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For Trump, Week 14 Brings Unprecedented Wins!

This week, President Donald J. Trump and his administration delivered more victories for the American people, advancing economic prosperity, enhancing national security, and restoring common sense to government. From unleashing American energy dominance to cracking down on illicit foreign activities, the Trump Administration continues its relentless pursuit of policies that prioritize American workers, families, and communities.

Here is a non-comprehensive list of wins in week 14:

• President Trump’s unrelenting commitment to revitalizing American manufacturing delivered more results, driving job creation and economic growth nationwide.
  • Roche, a Swiss drug and diagnostics company, announced a $50 billion investment in its U.S.-based manufacturing and R&D, which is expected to create more than 1,000 new full-time jobs.
  • Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced a $3 billion agreement with Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies to produce drugs at its North Carolina manufacturing facility.
  • NorthMark Strategies, a multi-strategy investment firm, announced a $2.8 billion investment to build a supercomputing facility in South Carolina.
  • Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., announced a $2 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing and innovation.
  • Chobani announced a $1.2 billion investment to build its third U.S. dairy processing plant in New York, which is expected to create more than 1,000 new full-time jobs.
  • Fiserv, Inc. announced a $175 million investment to open a new strategic fintech hub in Kansas, which is expected to create 2,000 new high-paying jobs.
  • Toyota Motor Corporation announced an $88 million investment to boost hybrid vehicle production at its West Virginia factory, securing employment for the factory’s 2,000 workers.
  • Hyundai Motor Group secured an equity investment and agreement from Posco Holdings, South Korea’s top steel maker, for the automaker’s planned steel plant in Louisiana.
  • Hitachi Energy announced a $22.5 million investment to expand its facilities in Virginia, which is expected to add 120 new jobs.
  • Cyclic Materials, a Canadian advanced recycling company for rare earth elements, announced a $20 million investment in its first U.S.-based commercial facility, located in Mesa, Arizona.
  • GM announced it will increase production at its Ohio transmission facility.
  • Coinbase announced plans to add more than 130 new jobs and open a new office in Charlotte, North Carolina.
     
• President Trump continued to secure our border and rid our communities of illegal immigrant criminals.
  • The Swanton sector of the U.S.-Canada border — previously overrun by illegal immigrants — saw illegal border crossings decline from 1,109 in March 2024 to just 54 in March 2025.
    • New York Post: Northern border sector previously overrun by illegal migrants sees dramatic drop in crossings: ‘We haven’t seen anyone since November’
  • The Washington Times: Under Trump, border catch-and-release has dropped 99.99% from worst Biden month
  • The Wall Street Journal: Border Crossings Grind to Halt as Trump’s Tough Policies Take Hold
  • CBS: ICE partnerships with local law enforcement triple as Trump continues deportation crackdown
  • The Federal Bureau of Investigation apprehended Harpreet Singh, an alleged member of a foreign terrorist gang who was planning multiple attacks on law enforcement in the U.S. and India.
  • Five suspected Tren de Aragua gang members were arrested in Fresno County, California.
     
• President Trump continued to pursue peace through strength around the world.
  • The Trump Administration has directed attacks that have killed at least 74 terrorists seeking to attack the U.S. so far.
     
• The Trump Administration forged ahead on its unprecedented effort to secure American energy dominance.
  • The Department of the Interior announced a new offshore drilling policy that will boost oil production in the Gulf of America by 100,000 barrels per day.
  • The Department of the Interior announced it will accelerate the onerous permitting process for energy and critical minerals, slashing approval times from years to just 28 days, at most.
  • Chevron announced a massive oil and natural gas project in the Gulf of America, with 75,000 gross barrels of oil expected to be produced daily.
  • The Washington Free Beacon: “Trump Admin Accelerates Mining Projects as China Curbs Critical Mineral Exports”
     
• The Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration announced a series of new measures to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic dyes from medications and the nation’s food supply by the end of 2026.
   
• President Trump took a series of executive actions to enhance educational and workforce opportunities for the American people.
  • President Trump signed an executive order modernizing American workforce programs to prepare citizens for the high-paying skilled trade jobs of the future.
    • Association of Equipment Manufacturers: “Our industry faces a persistent and growing shortage of skilled workers, and this action reflects the leadership needed to build a strong pipeline of talent for the jobs of the future. By aligning workforce programs with the realities of today’s labor market, the administration is taking a smart, strategic step to bolster U.S. manufacturing. We support the President’s continued focus on reshoring American manufacturing and ensuring our workforce is filled with the brightest and best talent in the world.”
  • President Trump signed an executive order creating new educational and workforce development opportunities in artificial intelligence technology for America’s youth.
  • President Trump signed an executive order revoking flawed Obama-Biden guidance that pressured schools to impose discipline based on “racial equity” and gives teachers the ability to ensure order in their classrooms.
     
• President Trump took action to further reform and enhance higher education in America.
  • President Trump signed an executive order overhauling the nation’s higher education accreditation system to ensure colleges and universities deliver high-quality, high-value education free from unlawful discrimination and ideological bias.
  • President Trump signed an executive order enhancing the capacity of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities to deliver high-quality education and innovation.
  • President Trump signed an executive order requiring higher education institutions to promptly disclose foreign gifts and funding.
     
• President Trump signed a landmark executive order eliminating the use of so-called “disparate-impact liability,” which undermines civil rights by mandating discrimination to achieve predetermined, race-oriented outcomes.
   
• President Trump ordered an investigation into illegal “straw donor” and foreign contributions in American elections.
   
• President Trump signed an executive order strengthening probationary periods in the federal service — ensuring a merit-based federal workforce that serves the American people.
   
• President Trump signed an executive order to develop domestic capabilities for exploration, characterization, collection, and processing of critical deep seabed minerals.
   
• President Trump announced he will personally fund the installation of two beautiful 100-foot flagpoles flying the American flag on the North Lawn of the White House.
   
• Small business sentiment remained near its historic high in March, according to a new survey from the Job Creators Network Foundation.
   
• The Department of State launched an unprecedented reorganization to reverse decades of bloat and bureaucracy that rendered it unable to perform its essential diplomatic mission.
   
• The Department of Justice launched the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias as part of President Trump’s directive to end unlawful anti-Christian discrimination by the federal government.
   
• The Department of Education announced it will resume collections on defaulted federal student loans after a five-year pause, ending the Biden-era practice of zero-interest, zero-accountability student borrowing.
   
• The Department of the Interior officially unveiled the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge, honoring the memory of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was savagely murdered by illegal immigrants in Texas.
   
• Secretary of the Navy John Phelan rescinded the Biden-era Navy Climate Action 2030 program, which prioritized ideologically motivated regulations over the Navy’s core mission of warfighting.
   
• The Department of Education returned oversight of higher education foreign funding disclosures to the Office of General Counsel, making clear that the Trump Administration will prioritize enforcement of federal law.
   
• The Department of Education initiated an investigation and records request into University of California, Berkeley, after a review of the university’s foreign funding disclosures found they may be incomplete or inaccurate.
   
• The Department of the Treasury sanctioned an Iranian liquefied petroleum gas magnate and his network as part of President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign.
   
• The Department of Agriculture announced $340.6 million in disaster assistance for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities impacted by natural disasters across the country.
   
• The Department of the Interior disbursed $13 million to revitalize coal communities.

Testa, Amato: NJ Energy Agenda In Freefall!

New Jersey State Senator Michael Testa (R-01) and Senator Carmen Amato, Jr. (R-09) released the following statements regarding today’s Committee hearing on soaring energy costs where Democrats, once again, attempted to pass the blame for the skyrocketing energy bills that New Jerseyans are seeing across the state.

“Today’s hearing is just the latest signal that the Democrats’ energy agenda is collapsing under the weight of their own unrealistic promises,” said Sen. Testa. “For years, Republicans have warned that rushing headfirst into aggressive mandates without a plan to maintain reliable energy production would lead to disaster. Democrats gambled on an Energy Disaster Plan that was utopian in ideas but dystopian in results. They had no idea what it would cost New Jersey families or if our outdated grid could even handle it. Now, with energy bills skyrocketing and public outrage escalating, Democrats are scrambling to shift blame and point fingers to save face in an election year. The truth is, these failed policies are the Democrats to own, plain and simple.”

“This hearing confirmed what Republicans have been saying for years: the Democrats’ extreme energy policies were never realistic, and now New Jerseyans are paying the price,” said Sen. Amato. “They bet on alternative energy sources and lost, and now families and businesses are facing massive rate hikes. Instead of taking accountability, they’re playing the blame game to distract from their own failures. The people of New Jersey deserve affordable, reliable energy, not political theater and broken promises.”

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans have introduced multiple pieces of legislation to combat these burdensome energy bills, most notably the “Energy Security and Affordability Act” which would help address these issues head-on by ensuring New Jersey's energy infrastructure is powered by reliable, diverse, and affordable energy sources. The bill aims to protect consumers from future price hikes by requiring the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to take energy security, diversity, and affordability into account when preparing the Energy Master Plan. The bill would also mandate economic and ratepayer impact analyses of energy generation projects before they are approved.

Sen. Testa and Sen. Amato have been relentless fighters for ratepayer justice. Sen. Testa recently introducing legislation, S-4285, to abolish the NJBPU, arguing that the agency has abandoned its duty to protect New Jersey consumers. Earlier this month, Sen. Amato called for the energy sales tax windfall to be returned to ratepayers to help New Jerseyans who are struggling with skyrocketing energy bills.

To speak with Sens. Testa or Amato, contact Kyle Fischer, SRO director of communications, at  kfischer@njleg.org.

And Now, Some Good News From President Trump

 

A Warning: NJ Finances On Shaky Ground!

During today’s Capital Budgeting and Planning Commission meeting, NJ State Senator Doug Steinhardt (R-23) warned that New Jersey’s finances are not in a good place to meet our capital needs in the coming years and our budget’s finances are on shaky ground, leaving a mess behind for the next administration to clean up.

Sen. Steinhardt’s full remarks are below:

The Office of Public Finance did fine work in presenting audited debt information to us in the debt report.  Thank you to the professional staff for what they provided.

Though these comments may come across as very negative, I appreciate that the Administration dealt with some difficult COVID issues and did the best they could.  However, fact later showed that $4.3 billion of borrowing undertaken during COVID wasn’t necessary.  I hope this State never goes through something like that again.  

Our role as a commission is to better prepare for future capital spending needs and address our capacity to issue debt for those needs.  I don’t want anyone leaving this meeting today thinking this state is in a good place to meet our capital needs in coming years.  Consider the following;

Nonpartisan OLS warns that the Governor’s current budget proposal has a $3 billion structural imbalance being left to the next Governor to fix – primarily because of three things.

1. it spends down the surplus,

2. it raids the last dollars of the Debt Defeasance and Reduction Fund and relies on other one-shot funding sources for ongoing operating expenses; and

3. it leaves the next Governor with a $1.2 billion unfunded increase in the appropriation needed for STAYNJ which becomes fully payable after the Governor leaves office.

Our outstanding debt per capita is still the worst or second worst in the country.

Our debt rating was downgraded under this administration before it was upgraded.  When our debt rating was finally upgraded, respectfully, it was because of federal largesse and revenue windfalls, almost every other State’s credit rating was also upgraded for the same reasons.  Today we have the worst credit rating in the country according to one rating agency – Fitch – and the second worst credit rating of all the States according to Moody’s and S&P. That’s almost exactly where we were before this administration took office.

Federal COVID largesse that helped control new debt issuances is gone.

There are large, planned debt issuances for TTF right around the corner and constitutionally required school funding capital projects in the coming years that have no funding source -- and will likely require more debt.

Spending has increased annually by more than $20 billion under this administration and though making full pension payments is a good thing, you need to appreciate only 20% of that annual spending increase is attributable to increased pension payments.  The other 80% of increases have gone towards an unsustainable spending binge.    

The State’s defeasance of $4 billion of debt came only after the needless $4.3 billion of COVID debt.  And for the record, though he didn’t say it today, Senator Sarlo helped create the Debt Defeasance and Avoidance Fund.  Former Senate President Sweeney did too.  Republicans strongly supported the concept and proposed even more for that purpose.   We all faced opposition and only lukewarm support.

Make no mistake, this budget’s finances are on shaky ground.  There’s a mess being left to the next administration.  Our ability to fund capital projects – whether though cash or debt - is in a weaker place going forward than most people realize.

Pirates, Death, Maybe And Love, All On Broadway

Just because we love being inside a Broadway theater . . . 

Maybe Happy Ending, on Broadway now.

We've been back on Broadway and we've seen four shows we'd like to tell you about it. But first, a quick observation. For many years autumn was always the most exciting time on Broadway. It was the time of big openings with many shows debuting night after night, mostly through October and November. The openings were stellar affairs. So momentous was all this that it was heralded in the Great American Songbook classic Autumn In New York with a reference to "the thrill of first-nighting."

All of this changed as Broadway evolved with the advent of blockbuster hits that ran not simply for years, but for decades. Think Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Mama Mia, Chicago, Les Miserables, Hamilton, etc. The higher costs of producing shows on Broadway meant that they needed longer runs to recoup their investment. With such long residences for the mammoth forever hits, fewer theaters were available, even though not as many shows ventured onto Broadway. At the same time the growing importance of the Tony Awards shifted the whole season from the autumn to the spring -- a time when Broadway benefits both from the Tony promos and the beginning of an accelerated tourist season as well. 

Today, most new shows open right around this time as we come to the run-up to the Tonys. By the end of this week all of this Broadway season's shows will have debuted and the Tony nominations will be announced next week.

Now to the shows we've just seen -- two revivals and two newcomers. We'll start with the oldest one first:

Love Life. We took in Kurt Weil and Alan Jay Lerner's Love Life (described as a vaudeville in two plays) as part of the Encores series at City Center. Originally produced in 1948, the musical has not been seen in New York since then. The show tells the story of a married couple, Sam and Susan Cooper, who never age as they progress from 1791 to 1948, encountering difficulties in their marriage (and thus the very fabric of marriage) as they struggle to cope with changing social mores. At the same time the show mirrors and comments on the American experience over this long swath of history. In a sense it's all about the search for and evolution of the American Dream. With a huge cast, the magnificent City Center orchestra and stars Brian Stokes Mitchell and Kate Baldwin, this production accomplished what would seem to be an impossible task -- bringing this daring, sweeping story to life and making it newly relevant. This was a very limited engagement and we're so glad we got the chance to see it. Outstanding!

Pirates, The Penzance Musical. Originally known as The Pirates of Penzance, this updated Rupert Holmes adaptation of the Gilbert and Sullivan musical is a big, splashy, broad comedic celebration from the Roundabout Theatre Company. With pinpoint perfect direction by Scott Ellis and soaring, swashbuckling choreography by Warren Caryle, the show is a true dazzler with high production values. Of course, we were attracted to it by its stars, the dashing Ramin Karimloo as the Pirate King and the delightful David Hyde Pierce as Major General Stanley. We're happy to say that both gents deliver on all fronts. And, they are ably assisted by co-stars Jinkx Monsoon and Nicholas Barasch, all part of a cast of 41. Long before the Marx Brothers, there was Gilbert and Sullivan. Which is to say, Pirates is silly, zany, preposterous and altogether delightful! 

Death Becomes Her. One of Broadway's most boisterous new musicals has landed in one of its most elegant, historic theaters. And you can't help but be struck by the way in which Death Becomes Her has taken over the Lunt-Fontanne. The show's purple panoply is literally everywhere, enveloping the walls, the proscenium arch, the lobby and, of course, the now mandatory souvenir/logo shop. With a book by Marco Pennette and music and lyrics by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, Death is based on the 1992 film of the same name. Basically, it tells the story of two famous, viciously catty, self-absorbed women who don't want to grow old. They are supposedly "friends" but we all know how that works in a cynical tale such as this. The special effects are inventive, the backhanded insults are quick and sure-fired and the performances are fine. But the show and its stars come at you with all the subtlety of a runaway freight train and this never lets up. Maybe we should have seen the movie -- then again, perhaps not . . . 

Maybe Happy Ending. We've saved the most original and thought-provoking new musical for last. No big cast here (it's mostly a two-character show) but that suits this musical whose intimacy makes it all the more beguiling. This is a quirky show with a nonetheless universal appeal. From South Korea, the musical is set in the not-too-distant future in the Seoul metropolitan area. Oliver and Claire are helper robots that look completely human-like, created to help people, but were abandoned by their owners and now live in  side-by-side apartments where abandoned helper bots live. Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen play the bots and they are nothing short of amazing, especially Criss who plays a somewhat less advanced bot than Shen. This is a high-tech show with a big heart and it's suprsingly romantic. With book music and lyrics by Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe is poignant and evocative, soaring across cultures, time zones and generations in a way that will leave you astonished at what musicals can accomplish in the age of artificial intelligence. The ending, in particularly, will stay with you and maybe even have you guessing, which is the point of the outing in the first place. Highly recommended, and a sure contender for the Tony award!

This Happened Today At Trump Tower, NYC

WATCH: Climate protesters from Extinction Rebellion just vandalized Trump Tower in New York City by spray paining "USA" over the presidential seal. pic.twitter.com/RdnoEoIhbd

— EnvirosTakingLs (@EnvirosTakingLs) April 23, 2025

Testa, Bucco Blast NJ Energy Cost Shenanigans

At today’s New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) hearing, the BPU board agreed to a staff recommendation for the four public electric utility companies (JCP&L, Rockland, PSE&G, and Atlantic City Electric) to petition the board by May 5 with ‘distribution side proposals to mitigate bill impacts to customers’ that would defer energy bill increases until after the election.

Senators Anthony M. Bucco (R-25) and Michael Testa (R-01), members of the Senate Select Committee on Energy Costs, released the following statements calling out the BPU and Trenton Democrats on their latest dog-and-pony show that will not help ratepayers with skyrocketing energy bills.

“It’s a five-alarm fire in the Democrat Party to contain the danger of their costly, failing energy policies before the election this fall,” said Sen. Bucco. “Instead of moving quickly to fast track reliable, affordable power to increase supplies, the BPU and Trenton Democrats are instead scrambling to deflect this emergency with bureaucratic gimmicks that delay price hikes.  The pricing chaos will only get worse without fundamental change away from their predictably bad policies. Asking utility companies to 'propose solutions' that are the equivalent of ratepayer credit card debt is a blatant attempt to hide the fallout of their failing energy agenda. This isn’t relief, it’s a smokescreen. New Jerseyans need accountability, transparency and real reform, not more political theater. Unfortunately, as BPU Commissioner Zenon Christodoulou said, ‘Outside opinions, including mine and others, are dismissed and marginalized,’ and that has been the case every time Republicans have suggested alternative plans to keep energy supply high and energy costs low.”

For years, Sen. Bucco has been a leading voice for a balanced energy policy that prioritizes a diverse energy mix while keeping costs affordable. He has repeatedly sounded the alarm on Trenton Democrats' costly and unsustainable agenda.

“The latest move by the BPU, or the Bureau of Propaganda and Untruths as I call it, is a hollow gesture meant to placate frustrated ratepayers without fixing a single thing,” said Sen. Testa. “Telling utility companies to kick the can down the road on rate hikes until after the election doesn’t change the fact that Trenton Democrats and the BPU pushed an unreliable, unaffordable Energy Disaster Plan that broke our system. The citizens of New Jersey are paying more for less, and now the BPU is playing election-year games instead of offering solutions. It’s dishonest, it’s irresponsible, and it’s more proof that the BPU is functioning as an extension of the Democratic party that cares more about optics for political gamesmanship than outcomes for the already overburdened ratepayers.”

Sen. Testa has been a relentless fighter for ratepayer justice, recently introducing legislation, S-4285, to abolish the NJBPU, arguing that the agency has abandoned its duty to protect New Jersey consumers.

To improve energy costs and safeguard consumers from future NJBPU-approved rate hikes, Senate Republicans introduced the “Energy Security and Affordability Act” (S-2839). This bill would mandate that the NJBPU prioritize in-state energy sources over expensive out-of-state subsidies and would require economic and ratepayer impact analyses for all proposed energy projects.

WOW! Major US Production Boom Underway!

President Donald J. Trump’s unrelenting commitment to revitalizing American manufacturing is continuing to deliver results, with another wave of companies announcing transformative investments in their U.S.-based operations — driving job creation and economic growth nationwide.

In just the past few days:

• Roche, a Swiss drug and diagnostics company, announced a $50 billion investment in its U.S.-based manufacturing and R&D, which is expected to create more than 1,000 new full-time jobs and more than 12,000 jobs including construction.
   
• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in biotechnology, announced a $3 billion agreement with Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies to produce drugs at its North Carolina manufacturing facility.
   
• NorthMark Strategies, a multi-strategy investment firm, announced a $2.8 billion investment to build a supercomputing facility in South Carolina.
   
• Chobani, a Greek yogurt giant, announced a $1.2 billion investment to build its third U.S. dairy processing plant in New York, which is expected to create more than 1,000 new full-time jobs.
   
• Fiserv, Inc., a financial technology provider, announced a $175 million investment to open a new strategic fintech hub in Kansas, which is expected to create 2,000 new high-paying jobs.
   
• Toyota Motor Corporation, a Japanese automaker, announced an $88 million investment to boost hybrid vehicle production at its West Virginia factory, securing employment for the factory’s 2,000 workers.
   
• Hyundai Motor Group, a South Korean automaker, secured an equity investment and agreement from Posco Holdings, South Korea’s top steel maker, for the automaker’s planned steel plant in Louisiana.
   
• Cyclic Materials, a Canadian advanced recycling company for rare earth elements, announced a $20 million investment in its first U.S.-based commercial facility, located in Mesa, Arizona.

Click here for more new investments secured in President Trump’s second term.

Rubio Announces Sweeping Changes At State