Category: Blaze Media
Hilton Hotels cuts loose hotel location accused of refusing to host ICE agents
A wave of online outrage has led Hilton Hotels to cut off an independently owned hotel location in Minnesota that was refusing to allow federal immigration agents to book rooms.
The Department of Homeland Security called out the famous hotel chain in a social media post on Monday, claiming that federal agents were denied service at the Hampton Inn by Hilton in the Minneapolis suburb of Lakeville.
‘A recent video clearly raises concerns that they are not meeting our standards and values. As such, we are taking immediate action to remove this hotel from our systems.’
“[Hilton Hotels] has launched a coordinated campaign in Minneapolis to REFUSE service to DHS law enforcement,” the agency said in a statement. “When officers attempted to book rooms using official government emails and rates, Hilton Hotels maliciously CANCELLED their reservations. This is UNACCEPTABLE.”
Hilton was immediately lambasted by many who threatened to cancel their reservations over the alleged incident.
Very soon afterward, an investigation from the company led to an initial apology from the offending hotel.
“Everpeak Hospitality has moved swiftly to address this matter as it was inconsistent with our policy of being a welcoming place for all,” the statement reads. “We are in touch with the impacted guests to ensure they are accommodated.”
The controversy dragged on into Tuesday, however, when evidence on social media showed that the hotel location continued refusing service to ICE.
Hilton responded with a definitive action against the Lakeville hotel.
“The independent hotel owner had assured us that they had fixed this problem and published a message confirming this,” reads a statement on social media.
RELATED: Anti-ICE activists hold Home Depot operations hostage with disruptive ice-scraper stunt
“A recent video clearly raises concerns that they are not meeting our standards and values. As such, we are taking immediate action to remove this hotel from our systems,” the company said. “Hilton is — and has always been — a welcoming place for all. We are also engaging with all of our franchisees to reinforce the standards we hold them to across our system to help ensure this does not happen again.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem previously said the agency was sending an influx of agents to investigate fraud schemes in Minneapolis. Critics of the action have said the administration’s rhetoric has led to hate speech against people in the Somali community who had nothing to do with the scams.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Republican congressman injured in ‘pretty bad’ car accident
Republican Rep. Jim Baird of Indiana and his wife, Danise Baird, have been hospitalized following a car crash.
The couple’s vehicle “was struck in an accident,” according to a statement from Baird’s office, and Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly indicated that Baird may have suffered a spinal injury.
‘They’re going to be okay, but they had a pretty bad accident.’
Nevertheless, Baird, 80, “is expected to make a full recovery,” his office said.
“He is extraordinarily grateful for everyone’s prayers during this time.”
Fox News reported that Baird is “responsive and in stable condition.” Details of when and where the crash took place remain unclear.
RELATED: California Republican suddenly dies at age 65
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
President Donald Trump expressed wishes for the Bairds’ speedy recovery during an address to a House GOP legislative retreat at the newly renamed Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday.
“I also want to send our best wishes to Congressman Jim Baird and his wife, who are recovering from a car accident,” Trump said. “They’re going to be okay, but they had a pretty bad accident, and we’re praying that they get out of that hospital very quickly.”
Reports about the car accident involving the Bairds came shortly after news broke that Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) died suddenly earlier this week after reportedly suffering an aneurysm and later a heart attack during surgery. He was 65.
LaMalfa’s death and the resignation of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) now leave Republicans with a slim 218-213 majority in the House.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
‘I wouldn’t ask for no f**king charity!’: Mickey Rourke blasts ’embarrassing’ GoFundMe plea
Actor Mickey Rourke says asking for handouts is not his style.
Earlier this week, a GoFundMe page was created by sources close to Rourke who claimed he needed help paying back rent on his Los Angeles home in order to avoid eviction.
”I’d rather stick a gun up my ass and pull the trigger.’
The fundraiser page was organized by Liya-Joelle Jones for the benefit of Kimberly Hines, the page says. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jones is Hines’ assistant, and Hines has been Rourke’s manager for nearly a decade.
Under the gun
“Fame does not protect against hardship, and talent does not guarantee stability. What remains is a person who deserves dignity, housing, and the chance to regain his footing,” the fundraiser wrote.
Stating that Rourke’s “full permission” was given, the page said he needed $60,000 to avoid losing his home. Now, with donations at over $100,000, the campaign has been paused after Rourke posted a video to his Instagram page denouncing the fund.
“I wouldn’t ask for no f**king charity. I’d rather stick a gun up my ass and pull the trigger,” Rourke began, with his dog on his lap.
RELATED: ‘Frankenstein’ director’s AI warning: It’s here to ‘debase’ our humanity
“I don’t understand it,” the actor continued. “I wouldn’t know what a GoFund foundation is in a million years. My life is very simple. I don’t go to outside sources like that. And yeah, it is embarrassing,” he added.
Rourke explained that he would never approve a charitable cause for his benefit, and urged fans and supporters to stop giving money and seek refunds.
Anger management
Since the video was posted late Monday, Hines has spoken out about the campaign despite both her and Jones reportedly posting the page “with Mickey’s permission.”
In a phone call with the Hollywood Reporter, Hines said that in 48 hours, her management team had paid for Rourke to move into a hotel, have his clothing packed, and put his belongings in a storage unit.
“All of this is being paid for by his management team, which is me,” Hines said. “We said, ‘Mickey, there’s some people that want to help you out.’ He’s like, ‘OK, great.’ I don’t think he understood, and now it’s taken on this media frenzy, and he flipped out,” she went on.
Photo by Panayotis Tzamaros/NurPhoto via Getty Images
After confirming the fundraiser was legitimate, Hines further explained that the locks were being changed on Rourke’s home as she spoke, and she was setting him up with an apartment in Koreatown.
Return to sender
Hines blamed the state of Rourke’s home on the property owner, who allegedly raised the rent from $5,200 to $7,000 in mid-2024. The house was allegedly littered with black mold, had no running water, and was heavily damaged.
Hines added that Rourke told her he had been receiving calls from all over the world asking to give him money, and she told him to let them help. However, before stating that Rourke “has to say” that he did not know who started the fund, she was happy to return the money to donors if he would not accept it.
“This money has been to help Mickey. If Mickey doesn’t want the money, the money will go back. It’s putting me in a very bad position where now I’m financing his move and the hotel and the movers and his storage. Mickey was cool with getting help the other day. And now Mickey’s like, ‘I’m not taking charity.'”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
‘More corrupt than Minnesota’: Trump mocks Newsom after launching California fraud investigation
President Donald Trump is once again taking aim at Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “corrupt” leadership.
Trump announced that his administration would be launching an investigation into California fraud, which he estimates is worse than the fraud in Minnesota. This investigation in California comes after weeks of reporting that highlighted the billions of dollars in potentially fraudulent funding for Somali businesses and day cares in Minnesota, which Trump’s administration has also fought against.
‘He’s got a good line of crap.’
“California, under Governor Gavin Newscum, is more corrupt than Minnesota, if that’s possible???” Trump said in a Truth Social post Tuesday. “The Fraud Investigation of California has begun. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
This is not the only line of attack Trump has launched against the Democratic governor.
RELATED: ‘Let others worry’: Scandal-plagued Tim Walz announces he will not seek third term
Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Trump later mocked Newsom and his fellow Democrats during an address to congressional Republicans, calling their cognitive abilities into question.
“Do you think Walz could pass a cognitive test?” Trump asked, referring to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D). “Do you think Kamala could? I don’t think Gavin could. He’s got a good line of crap, but other than that, he couldn’t pass.”
“He didn’t want to have water coming down from the Pacific Northwest,” Trump said of Newsom’s leadership during the devastating Palisades fires.
“They cut it off, and then they have 25,000 houses burn down. They don’t know why.”
Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Newsom blamed Trump’s immigration policy for the slow rebuilding of the Palisades after thousands of homes burned down in January 2025. Although this happened under Newsom’s leadership, the governor argues that Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids have prevented development projects from progressing.
“Donald Trump’s reckless, inhumane immigration raids have destroyed communities and have had massive negative impacts on efforts to rebuild from the LA fires,” Newsom said in an X post on Monday. “His actions have been disastrous across the board.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Microsoft gets 400 million AI subscribers in ‘overnight’ switch
Paid Microsoft subscribers can now be considered artificial intelligence users.
The massive change comes as Microsoft has officially changed its flagship Microsoft 365 suite to be integrated with AI.
‘Genius move. Rebrand Office, instantly “acquire” 400M AI users.’
Microsoft announced the official shift in a support post, revealing it is now integrating its Copilot AI app into programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, as well as PDF services.
“The Microsoft 365 Copilot app is your everyday productivity app for work and life that helps you find and edit files, scan documents, and create content on the go,” the company wrote.
With an estimated 430 million paid user licenses for Microsoft 365 worldwide as of mid-2025, the company can now say it has by far the most AI subscribers, with OpenAI reaching just 5 million last August. At the same time, Grok itself estimates it has about 1.4 million paid users.
RELATED: 2025 is so over and so is virtual reality
Microsoft has been talking about the integration for at least a year, stating in January 2025 that Copilot was the “top reason” subscribers chose to pay for Microsoft 365.
Along with taking the creation of slideshows and to-do lists off a user’s plate, the Copilot app was boasted as being involved in nearly every daily task. This included using Copilot to “analyze your budget,” “create a recipe,” or read a user’s emails for them and provide a summary.
At the same time, Microsoft said that it does not use “prompts, responses, or file content (such as Word documents or Excel spreadsheets)” from users to train its AI models.
Photo by Ying Tang/NurPhoto via Getty Images
User reactions were mixed when responding to the change in a viral X post by Ask Perplexity. The account has over 385,000 followers, and the post was seen more than 2 million times.
“400 million users just became ‘AI users’ overnight,” the account wrote.
“They laughed at me when I said I was gonna use bootleg Windows 8 forever,” one woman replied, seemingly looking to avoid the AI integration.
A self-proclaimed IT professional said, “It seems like every day I see more and more negative changes for Microsoft.”
However, many others applauded the move. For example, Katya Fuentes, who lists herself as working for an AI company, said Microsoft’s shift was “all upside.”
“Genius move. Rebrand Office, instantly ‘acquire’ 400M AI users,” she claimed.
At least one response offered an alternative to Microsoft’s mandatory AI infusion. LibreOffice, a document and spreadsheet competitor, added: “If anyone wants, you know, an actual office suite, we’re here.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
California Republican suddenly dies at age 65
Update: Reports now indicate that Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa passed away after suffering an aneurysm and later a heart attack during surgery.
Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California has tragically passed away at just 65 years old, according to multiple statements from GOP lawmakers issued Tuesday morning.
LaMalfa was a fourth-generation rice farmer representing California’s 1st congressional district, an agricultural area in Northern California. LaMalfa dedicated over two decades of his life to public service, first as a state legislator and later serving in Congress from 2013 to 2026.
‘Doug brought grit, authenticity, and conviction to everything he did in public service.’
In the wake of the sudden tragedy, many of LaMalfa’s colleagues expressed shock and extended their condolences to his family on social media.
Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
“Jacquie and I are devastated about the sudden loss of our friend, Congressman Doug LaMalfa,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (Minn.) said in a post on X. “Doug was a loving father and husband, and staunch advocate for his constituents and rural America. Our prayers are with Doug’s wife, Jill, and their children.”
Republican Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, who also chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, reflected on his friendship with LaMalfa, recounting personal memories with the late congressman.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of my colleague and close friend, Congressman Doug LaMalfa,” Hudson said in a statement. “Doug was a principled conservative and a tireless advocate for the people of Northern California. He was never afraid to fight for rural communities, farmers, and working families. Doug brought grit, authenticity, and conviction to everything he did in public service.”
RELATED: ‘It’s a death sentence’: Former Republican senator reveals tragic cancer diagnosis
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
“I cherished our time serving together on the Agriculture Committee and discussing NASCAR — he was a real gear head and motorsports fan. I will deeply miss my ‘amigo.’ Renee and I are praying for his beloved wife, Jill, as well as Kyle, Allison, Sophia, Natalie, and all his loved ones, friends and staff during this incredibly difficult time.”
The House majority now sits at 218 Republicans and 213 Democrats.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa’s reported cause of death.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
McRib fake-out? Sticky lawsuit claims no ‘actual pork rib meat’ in fan-favorite McDonald’s menu item
A class-action lawsuit filed last month is challenging McDonald’s over a cult-favorite menu item, the McRib.
The lawsuit, filed on December 23 in U.S. District Court in Chicago, alleges that McDonald’s engaged in false advertising when promoting the limited-time menu item.
‘We’ve always been transparent about our ingredients so guests can make the right choice for them.’
The four plaintiffs in the complaint are Peter Le of Baldwin Park, California; Charles Lynch of Poughkeepsie, New York; Darien Baker of Chicago, Illinois; and Darrick Wilson of Washington, D.C.
RELATED: McDonald’s team admits workload on hated AI Christmas ad ‘far exceeded’ live-action shoots
Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images
The complaint claims that the McRib “does not contain any meaningful quantity of actual pork rib meat — indeed, none at all.” The plaintiffs claim that the fast-food chain uses lower-quality cuts of meat instead of rib meat, including, “inter alia, pork shoulder, heart, tripe or scalded stomach.”
In December 2024, when the McRib was available, the complaint shows that the McRib was one of the most expensive individual items on the menu, even exceeding the price of a Big Mac on average.
As a result, had they “known that the McRib did not contain any actual pork rib meat, [the plaintiffs] would not have purchased the McRib or would only have purchased it for a lower price.”
In a statement obtained by CBS News, McDonald’s USA said, “This lawsuit distorts the facts, and many of the claims are inaccurate. Food quality and safety are at the heart of everything we do — that’s why we’re committed to using real, quality ingredients across our entire menu. Our fan-favorite McRib sandwich is made with 100% pork sourced from farmers and suppliers across the U.S. We’ve always been transparent about our ingredients so guests can make the right choice for them.”
CBS also reported that McDonald’s denied the specific claim that the McRib contains pork hearts, tripe, or scalded stomach and that the company said the McRib has a base of 100% seasoned boneless pork.
The complaint emphasizes that the marketing for the McRib was “materially misleading” for consumers, potentially affecting their purchasing decisions.
The McRib was first introduced in Kansas City in 1981.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
CDC announces massive overhaul of child vax schedule, drops numerous recommended jabs
At the time President Donald Trump took office last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was recommending that all American children get vaccines for 18 diseases, loading kids up with more than twice as many doses as their European counterparts were receiving.
As the result of an overhaul of the schedule announced on Monday, the agency is now recommending universal childhood vaccinations for only 11 diseases.
‘America will no longer require 72 “jabs” for our beautiful, healthy children.’
Trump issued a presidential memorandum last month directing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Jim O’Neill, the acting CDC director, to “review best practices from peer, developed countries for core childhood vaccination recommendations — vaccines recommended for all children — and the scientific evidence that informs those best practices.”
In the event that they found that foreign practices were superior to current domestic recommendations, Trump tasked Kennedy and O’Neill with updating the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule accordingly.
O’Neill discussed childhood vaccine recommendations and policy with health officials from various first-world nations as well as with vaccine safety experts at the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
RELATED: How Big Pharma left its mark on woke CDC vax advisory panel — and what RFK Jr. did about it
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
He also reviewed a comprehensive scientific assessment that not only compared American vaccine recommendations with dozens of other first-world nations but “analyzed vaccine uptake and public trust, evaluated clinical and epidemiological evidence and knowledge gaps, examined vaccine mandates, and identified next steps.”
The CDC indicated that the assessment “found that the U.S. is a global outlier among developed nations in both the number of diseases addressed in its routine childhood vaccination schedule and the total number of recommended doses but does not have higher vaccination rates than such countries.”
O’Neill ultimately approved a corresponding decision memo from the agency heads of the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare, recommending immunization for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilius influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus, and chickenpox for all children.
While the core schedule now recommends only these 11 — just one more than is recommended in Denmark — the CDC recommends on an individual basis: RSV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal B, meningococcal ACWAY, and dengue vaccines for “high-risk groups” and hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza, and COVID-19 vaccines.
The overhaul has evidently vexed elements of the medical establishment who oversaw the precipitous decline in trust in U.S. public health.
‘This decision protects children.’
“Today’s announcement that HHS is drastically altering the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule without a transparent process or clear scientific justification represents the latest reckless step in Secretary Kennedy’s assault on the national vaccine infrastructure that has saved millions of lives. His actions put families and communities at risk and will make America sicker,” Ronald Nahass, the president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said in a statement.
Ofer Levy, director of the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, likewise questioned the transparency of the process, suggesting “not all of this was really hashed out in a discussion that was available for the public to listen to and participate in.”
O’Neill noted that these changes are part of a broader effort to regain the trust of the American people.
“One of the consequences was parents declining recommended vaccines for their children,” stated O’Neill. “Parents who think that more than 80 doses per child is too many may now consider giving their children the 10 vaccines in the international consensus of 20 nations, plus the varicella vaccine.”
Kennedy thanked O’Neill for his “leadership and bravery” and noted that “this decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health.”
“This Schedule is rooted in the Gold Standard of Science, and widely agreed upon by Scientists and Experts all over the World,” Trump stated on Truth Social.
“Effective today, America will no longer require 72 ‘jabs’ for our beautiful, healthy children,” continued the president. “We are moving to a far more reasonable Schedule, where all children will only be recommended to receive Vaccinations for 11 of the most serious and dangerous diseases.”
Trump and federal health officials emphasized both that parents can continue to give their children the vaccinations dropped from the schedule and that insurance will continue to cover them.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Tiny Caribbean island agrees to offload asylum seekers from US after Trump admin restricts visas
The small Caribbean island nation of Dominica has come to an agreement with the United States as the nation works to resolve some broader restrictions President Trump placed on it late last year.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced Monday that Dominica will begin accepting foreigners seeking asylum in the United States, the Associated Press reported.
‘The prime minister still has not told the Dominican public what exactly he has agreed to.’
However, many details about the deal are still unknown, including the number of asylum seekers and whether Dominica has the capacity to absorb them, according to Thomson Fontaine, the leader of the country’s main opposition party, the United Workers Party.
“The prime minister still has not told the Dominican public what exactly he has agreed to, in terms of the numbers of persons that are going to come to Dominica, where will they be housed, how will they be taken care of,” Fontaine told the AP.
RELATED: Trump amplifies call for pausing ‘all legal immigration of any kind’
Photo by Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images
Dominica has a population of merely 72,000 people.
Skerrit did not provide details about the deal when asked by Fox News, but he did confirm that he has been in ongoing discussions with U.S. officials after the broader visa limitations were announced on December 16.
President Trump announced entry restrictions on several countries last month, including partial restrictions on Dominica. These visa restrictions went into effect on January 1.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Illegal alien truckers with California licenses accused of hauling $7M in cocaine across state lines
Two illegal alien truck drivers who obtained commercial driver’s licenses from California are accused of smuggling $7 million worth of cocaine across the Midwest.
‘Sanctuary policies put American lives at risk.’
Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sunday lodged detainers against 25-year-old Gurpreet Singh and 30-year-old Jasveer Singh after local authorities arrested the two Indian nationals in Putnam County, Indiana.
The men were driving a semitruck along I-70 when an Indiana State Police trooper pulled them over for a routine traffic stop on Saturday, according to local reports.
The trooper’s K-9 unit gave a positive alert, prompting the officer to conduct a more thorough search of the truck. The trooper allegedly discovered 309 pounds of cocaine hidden in the truck’s sleeper berth.
The men were reportedly traveling from Joplin, Missouri, to Richmond, Indiana.
They were charged with a Level 2 felony of dealing narcotics.
Gurpreet Singh. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
The Department of Homeland Security reported that the men were allegedly smuggling enough drugs to kill over 113,000 Americans.
Gurpreet Singh illegally entered the U.S. in March 2023 and was released into the country by the Biden administration. The DHS reported that he admitted to law enforcement that he was illegally in the U.S.
Jasveer Singh illegally entered the country in March 2017. He was arrested in San Bernardino, California, in December for allegedly receiving stolen property. ICE placed a detainer against him, but California did not honor it, and he was released from local custody.
RELATED: Border Patrol nabs 49 illegal aliens with commercial driver’s licenses
Jasveer Singh. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
The DHS blamed California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom’s policies for allowing the illegal aliens to obtain CDLs amid growing concerns about the surge of unqualified foreign nationals in the American trucking industry. Newsom’s office has repeatedly rebutted these criticisms by claiming that California’s CDLs for foreign nationals are issued in compliance with federal guidelines, based on work authorization documents provided by the U.S. government.
“Thanks to Gavin Newsom’s reckless policies, these two criminal illegal aliens were granted commercial driver’s licenses by the state of California and were arrested for trafficking a whopping 300 pounds of cocaine inside a semi-truck,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated. “Gavin Newsom and his fellow sanctuary politicians even refused to honor an arrest detainer on one of these criminal illegal aliens in December. Sanctuary policies put American lives at risk. ICE law enforcement lodged arrest detainers to ensure these drug traffickers are not allowed back into American communities.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
