Vance says President Trump is concerned about Americans’ finances amid Iran debate
Vance denied the allegations about President Trump and said Americans’ finances are important as the administration weighs nuclear diplomacy with Iran.
Vice President J.D. Vance compared himself to Kevin McCallister, played by Macaulay Culkin in the “Home Alone” movie series, who is in the country during President Donald Trump’s visit to China.
“When I entered the White House, it was very quiet and empty, and it took me about a second to realize exactly what was going on,” Vance said at a May 13 press conference.
Mr. Vance pointed to Secret Service protocol as the reason he did not accompany Mr. Trump, who appeared briefly in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” on his visit to China. “Sometimes I feel like Macaulay Culkin in ‘Home Alone,'” he said.
President Trump arrived in China on May 13 just before 8pm local time. The highlight of the trip will be a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where they will discuss topics such as the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, Taiwan, and U.S. business interests.
While President Trump is away, Vance is scheduled to speak on May 14 in Bangor, Maine, about anti-fraud efforts, according to WABI-TV, the city’s NBC affiliate. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is seen as a potential rival to Vance as leader of the post-Trump MAGA movement, is also among the travelers on the two-day trip.
“Home Alone” comments amid Medicare membership freeze
This “Home Alone” irony came at the beginning of a May 13 press conference in which the Trump administration announced it would temporarily block new home health and hospice providers from enrolling in Medicare as part of Vance’s fraud task force.
The six-month moratorium will temporarily prohibit new providers in these categories from enrolling in Medicare reimbursement, but will not affect providers already enrolled in Medicare, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The agency has in the past suspended registrations from a particular county if staff suspected fraud related to that county. In 2013, it banned the registration of new providers based in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and several counties in Illinois. However, it is unusual for registration to be temporarily suspended nationwide.
CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz gave reporters Wednesday no concrete evidence explaining why he believes the Trump administration needs to ban new registrations across the U.S. rather than in specific regions.
Vance also announced that the federal government would defer $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to California, claiming that the state “doesn’t take fraud very seriously.”
The Trump administration has made fraud a favorite cudgel to use against political opponents. When President Trump announced the fraud task force in March, he said, without providing evidence, that there were more allegations of fraud in Democratic-led states than in Republican-led states.
Citing the Minnesota child care scandal, the administration froze child care payments to the state in preparation for a surge in large-scale immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. Two people were killed by federal agents during the surge.
Contributed by: Reuters.
