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Former President Trump on Tuesday complained that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was not gracious enough to him for backing his first gubernatorial bid, the latest sign of a growing rift between the two men ahead of a possible 2024 presidential primary showdown. “Ron is a person, I’ve always had a decent relationship with him, but when I endorsed him, he was gone,” Trump told NewsNation in an interview from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. (NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which purchased The Hill in 2021.)

Big wonder today.

Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder told supporters to be “gracious in defeat” as he conceded the results of the recall election on Tuesday night, which Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) won in a landslide, crushing an effort to unseat him. As of Wednesday morning, the “no” vote led the “yes” vote by nearly two-to-one (64.2.% to 35.8%), a stunning result given that several polls of likely California voters in late July showed Newsom within the margin of error or even losing. “We may have lost the battle, but we are going to win the war,” Elder told supporters, urging them...

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney did not vote for Donald J. Trump in 2016. Representative Martha McSally of Arizona may not have, either, but she will not say. And Senator Dean Heller of Nevada now insists that he did cast his ballot for Mr. Trump, but for many months, he would not reveal his vote. Senator Bob Corker supported Mr. Trump, but seemed to regret it last year when he concluded that the country had deposited an unruly toddler in the Oval Office. Yet as each of these Republicans pursues a Senate run this year — or in the case of...

President Trump, in his third week in office, met with a class of Green Beret candidates and brought them into the Oval Office for the first time in the course’s history. The 18 Army officers in the Special Forces Qualification Course, or “Q-course,” were visiting the National Security Council in early February, as a normal part of the course. But this time, Deputy Assistant to the President Sebastian Gorka, who was scheduled to speak to the students, had suggested that they meet the president. The plan was to take them into the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing of the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. John McCain says the absence of ailing Ted Kennedy in pushing health-care reform has made a "huge, huge difference" in whether legislation gets passed. McCain praised Kennedy, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, as a master negotiator who could bring together parties with different points of view and make the right concessions to reach agreement. McCain said health-care reform might be in a very different place today if Kennedy had been able to participate in the discussions.

DAWN WALTON Globe and Mail Update Calgary — Former U.S. president George W. Bush defended his decision to invade Iraq, said “risk takers,” not government are needed to salvage the world economy and offered his advice to current U.S. administration during a luncheon speech in Calgary. In his first public address since U.S. President Barack Obama moved into the White House, Mr. Bush was greeted with a standing ovation when he took the podium by close to 2,000 guests who paid $4,000 per table. “This is my maiden voyage. My first speech since I was the president of the United...

For Cindy Nooney's 3-year-old twin boys, playing with the Thomas the Train set at their local bookstore in Southern California is a major thrill. Jack and Sam push Thomas, Arthur and friends down the track, they run around the table, jump up and down — and, of course, they squeeeaal. Nooney expects as much in the children's section of the store. But on a recent afternoon, she was surprised by an employee who confronted her, calling her darling Jack a tyrant. "He was a little loud but this is a children's section," says Nooney. "They run a noisy, cavernous bookstore...

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The National Association of Theater Owners wants the Federal Communications Commission to allow the blocking of cell phone signals in theaters. John Fithian, the president of the trade organization, told the Los Angeles Times theater owners "have to block rude behavior" as the industry tries to come up with ways to bring people back to the cinemas. Fithian said his group would petition the FCC for permission to block cell phone signals within movie theaters. Some theaters already have no cell phone policies and ask moviegoers to check their phones at the door,...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Oct. 20, 2005) -- Good things really do happen to good people. At least that’s what Cpl. Matthew Castaneda found out months after saving a 71-year-old woman from her burning car. Two weeks after being recognized by the city of Oceanside for his heroic efforts Sept. 21, Castaneda, an electronic technician with 1st Maintenance Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group, received a good deed of his own. His 2000 Dodge Stratus, which needed more than $5,000 worth of repairs, was going to be fixed for free. “To us as a family it’s a really...

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (KKT) Up Close and Personal G'day, It was a fairly cool late afternoon considering the 93+ degrees that Baltimore experienced today. I arrived at the Baltimore Brewing Company at about 4:40 pm. After looking around for other FReepers, I made my protest sign, which said: Queen Kathleen for Governess... Because Maryland Needs Royalty The flip side was: Ruxton Proud with a picture of a snowplow plowing a street (referring to the time her husband had the State of Maryland snowplow crews clear their Ruxton home's driveway.). I then started to walk over toward the old Power Plant...