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--:-- John Bickley: Donald Trump brings down the House at AmericaFest, vowing to bring sweeping reform. We will rebuild the nation that we love, and we will do it very, very fast. We also hear from Trump's border czar about his plans on day one. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, December 23rd, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Facing legal threats and public backlash, the Biden administration finally withdraws its radical Title IX rules on gender in schools. And Trump threatens to take back the Panama Canal as China exerts its influence on the strategic waterway. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. at shopify.com slash morningwire. That's shopify.com slash morningwire.
--:-- John Bickley: President Trump appeared in Phoenix this weekend for his first public speech since Election Day, celebrating his victory and vowing to push through his sweeping reforms. Here with more is Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: A. Cabot, so you were on the ground all weekend in Phoenix. What did you hear there?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, this was all part of Turning Point USA's America Fest, an annual gathering of young conservatives that this year drew more than 20,000 people. The event featured a who's who of MAGA world figures and Republican lawmakers. And their message was clear. We won the election. Now it's time to get to work. And in their view, that work starts with confirming Trump's cabinet picks in the Senate.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: There were giant banners throughout the conference venue that read, give Trump the cabinet he deserves. And speakers repeatedly called on GOP lawmakers to respect Trump's mandate and vote yes on his picks. One of the leading voices on that front is Turning Point founder and President Charlie Kirk, who vowed to fund primary challenges against Republicans who oppose cabinet picks like Pete Hegseth and Cash Patel.
--:-- Charlie Kirk: We're gonna find Republican senators that have the following criteria. Number one, they're in deep, deep, deep red states. So if we were to replace them, there will not be a general election issue. Number two, we're gonna find people that have a repeated pattern of not listening to the will of their voters on very core issues that matter to them.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Later on, I spoke with Trump's incoming border czar, Tom Homan, the man who's been tapped to carry out what they call, quote, the largest mass deportation in American history.
--:-- Tom Homan: Day one, we got three rails of priorities. Number one is secure the border. Number two is run the biggest deportation operation we've seen. And third is to start looking for the 340,000 children that are missing in this country that were smuggled in this country by cartels released to unvetted sponsors And we got to find these kids So that the three rails the president has signed me It all starts January 20th
--:-- Cabot Phillips: For his part President Trump took the stage Sunday to a raucous crowd There were people quite literally camping out the night before to get in the front row It was wild. And he offered his first public address since election day.
--:-- Donald Trump: The victory was such an outstanding one, such a big one. And the other side now, and we don't want this. We want people to be happy and healthy. But they did, They lost their confidence. If you watch television now, they're all befuddled. They don't know what the hell happened. They're befuddled.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: In one particularly powerful moment, Trump was joined on stage by Patty Morin, whose daughter was killed by an illegal immigrant who entered the country under the Biden administration.
--:-- Patty Morin: The thing I appreciate the most is that he heard the cries of a mother and he cared. And he made a promise that he was going to protect us and that he was going to help us. That's all you can ask from your president, but also just from a fellow human being. And so I personally, I am so honored to know this man and think of you as a friend.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: In closing, Trump summed up his vision for the next four years.
--:-- Donald Trump: On January 20th, the United States will turn the page forever on four long, horrible years of failure, incompetence, national decline. And we will inaugurate a new era of peace, prosperity and national greatness.
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, the weeks are just flying by. He's going to be in office very soon. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime. Hey, guys. Producer Brandon here.
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--:-- John Bickley: After widespread public backlash, the Biden-Harris administration has finally withdrawn a proposed Title IX rule that would have largely forced public-funded schools to allow males in female athletics. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So Amanda, give us some quick background on this rule and why it was finally withdrawn.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, so as John mentioned, the rule change would have effectively barred schools that received any government funding from kindergarten to college from outright banning males from female athletics. Now, there was a vague loophole offered for schools to ban some male athletes, but they had to prove that the decision was necessary for safety and fairness and served, quote, important educational objectives. But again, a school could not have a blanket policy to keep males out of female sports.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Biden's education secretary, Miguel Cordona, said at the time that the rule was announced, which was back in April of 2023, that this would stop discrimination. But the American people did not feel the same way. And there was heavy backlash over the announcement, which was in part why the administration withdrew the rule.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Now, tell us about that backlash. What did the administration say about why they revoked the rule?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So they cited both public resistance and the slew of lawsuits they're facing from states opposing Title IX changes. According to a docket that was published last week the Department of Education said it received more than 150 public comments about the proposal Now with regard to the legal battle the administration is facing 26 states have signed onto lawsuits to block Biden Title IX rule changes on gender and there are also more than 20 states that have already passed laws to protect female athletics.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Here's a direct quote from the Department of Education. In light of the comments received and those various pending court cases, the department has determined not to regulate on this issue at this time. So in pretty plain language there, the American people rejected this.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, and it became a pretty prominent issue in this past election. So what's the reaction that we've seen since they withdrew it?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So groups that advocate for female sports and female spaces, they were certainly pleased with the announcement. But they did also express frustration that this took so long to withdraw. In a statement sent to The Daily Wire, Nicole Neely, who's the president and founder of Parents Defending Education, She roasted the administration for taking 18 months to revoke the rule.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Here's a quote from Neely. All it took was 130,000 angry comments, consistent polling that showed a widening majority opposed their position and losing a national election. Now, other female-focused groups like the Independent Women's Law Center warned that this fight is not over.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: They noted of the larger Title IX changes that swap out sex for gender identity. Now, all of this is related to Title IX, which pertains to public schools. but there's also been a parallel movement in the private sector. What's going on there?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, that's right. Just this month, the LPGA banned trans-identifying golfers, though there is an exception for male players who transition before puberty. There's also the NAIA. That's a governing body for hundreds of small college athletics programs, mostly private schools. In April, they banned males from female sports.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: There's also movement from individual players, from teenage girls in some cases. A prime example of this is what's going on in women's collegiate volleyball. In the NCAA's Mountain West Conference, girls' volleyball teams have forfeited games to protest male players on girls' teams. Some of the players, about a dozen, have even filed a lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference over that policy and for allegedly trying to silence them.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, wrapping up here, President Trump campaigned hard on this issue. What is he promising to do when he gets in office?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Right. Trump has said that he will ban males and female athletics. So for one thing, the administration is likely going to interpret Title IX the way it's always been interpreted, to protect based on sex, not gender identity.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Trump has also said that on day one, he will cut federal funding to any school pushing, quote, transgender insanity or other sexual content onto kids. And he said he will end child sex change procedures, which he called child mutilation.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Here's the president-elect at America Fest yesterday. Under the Trump administration, it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, a lot of voters showed up at the polls for this exact promise. Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: You're welcome.
--:-- John Bickley: Over the weekend, Donald Trump opened the door to a surprising new foreign policy debate. whether or not the United States should reclaim the Panama Canal. Here to tell us why the president-elect is talking about the big ditch is Daily Wire deputy managing editor Tim Rice.
--:-- Tim Rice: Hey Tim, so there's obviously a lot going on in the country and around the world right now. Why is Trump talking about the Panama Canal?
--:-- Tim Rice: Yeah, John, as is so often the case with Trump, this is a lot less random than it seems. To be sure, the statement kind of came out of nowhere. There hasn't been any news out of Panama that caused Trump to issue his two lengthy Truth Social posts about the canal late Saturday night.
--:-- Tim Rice: But the content of the posts is something Trump been talking about for a while now Trump says Panama is treating the United States in a very unfair and injudicious way by charging American vessels ridiculous fees to travel through the canal And he's raising the alarm that China is taking an increased interest in the canal in order to gain a strategic foothold in our hemisphere.
--:-- Tim Rice: Both of these themes, the ripoff and the creeping Chinese influence, have been on Trump's mind for years. Here he is talking about the canal in August 2023.
--:-- Donald Trump: And you take a look at the Panama Canal. It was such an incredible engineering marvel. We sold it under Jimmy Carter. We sold it to Panama for $1. The following day, they quadrupled the amount of money the chips had to pay to get across. They didn't lose one chip. And now they've made it much bigger. And now they've widened it. They've doubled it, right? They've more than doubled it. and it's one of the most profitable things any time. It's just incredible, right? We gave it away for $1. China now controls it. They actually control the Panama Canal. They run it, they control it. And we shouldn't let that happen.
--:-- Tim Rice: And we can't let China be in Cuba. So if you think about it, this has all the hallmarks of a classic Trump issue. Politicians made a bad deal. Now America is being ripped off and put at risk. So we're going to fix that mistake, reassert our dominance, and protect American interests while beating back Chinese influence.
--:-- John Bickley: Right, but taking back the Panama Canal, this feels like something sort of out of history class. Wasn't this all settled with, who was it, Teddy Roosevelt?
--:-- Tim Rice: It certainly feels that way. But control of the Panama Canal was actually a live political issue way more recently than we think. It wasn't until the late 1960s that Panamanians started rioting, demanding they take control of the canal for the United States. Gerald Ford supported giving them control, and it was one of the things Ronald Reagan criticized him for during the 1976 primary.
--:-- Tim Rice: Reagan made the same argument as Trump. The United States paid for the canal and built it, and so we should keep it. Strangely enough, Jimmy Carter also argued against giving up the canal and pledged that he would not relinquish control if elected. Of course, as Trump noted, Carter changed his tune shortly after he took office, and in 1977 signed a treaty that gradually shifted control of the canal back to Panama.
--:-- Tim Rice: And that process took until 1999. So think of it this way. NAFTA, which Trump was able to reverse in his first term, was already seven years old when Panama fully took over the canal.
--:-- John Bickley: So it sounds like this is a pretty serious policy proposal, not just another jab like making Canada the 51st state. Yeah, exactly. And Trump seems pretty serious about it.
--:-- Tim Rice: He even talked about the canal during his keynote speech yesterday at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest. Has anyone ever heard of the Panama Canal? because we're being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we're being ripped off everywhere else.
--:-- Donald Trump: A secure Panama Canal is crucial for U.S. commerce and rapid deployment of the Navy from the Atlantic all the way to the Pacific. It's an incredible thing.
--:-- Tim Rice: During the speech, someone in the audience yelled, take it back. Trump repeated the comment from the stage, adding, that's a good idea. I will add Hannah Maugh to the list of things we'll have to keep an eye on in 2025.
--:-- John Bickley: Tim, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Tim Rice: You bet. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.
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