Disturbing New Details About Would-Be Trump Assassin, Coal EOs, Hegseth Warns China： AM Update 4⧸9
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Summary
New details on the alleged would-be Trump assassins plans, including plans to purchase a rocket launcher from Ukraine. President Trump announces a new slate of executive orders to boost the coal industry, the Supreme Court sides with the Trump administration for the third time in a week, and China will not be weaponized in the Panama Canal. All that and more coming up in just a moment on Your AM Update.
Transcript
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Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Wednesday, April 9th, 2025, and this is your
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AM Update. New details on the alleged would-be Trump assassins plans, including plans to
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purchase a rocket launcher from Ukraine. Pound for pound, coal is the single most reliable,
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durable, secure, and powerful form of energy. President Trump announcing a new slate of
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executive orders to boost the coal industry. The Supreme Court sides with the Trump administration
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for the third time in a week. China did not build this canal. China does not operate this canal.
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And China will not weaponize this canal. And Defense Secretary Hegseth putting China on notice
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with a warning about who controls the Panama Canal. All that and more coming up in just a moment on
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Federal prosecutors writing in a court filing this week that alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Wesley
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Ruth attempted to purchase a rocket launcher from Ukraine in the weeks leading up to the planned
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attack. The 58-year-old suspect, who was caught lying in wait for Trump at one of his Florida
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golf courses, previously wrote to a Ukrainian contact, quote, send me an RPG, rocket-propelled
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grenade, or stinger, and I will see what we can do. Trump is not good for Ukraine. Mr. Ruth, inquiring
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about purchase options and shipping, writing, quote, going to the local store for such an item is impossible.
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However, you are at war, so those items lost and destroyed daily. One missing would not be noticed.
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The filing alleges Mr. Ruth spent considerable time researching then-candidate Trump's movements,
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the Trump golf course, and possible escape routes. The suspect also sent a picture to the Ukrainian
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contact, whose identity and position remain unknown, of Trump Force One, writing,
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Trump's plane. He gets on and off daily. Prosecutors say Mr. Ruth illegally purchased an SKS rifle setting
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up a sniper hideout near Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach in the early morning hours
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of September 15th. Mr. Trump set to play a round later that day. In the early afternoon, Secret Service
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agents spotting the barrel of a rifle poking out of the bushes along the course. Agents opening fire,
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the suspect escaping through the trees. Approximately 40 minutes later, authorities stopping Mr. Ruth
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on the interstate. Police recovering handwritten notes with dates of venues where Mr. Trump had
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appeared or was scheduled to appear, two cell phones, and a handwritten letter titled Dear World,
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stating, quote, this was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I am so sorry I failed you.
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Investigators also collecting a trove of digital evidence from Mr. Ruth's Hawaii home, 18 phones,
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three computers, three tablets, 3,000 photos, financial records, social media records, too.
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President Trump last week suggesting he may release the files on Mr. Ruth.
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And a couple of them had some strange markings on them. So, yeah, I want to find out, and I would be
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willing to release it. I mean, maybe there's a reason that we shouldn't, so I don't want to get too far
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ahead of my skis, but, yeah, I wouldn't be very willing to release that. Prosecutors say Mr. Ruth
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was also in contact with a man in Mexico attempting to coordinate his post-assassination escape.
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Charges against Mr. Ruth include the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate
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possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer, felon in
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possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
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Mr. Ruth pleading not guilty to all charges. Attorneys for Mr. Ruth attempting to exclude
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an eyewitness account from his upcoming trial. The witness only identified as TCM, saying on the
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day of the planned attack, he saw a man jump out of the bushes and flee into a black Nissan car.
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Defense attorneys writing in a Monday filing, the identification procedures used to implicate
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Mr. Ruth in this case were impermissibly suggestive. Mr. Ruth's trial is set to begin
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this December. He faces life in prison if convicted.
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President Trump on Tuesday signing executive orders aimed at boosting coal industry production.
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Coal miners wearing hard hats and reflective gear flanking President Trump in the White House
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for the announcement. For years, people would just bemoan this industry and decimate the industry
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for absolutely no reason, because with modern technology and all of the other things that
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we do, it's one of the great, great forms of energy. Joe Biden and congressional Democrats
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tried to abolish the American coal industry. They did everything in their power, shutting down
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dozens of coal plants, banning coal leases on federal lands and putting thousands and thousands
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of coal miners out of work. The Democrats' Green News scam killed jobs and sent prices soaring here
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in America. But meanwhile, China opened two coal plants every single week. The executive orders
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instruct the Interior Department to resume coal leasing on millions of acres of public lands,
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lift burdensome Biden-era policies, promote grid reliability, and direct the DOJ to pursue cases
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against left-wing states with policies against coal. Since January, various agencies and departments
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making efforts to unlock coal mining across the U.S. The EPA reducing restrictions on plant emissions,
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Interior approving the expansion of a Montana coal mine, and President Trump citing the rise of AI,
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creating an urgent need for more energy production. A 2024 study by the Energy Department concluding the
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U.S. needs to double the size of the grid in the next couple of decades. President Trump aiming to
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meet the need in part by spurring more coal production. I'm also directing Secretary Wright to use billions of
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dollars in federal funding to invest in the next generation of coal technology, which is an amazing
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technology in terms of getting the full potential of coal and also doing it a very clean environmental
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way. Pound for pound, coal is the single most reliable, durable, secure, and powerful form of
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energy. It's cheap, incredibly efficient, high density, and it's almost indestructible. Most importantly,
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we have more of it here in America than anywhere else on Earth. Coal-powered energy became a political
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football over the last decade. In January 2016, President Obama issuing a moratorium on federal
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coal leases on public lands. Hillary Clinton made clear she wanted to kill the coal industry.
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President Trump reversing the Obama order in 2017, only to see it reimposed by the Biden administration.
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President Trump announcing the administration is working to make the latest orders permanent.
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We're going to give a guarantee that the business will not be terminated by the ups and downs of
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the world of politics. So should somebody come in to this very important office and say, oh, well,
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you spent hundreds of millions of dollars and you guys have given up your life because you want to be
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in coal and then all of a sudden you don't have a life anymore because it's what you know the best.
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That's not going to happen. We're going to give a guarantee that it's not going to happen so that
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if somebody comes in, they cannot change it at a whim. They cannot just get to go. They're going
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to have to go through hell to close you up. These latest orders, part of a broader push to
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dramatically refocus the federal government via executive authority. CNN analyst Harry Enten breaking
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it down. I think there was this concern among some folks that Donald Trump would come in for a
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second term and kind of be a lame duck. He ain't no lame duck. If anything, he's a soaring eagle.
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What am I talking about here? Let's talk about Trump executive orders in 2025. He's already
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signed 111 so far. That is the most at this point in a presidency and at least a hundred years in
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Trump's approach to presidential power. I think the American people recognize what he's doing here
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is completely different. We're talking, get this, 86% of the American public believes that Trump's
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approach to presidential power is completely different from past presidents compared to only 14%
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who believe it is in line with precedent. And we're talking about at least 79% of Democrats,
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independents and Republicans. Coming up, the Supreme Court backing the Trump administration
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for the third time in a week. And Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth warns China they have no claim to the
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The Supreme Court once again backing the Trump administration this week. On Tuesday,
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the court blocking a lower court order demanding that the Trump administration rehire thousands of
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provisional federal employees let go in mass layoffs. The thinking had been they're provisional
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and would be easier to fire. On March 13th, Clinton appointed District Court Judge William
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Alsup in San Francisco ordering the administration to reinstate the provisional employees, approximately
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16,000 of them across six agencies, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury, and the VA.
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In a 7-2 decision, the court ruling the organization's bringing the case
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lacked standing as individual workers who had been fired were not involved in the suit at all.
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The unsigned order leaving the door open for individual employees to commence their own
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challenges under the Administrative Procedure Act. The justices yet to weigh in on a similar injunction
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from an Obama-appointed judge out of Maryland. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday
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visiting Panama in an effort to curb Chinese influence on the highly strategic waterway.
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China did not build this canal. China does not operate this canal.
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And China will not weaponize this canal. Together with Panama in the lead, we will keep the canal
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secure and available for all nations through the deterrent power of the strongest, most effective,
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and most lethal fighting force in the world. We will do this in partnership with Panama. Together,
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we will take back the Panama Canal from China's influence. And we will do this along with other
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capable, like-minded allies and partners. This is what peace through strength looks like.
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The visit on the heels of two major developments in the region. In February, Panama announcing an early
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departure from the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, an infrastructure agreement designed to force
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developing nations into dependence on China. In March, a Hong Kong company operating two ports on
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either side of the canal announcing a sale to American company BlackRock. Secretary
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Hegseth laying out the vital importance of the canal to U.S. interests.
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President Trump today recognizes the canal's rightful place as the center of our shared hemisphere.
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It connects two continents and two oceans, transporting over $250 billion in goods per year
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and 40 percent of U.S. shipping. Seventy percent of the ships that pass through this canal
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are going to or from U.S. ports. It saves nearly 8,000 miles for shipping traveling between our coasts.
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President Trump making control of the canal a day one priority of his second term.
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Mr. Trump not ruling out reclaiming the canal with military force.
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Possible plans of a D.C. military parade in the works. The Hill reporting an unnamed Army official
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saying, quote, there are plans for a parade that will involve the Army. Political reporting the White
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House denies a parade has been scheduled, but D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser confirming discussions with
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the administration. The Army celebrating its 250th birthday on June 14th, the same day as President
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Trump's 79th birthday. The idea of a military parade in the Capitol inspired by President Trump's 2017
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visit to France on Bastille Day. Mr. Trump teasing French President Emmanuel Macron in a joint press
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conference months later. I do want to say that I was your guest at Bastille Day, and it was one of the
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greatest parades I've ever seen. It was two hours on the button, and it was military might, and I think
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a tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France. And to a large extent, because of what I
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witness, we may do something like that on July 4th in Washington, down in Pennsylvania.
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I don't know. We're going to have to try and top it.
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In 2018, plans for a military parade scrapped following complaints of high costs of safety
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measures, estimated to be around $90 million. Though this time around, Doge saves about that
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much every couple of hours. So we'll see. That'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me
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back here for The Megan Kelly Show, live on Sirius XM Triumph Channel 111 at noon east,
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on youtube.com slash megankelly, and on all podcast platforms.
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