesterday's meeting coming just shy of President Trump's November 1st deadline to cement a new trade deal with China.

President Trump routinely emphasizes the importance of rare earth mineral production to U.S. national security.

The infamous Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February was supposed to end with a signed rare earth agreement between the U.S.

and Ukraine, that deal ultimately not signed until late April of this year. Here, Mr.
Trump amplifies the goal of flooding the market with rare earth minerals.

We are discussing critical minerals and rare earths, and we're going to be signing an agreement that we work together very much on rare earths, critical minerals, and lots of other things.

In about a year from now, we'll have so much critical mineral and rare earths that you won't know what to do with them. They'll be worth about $2.

The partnership, underscoring a broader push to loosen China's grip on the global supply chain.

President Trump is planning to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in South Korea.

On a somewhat lighter note, one reporter yesterday asked President Trump about disparaging comments made by the Australian ambassador to the U.S., Kevin Rudd. Mr.
Rudd, in the past, calling Mr.

Trump, quote, the most destructive president in history, a quote, traitor to the West, and quote, a village idiot. The ambassador has previously apologized for the comments.

President Trump, responding to the question, apparently unaware the ambassador was seated across the table.

I don't know anything about him. I mean, if you said bad, then maybe he'll like to apologize.
I wrote a no, did an ambassador say something bad about him?

Don't tell me.

Where is he? Is he still working for you? Yeah, yeah.

Before I came on. You said bad?

Before I took this position, Mr. President.
I don't like you either.

I don't. And I probably never will.

Funniest president ever.

Coming up, former acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolfe weighs in on speculation that the Trump administration is considering and possibly pushing for regime change in Venezuela.

And former White House Press Secretary Corrine Jean-Pierre, not ready to ditch her old bad habits.

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On Sunday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announcing another U.S. strike on a vessel allegedly carrying drugs from South America to the U.S.

Secretary Hegseth posting to X, quote, the vessel was known by our intel to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was traveling along a known narco-trafficking route, and was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics.

Hexeth is saying the vessel was affiliated with a Colombian guerrilla group known as ELN, a designated terrorist organization, and was operating in the U.S. Southern Command's area of responsibility.

This announcement marking the seventh known strike in recent weeks, killing more than 30 alleged drug smugglers. Most of the destroyed vessels originating from Venezuela.

We spoke to former Acting Secretary of Homeland Security under the first Trump administration, Chad Wolf, about President Trump's new approach to combating cartels.

He's indicated we're essentially at war with these narco-terrorists. So I think that's the approach that they're sending.
So you asked the question, well, why don't we arrest them?

When you're at war with folks, you're not sending in law enforcement. individuals to arrest folks, right? You're taking a different approach.

And I think that's what the Trump administration is trying to send a signal in doing that.

Part of this is President Trump and his team clearly wants to send a signal to others in the region that if you continue this type of action, you continue to smuggle illicit narcotics into the United States, the same actions could fall on you as well.

White House officials posting videos online showing the seemingly unsuspecting vessels in question zipping across the sea when all of a sudden the screen flashes and moments later, what's left is a plume of smoke and scattered wreckage.

Some lawmakers expressing concern over the strikes, U.S.

senators from Arizona, Mark Kelly, a Democrat, and Rand Paul from Kentucky, a Republican, saying the administration is overstepping its authority. Wolf disagrees.

The president and his team, and they've alerted Congress to this fact as well, you know, they're going to take that threat off of the off of the playing board.

You know, they're doing this obviously in international waters, so they have the legal right. to do this as well.
But again, I think the Trump team's taking a look at that as well.

I think it's important that

the cartels or these narco-traffickers, however you want to refer to them, they're not common criminals.

These are, in some cases, sophisticated multinational organizations, billion-dollar operations, and you can't just arrest your way out of it. You got to take action.

In addition to the strikes against alleged Venezuelan drug boats, President Trump confirming last week that his administration has authorized CIA action in Venezuela.

Ruled by authoritarian leader Nicholas Maduro, Venezuela has long been at odds with the U.S.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio regularly asserting that Washington does not recognize Maduro as the country's legitimate president. Chad Wolf again here.

The Venezuelan people picked another leader, but yet Maduro is still holding power. And so, you know, you've got a couple of things going on there.

You've got Maduro, who is not, in the United States of view, the rightful leader of the Venezuelan people.

At the same time, you've got a Venezuelan economy and country that is failing if it's not failed already.

And so you've got the Chinese, you've got the Iranians operating out of Venezuela, you've got a whole host of things that are going on in Venezuela that the United States is looking at.

President Trump and his team are looking at and say, we don't like any of it.

They're taking action because they don't believe that the individual Maduro in this case is a rightful leader of the Venezuelan people.

These moves, fueling speculation among some that the administration could be laying the groundwork for regime change. Wolf has his doubts.

When you have someone like Maduro who leads through intimidation, fear, and he's got the military and others, then the question becomes, how long do you allow this to operate in your backyard, particularly as he exports terror, as he exports various drugs, illicit narcotics to the United States?

The president is sending a very clear signal, not only to Maduro, but to others in the region.

Either you get in line and you start to crack down on some of these foreign terrorist organizations and these narco-terrorists. And if you don't, then we will.

Former Biden White House press secretary Carie Jean-Pierre, the first black queer female press secretary ever, she would want you to know that, joining the Bulwark podcast with host Tim Miller yesterday, promoting her new book, Independent, in which Jean-Pierre explains why she's abandoning the Democratic Party after more than two decades.

As a black woman.

who was obviously part of the Democratic Party, and I'm speaking for myself here. And again, I'm trying to start a conversation, but black women have been the backbone of the Democratic Party.

Black women have been on the front lines of the Democratic Party. And what I have seen over and over again is that for the most part, in large part, we are left out of the process or we are forgotten.

And I feel like... Groups who have stood by the party leadership get forgotten and are not included.
I want them to work for my vote.

I want to actually stand outside of the two party lines and speak up and push and push from where I am. The system should not be about parties.
It should be about people, people power.

Dems leave black women out of the process. That will come as news to Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's vice president and the most recent Democrat nominee for president.

Also, while Jean-Pierre says she wants Democrats to work for her vote, she also said on CBS yesterday she could not vote for a Republican. What's she thinking? Green Party?

Throughout the interview, Corine Jean-Pierre casting blame on Democrats, accusing them of ignoring the voices of millions of people and throwing marginalized communities under the bus, which actually is true.

However, her burst of honesty was fleeting. Blink and you'd miss it.

Here she is arguing that President Biden regularly appeared publicly while president and quite frequently dealt with the press and the people. We did have legislative wins.
Sure.

He didn't talk about them that well, though. He couldn't talk about them.
He wasn't campaigning. No, no, no.

Wait, first of all first of all you're he did talk about them whether it it it broke through or not he did tim he did talk about i mean

he talked way less to the press than donald trump does way less and he wasn't out there at all he wasn't good off the cuff he wasn't doing press conferences let's just be real like he didn't do events

that's not true tim you're conflating all of it that that's what you're no you're first you're telling me he didn't talk well about it then you're telling me he didn't talk at all he didn't do either he didn't talk very often and when he did it wasn't very good he sounded very old people weren't paying attention to what we were doing at the white house but i paid attention that i'm with you on the policies i'm talking about his performance the president the president spoke to the american people a couple times a week he traveled and did domestic travel and talked directly to the american people he traveled sure jan the truth is that by 2024 axios was reporting that joe biden had held fewer press conferences and media interviews than any of the last seven presidents.

Not surprising since he only worked 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with aides saying they couldn't schedule him on the weekends, mornings, or in the evenings.
Contrast that with Donald J.

Trump, who can seem literally inhuman in his appetite for work and for communicating with the press and the people.

Listen to the Associated Press's White House reporter eight months ago describing it here.

One of the questions we get the most as White House reporters is, what is the difference between covering President Trump and and President Biden?

One of the first and most obvious changes is how often President Trump speaks to the media. We're hearing from him several times a day sometimes.

For example, on Friday, he spoke to the press when he left the White House to fly to North Carolina.

He spoke to the press when he landed in North Carolina.

He spoke to the press two more times in North Carolina. And then again, when he was in California visiting a wildfire site out there.

This is the type of pace that we're coming to expect from President Trump.

And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly.

Join me back here for the Megan Kelly Show, live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at Noon East, on youtube.com/slash Megan Kelly, and on all podcast platforms.

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