[Video below.] Vice President J.D. Vance used a moment during a White House Cabinet meeting to make clear that he is not the unnamed “fat” friend President Donald Trump frequently refers to while recounting a story about a failed attempt with a weight-loss drug.
The clarification came as Trump, 79, was once again telling officials about an overweight businessman who tried a GLP-1 medication such as Ozempic and did not see results. Trump detailed the man’s experience while speaking in the Cabinet Room.
“I told him it wasn’t working. For him, it didn’t work,” Trump said. “He knows I’m talkin’ about him. It drives him crazy. He begs me not to mention it.”
Vance, 41, cut in at that point to distance himself from the anecdote and remove any doubt about who Trump was referring to.
“He’s not talking about me,” he said, drawing laughter from others in the room.
Trump has repeated versions of the same story many times, including in conversations with journalists and at public appearances. In his telling, the friend complains that Ozempic is significantly cheaper overseas than in New York, but still did not help him lose weight, leading Trump to joke that the drug “didn’t work” because the man is now “fatter than ever.”
The repeated anecdote has fueled speculation among critics about the identity of the person Trump is describing, with some pointing to high-profile figures such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk or White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, both of whom have publicly discussed weight-loss efforts.
Others have jokingly suggested that Trump could be referring to himself, particularly after he told The New York Times that he “probably” should be taking Ozempic but is not.
Vance, who lost roughly 30 pounds between 2022 and 2024, has generally not been included in those guesses.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the exchange.
Throughout Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, Vance mostly limited his participation to brief, lighthearted remarks, while other officials used their time to praise Trump’s leadership.
When Trump invited him to speak again near the end of the meeting, Vance kept it short and quipped, “I’m just here for the free coffee.”
Earlier in the session, Trump also pushed back on media reports suggesting he appeared to fall asleep during a prior Cabinet meeting, citing the length of that earlier gathering and attempting to dismiss the criticism.
The Thursday meeting was significantly shorter than the lengthy session held in December, with many Cabinet members voicing support for the president, though several officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, did not speak.
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{Matzav.com}
[Videos below.] Large snow-melting tubs have been put back into service across New York City for the first time in nearly five years as crews work to clear lingering snow left behind by Sunday’s deadly winter storm, the NY Post reports.
City sanitation officials said Wednesday that eight of the specialized machines, known as snow melters, were deployed early Tuesday to remove snow from streets, sidewalks, and bus stops that would otherwise remain for weeks because temperatures have stayed below freezing.
“The snow is just not melting at all, [and] we want to make sure we have enough real estate for businesses and pedestrians to get around freely,” Acting Department of Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan told The NY Post.
“In the next couple of days, they’ll notice the difference,” he said.
Each of the snow melters is capable of liquefying between 60 and 120 tons of snow per hour. The machines have been placed at locations such as Broad and Water streets in lower Manhattan, where massive piles of snow—some spanning the size of a football field—are fed into the tubs, which operate at about 38 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once the snow is melted, the resulting water is discharged directly into the sewer system with approval from the Department of Environmental Protection. Lojan said the placement of the melters depends on which sites receive the necessary environmental clearances.
The city last carried out a full-scale deployment of the snow-melting tubs in February 2021, after a powerful nor’easter blanketed New York with repeated rounds of heavy snow.
Sanitation officials also noted that the equipment was used on a more limited basis in February 2022.
Winter Storm Fern dumped close to 15 inches of snow in some neighborhoods, including 11.4 inches in Central Park and 14.9 inches in Washington Heights in upper Manhattan.
It marked the first time since 2021 that a single storm brought more than a foot of snow to the city.
The eight snow melters currently in use are part of a fleet of 27 owned by the Department of Sanitation and are positioned in Inwood and lower Manhattan, Orchard Beach in the Bronx, East New York and Red Hook in Brooklyn, Maspeth and Queensboro Hill in Queens, and South Beach in Staten Island.
Lojan said residents should expect to see the machines operating in neighborhoods for the next “several weeks.”
He added that another potential snowstorm forecast for the upcoming weekend could extend how long the melters remain in use.
“It depends on this weekend’s storm how much progress we make in the next few days,” the commissioner said.
“Obviously, we’re a little far out.”
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{Matzav.com}
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has been in contact with Iran and hopes the standoff with the Islamic Republic can be resolved without the use of force, even as the United States continues to bolster its military posture in the region.
The President made the remarks while speaking with reporters as he arrived alongside First Lady Melania Trump for the premiere of a documentary focused on the First Lady. Asked whether he has recently communicated with Iranian officials and whether further discussions are planned, Trump responded, “I have had, and I am planning on it,” before adding, “We have a lot of very big, powerful ships sailing to Iran right now. It would be great if we didn’t have to use them.”
Pressed on what he conveyed to Iranian leaders, Trump said he delivered two clear demands. “I told them two things: number one, no nuclear, and number two, stop killing protesters. They are killing them by the thousands. I stopped 837 hangings two weeks ago. They are going to have to do something.”
.@POTUS on Iran: "We have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now — and it would be great if we didn't have to use them." pic.twitter.com/hh9r4kpcrT
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 30, 2026
Trump’s comments came after a Wall Street Journal report that he has been briefed on a range of potential military responses to Iran. According to the report, the options were developed jointly by officials at the White House and the Pentagon.
Among the proposals reviewed was an expansive operation described as “the big plan,” which would involve widespread airstrikes against sites linked to Iran’s ruling clerics and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Other alternatives outlined to the President reportedly include limited attacks on high-profile regime symbols, with the option to intensify the campaign if Tehran continues advancing its nuclear program. The briefings also covered non-kinetic measures such as cyber operations against Iranian financial institutions and the tightening of economic sanctions.
Earlier Thursday, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the armed forces are prepared to act if Trump authorizes military action against Iran.
“We’re having to rebuild how our enemies perceive us. And when President Trump said, we’re not getting a nuclear Iran, you won’t have a nuclear bomb, you meant it,” Hegseth said.
Trump has repeatedly paired his warnings with expressions of hope for a diplomatic resolution. On Tuesday night, he again said he wants Iran to reach an agreement with Washington, while pointing out that American forces have been reinforced across the Middle East.
Addressing supporters at a rally in Iowa, Trump said, “There is another beautiful armada floating beautifully towards Iran right now. So we will see.”
“I hope they make a deal. I hope they make a deal,” he continued.
The President reinforced that message a day later on Truth Social, posting, “A massive Armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose. It is a larger fleet, headed by the great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela.”
He followed with a sharper warning, writing, “Like with Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary. Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS – one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!”
Trump concluded by invoking a previous confrontation, stating, “As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was ‘Operation Midnight Hammer,’ a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
{Matzav.com}
President Donald Trump, along with two of his sons and the Trump Organization, filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department, alleging the agencies failed to prevent the unlawful release of his tax information during his first term in office. The case stems from a breach for which a former IRS contractor admitted guilt in 2023.
The complaint, brought by Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization, asserts that the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Department failed in their “duty to safeguard and protect Plaintiffs’ confidential tax returns and related tax return information from such unauthorized inspection and public disclosure.”
According to the lawsuit, those failures led to “reputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished their business reputations, portrayed them in a false light, and negatively affected President Trump, and the other Plaintiffs’ public standing.”
The plaintiffs are seeking $10 billion in damages. The case was filed in federal court in Florida.
The suit follows criminal proceedings involving Charles Littlejohn, an IRS contractor who pleaded guilty in 2023 to unlawfully obtaining and leaking confidential tax records tied to Trump and thousands of other high-net-worth individuals to two media outlets in 2019 and 2020.
Littlejohn was sentenced to five years in prison. During his sentencing hearing in 2024, a federal judge described the disclosures as “an attack on our constitutional democracy.”
{Matzav.com}
