Category: blaze media

Jake Tapper’s new book, “Original Sin,” and the ongoing investigations into the Biden autopen scandal continue to fuel the growing conviction that President Biden was just the puppet behind a cabal of operatives who ran the country. At this point, even the legacy media, which was complicit in the cover-up of Biden’s cognitive decline, is admitting it.

So who then was in charge of the nation?

Glenn Beck did a little experiment and asked artificial intelligence to “analyze every single claim, speculation, insider report, congressional hearing” related to who was making the decisions in the Biden White House. He also asked it to “speculate on how a deep state president would be set as a cutout”: “What would it take to run the country, and how would you keep it from the American public?”

Its answer was shocking.

The AI platform “said there were two groups of people within the White House that would be needed” to pull off such a scandal — the decision-makers and the cover-up artists.

For the former group, it named Jeff Zients and Ron Klain — both Biden’s White House chief of staff at one point — as likely culprits. It also listed Annie Tomasini, former White House deputy chief of staff and director of Oval Office operations; Neera Tanden, White House domestic policy adviser; and Jake Sullivan, Biden’s U.S. national security adviser, as probable players.

For the suppression squad, AI pinpointed Mike Donilon, a senior Biden adviser, Anthony Bernal, a senior adviser to Jill Biden, Ashley Williams, special assistant to the president and deputy director of Oval Office operations, and Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president.

Interestingly, when Glenn Beck recently had Congressman James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, on the show to discuss his intentions to expose the corruption that took place, he named Neera Tanden, Annie Tomasini, Anthony Bernal, and Ashley Williams as the top people he wanted to talk to.

When Glenn spoke with Lindy Li, a former DNC finance member and Harris campaign surrogate, she expressed anger at the cover-up, naming Jeff Zients and Annie Tomasini as the two people she was most suspicious of.

In December 2024, the Wall Street journal released a damning piece suggesting that President Biden was so mentally compromised, he wasn’t even communicating with major Cabinet members. The piece named Mike Donalin, Steve Ricchetti, Ron Klain, Annie Tomasini, and Jake Sullivan as likely culprits in the cover-up. Then in January 2025, the New York Times published an article arguing that Biden’s inner circle hid his cognitive decline, highlighting Mike Donalin, Steve Ricchetti, Annie Tomasini, and Anthony Bernal.

And finally, just last month, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s book, “Original Sin,” debuted. In the 200+ interviews the duo conducted, the names Mike Donalin, Steve Ricchetti, and Ron Klain came up the most often.

“Sometimes AI is a little bit spooky,” says Glenn, reacting to how the platform aligned perfectly with other reports. However, “We can’t go off of AI; we can’t go off of hearsay; we can’t go off of anything. We need the DOJ, after the Congress has investigated, to then pick it up and investigate themselves with the FBI and then prosecute if there were crimes committed.”

To hear more, watch the video above.

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​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Glenn tv, Blazetv, Blaze media, Biden cover up, Biden health decline, Original sin, Jake tapper, Alex thompson, White house, Biden white house, Jeff zients, Ron klain, Annie tomasini, Jake sullivan, Neera tanden, Ashley williams, Anthony bernal, Steve ricchetti, Mike donalin 

Notorious California state Sen. Scott Wiener and a fellow Democrat have introduced legislation that would prevent members of law enforcement — from the lowliest local cops to federal immigration agents — from wearing face coverings.

On Monday, Wiener of San Francisco and Assembly Public Safety Committee Chair Jesse Arreguín of Oakland introduced the No Secret Police Act, which would make wearing a mask a misdemeanor for on-duty officers.

“We’re seeing the rise of secret police — masked, no identifying info, even wearing army fatigues — grabbing & disappearing people. It’s antithetical to democracy & harms communities,” Wiener posted to X. “The No Secret Police Act can help end the fear & chaos this behavior creates in communities.”

‘They’re being doxxed all over the place.’

“What we have been seeing in the last few weeks are law enforcement — some local, some federal — who are wearing masks to completely hide their faces while they are carrying out deportation and other enforcement activities,” added Arreguín, according to KABC-TV.

Border czar Tom Homan has repeatedly insisted that ICE agents must wear masks to guard against doxing. “They’re being doxxed all over the place,” he told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck last month. “Their pictures are being put on telephone poles in major cities. These officers are under great threat. They identify them. They put their home, they put the phone numbers or home address. It’s just ridiculous.”

RELATED: California creeps who solicit sex from certain minors can’t be charged with felony, thanks to Democrats

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The proposed legislation does permit some exceptions for SWAT members and those wearing medical or safety masks to protect themselves against airborne disease and wildfires that regularly rage through the state. Face shields will also be permitted for those combatting riots, so long as their faces are still visible.

The New York Post noted that masked rioters on the streets of Los Angeles were caught on camera committing horrific acts of violence, including against police.

However, as the No Secret Police Act notes, existing California law already prohibits wearing “a mask, false whiskers, or any personal disguise, as specified, with the purpose of evading or escaping discovery, recognition, or identification while committing a public offense, or for concealment, flight, evasion, or escape from arrest or conviction for any public offense.”

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​California, Masks, No secret police act, Scott wiener, Jesse arreguin, Tom homan, Border czar, Los angeles, La riots, Politics 

In a significant victory for the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, food giant Kraft Heinz vowed that it would remove all artificial colors from its products in the coming years.

On Tuesday, Kraft Heinz announced in a statement that it will remove artificial food, drug, and cosmetic colors from products in the United States before the end of 2027.

Kraft Heinz also declared that ‘it will not launch any new products in the US with Food, Drug & Cosmetic (FD&C) colors, effective immediately.’

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration notes that there are seven certified synthetically produced color additives approved for use in foods, drugs, and cosmetics.

“The FDA’s regulations require evidence that a color additive is safe at its intended level of use before it may be added to foods,” according to the FDA.

In order to be an approved additive in foods, the artificial coloring can be added only to certain types of foods and in limited quantities. Companies that use it must also adhere to FDA regulations on how the color additive is presented on the product’s packaging.

As Blaze News reported in January, the FDA announced a ban on the use of Red No. 3 dye because of evidence that laboratory rats exposed to high levels of Red No. 3 developed cancer.

RELATED: Red dye 40 and hidden toxins are fueling the ADD epidemic

Kraft Heinz announced a three-pronged strategy for removing artificial colors from its existing products, including “removing colors where it is not critical to the consumer experience,” “replacing FD&C colors with natural colors,” or “reinventing new colors and shades where matching natural replacements are not available.”

Kraft Heinz pointed out that nearly 90% of its U.S. products are free of FD&C colors.

In addition to removing artificial dyes from its existing products, Kraft Heinz also declared that “it will not launch any new products in the U.S. with Food, Drug & Cosmetic (FD&C) colors, effective immediately.”

Pedro Navio — the North America president of Kraft Heinz — stated, “As a food company with a 150+ year heritage, we are continuously evolving our recipes, products, and portfolio to deliver superiority to consumers and customers. The vast majority of our products use natural or no colors, and we’ve been on a journey to reduce our use of FD&C colors across the remainder of our portfolio.”

Navio stressed that the company eliminated artificial colors, preservatives, and flavors from its extremely popular mac and cheese in 2016.

The Kraft Heinz Company has several notable brands under its umbrella, including Oscar Mayer, Ore-Ida, Capri Sun, Lunchables, Jell-O, and Kool-Aid.

Kraft Heinz is the “third-largest food and beverage company in North America and the fifth-largest food and beverage company in the world, with eight $1 billion+ brands,” according to the food behemoth.

RELATED: Grass-fed steaks, unprocessed salt, and more chemical-free picks from the Solarium

Kraft Heinz is removing all artificial colors from its brands after the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. placed pressure on food manufacturers to eliminate synthetic additives from their food products by the end of President Donald Trump’s term.

In March, Kennedy urged the removal of artificial dyes from food products in a meeting with top food executives from massive companies such as Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo, General Mills, Tyson Foods, and W.K. Kellogg.

As part of his MAHA agenda, Kennedy is pushing food manufacturers to remove potentially dangerous petroleum-based synthetic dyes from food.

“For too long, some food producers have been feeding Americans petroleum-based chemicals without their knowledge or consent,” Kennedy proclaimed in April. “These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children’s health and development. That era is coming to an end.”

“We’re restoring gold-standard science, applying common sense, and beginning to earn back the public’s trust,” President Trump’s HHS secretary declared. “And we’re doing it by working with industry to get these toxic dyes out of the foods our families eat every day.”

In addition to removing artificial dyes from the nation’s food supply, the FDA is partnering with the National Institutes of Health to “conduct comprehensive research on how food additives impact children’s health and development.”

Blaze News reached out to the HHS and FDA for a comment on Kraft Heinz eliminating artificial food coloring but did not receive an immediate response.

RELATED: RFK’s highly anticipated MAHA report paints dark picture of America’s health crisis

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

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​Maha, Make america healthy again, Robert f kennedy jr, Rfk, Rfk jr, Food coloring, Food dyes, Artificial food dyes, Artificial food coloring, Health, News 

Early one morning last year — around 6:28 a.m. Jan. 2, 2024, to be exact — a Chicago motorist told police he was sitting in his car in the 9400 block of South Laflin Street when Darrius Berry approached him, CWB Chicago reported.

The 39-year-old victim said Berry walked up to the driver’s window of his 2021 Mazda CX-9 and pointed a gun at his head, the outlet reported.

‘Who’s with you?’

“Please give me the keys,” Berry allegedly told the victim, according to the outlet. “I need your car. I’m sorry, sir. … Go in the house.”

The victim did just that, handing Berry his keys and heading into his house, the outlet continued.

But what Berry likely didn’t count on was the victim reappearing soon after.

It turns out that the victim grabbed his own gun, went back outside, and confronted Berry, who was sitting behind the steering wheel of the victim’s car with a gun on the passenger seat, CWB Chicago said, citing a report.

“If you reach for it, I’ll blow your head off,” the victim recalled telling Berry, according to the outlet.

RELATED: Helpless suburban couple obediently hand over valuables — even clothing — to armed males in front of their home: Doorbell cam

JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images

It gets even better.

The victim opened the car door, grabbed Berry by the collar, and pulled him to the ground, CWB Chicago said, citing officials.

“Who’s with you?” the victim asked Berry, according to the outlet, presumably out of concern that Berry may have accomplices to help him carry out the crime.

“He’s around the corner,” Berry reportedly answered, CWB Chicago said, adding that the victim said he never saw anyone.

Soon after, Chicago police responded to a call of a “citizen holding an offender” and found the victim holding Berry at gunpoint, the outlet said.

RELATED: Road rage suspect opens fire on fellow motorist in Chicago, cops say. But victim is a concealed carrier — and wins shootout.

Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images

Police recovered the gun Berry allegedly left on the Mazda’s passenger seat, the outlet reported, adding that a police report indicated the firearm had been stolen from a vehicle in the 1400 block of West 90th Street about a month prior to the ill-fated January 2024 carjacking.

Judge Thomas Hennelly on Monday sentenced Berry — now 19 years old — to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular hijacking, CWB Chicago said, citing court records.

The outlet added that Berry will be eligible for release in just over three years due to Illinois’ “standard 50% sentence reduction and credits earned while in jail.”

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​2nd amend., Arrest, Carjacking, Chicago, Crime thwarted, Fighting back, Gun rights, Guns, Prison sentence, Self-defense, Vehicular hijacking, Crime 

Sports journalists Mina Kimes and Dan Le Batard appear to have both gotten similar talking points about the Los Angeles protests by downplaying what’s been going on when it comes to those rioting in the streets.

“The disparity [between] what’s actually happening in Los Angeles and the way it’s being mischaracterized is one of the biggest stress tests of modern media in recent memory. Botted socials, AI, old clips, declining literacy—it’s like seeing a broken emergency response system hit by a storm,” Kimes wrote in a post on Blue Sky social.

“She’s saying that we’re being misled on what’s transpiring in Los Angeles with these illegal immigrant riots and protests,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says on “Fearless.”

“I staunchly and severely disagree with my crouching tiger colleague, ESPN quarterback whisperer, and the campaign manager of one Karen Bass. She’s not just a supporter. Literally, Jason, she actually went on campaign events with Miss Bass,” BlazeTV contributor Steve Kim chimes in.

“Here’s the issue,” he continues. “It’s not like every single block in our fine city is on fire. You don’t see protesters on every single red light. There’s ways to avoid a lot of the disruption and the unrest, but keep this in mind — by her definition, then 9/11 only affected a small block of Manhattan and the Pentagon.”

Dan Le Batard’s take wasn’t much better.

“What is happening in California, what is happening in Los Angeles — never mind the optics of it. The optics of it are horrifying enough. The reality of what is happening there with peaceful protests and what feels like state militia rubber-bulleting about basic American freedoms because we are now going for a whiter nation,” Le Batard said.

“Peaceful protests,” Kim comments, “this goes back to the BLM riots.”

“You have this big receipt, billions of dollars’ worth of property damage and businesses lost. They are anything but peaceful,” he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

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​Free, Video phone, Upload, Camera phone, Video, Sharing, Youtube.com, Fearless with jason whitlock, Fearless, Jason whitlock, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Mina kimes, Dan le batard, Illegal immigrants, Los ángeles riots, California riots, Illegal immigration protests, Illegal immigration crisis, No kings 

President Donald Trump’s administration has reportedly weighed changes to its strict immigration enforcement policies over concerns about how they impact America’s agricultural and hospitality industries.

Last week, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security briefly halted Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids at farms, hotels, and restaurants, according to the New York Times. The DHS reportedly reversed those exemptions on Monday.

‘Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safe guard public safety, national security, and economic stability.’

The Times report followed a post on social media from Trump about the impact of the immigration policies on the agricultural community.

The president wrote, “Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace.”

“In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs,” Trump continued. “This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”

RELATED: Illegal labor isn’t farming’s future. It’s Big Ag’s crutch.

Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

The following day, the Times stated that an internal DHS email and three U.S. officials claimed the Trump administration had ordered a pause on ICE raids at farms, hotels, and restaurants.

Senior ICE official Tatum King reportedly issued the new guidance to the agency’s regional leaders.

According to the Times, the email read, “Effective today, please hold on all work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels.”

The guidance appeared to contradict border czar Tom Homan’s previous declarations that ICE would significantly increase worksite raids to achieve the administration’s mass deportation goals.

“We acknowledge that by taking this off the table, that we are eliminating a significant # of potential targets,” King reportedly wrote.

Homan stated last week that ICE has increased its arrests to roughly 2,000 per day. According to reports, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller has pushed federal authorities to reach a minimum of 3,000 daily arrests.

RELATED: Trump orders ICE to ramp up deportations in Dem-controlled cities following MAGA backlash over selective pause on raids

Photo by APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images

The new guidance allowed ICE to continue any investigations involving “human trafficking, money laundering, drug smuggling into these industries.” However, agents were instructed not to arrest “noncriminal collaterals,” or illegal aliens who have not committed additional crimes in the United States.

On Monday, the Washington Post reported that the administration lifted its temporary exemption after the DHS learned that White House leadership did not support it.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Blaze News, “The president has been incredibly clear. There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE’s efforts.”

“Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safe guard public safety, national security, and economic stability. These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets, and expose critical infrastructure to exploitation,” McLaughlin said.

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​News, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Immigration crisis, Immigration, Illegal immigration crisis, Illegal immigration, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Trump admin, Deportations, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Politics 

As Canadians host the 50th annual G7 Summit this week in Kananaskis, Alberta, they can expect a deluge of “climate-saving” proclamations — rhetoric divorced from scientific evidence and economic reality.

This elite gathering of the world’s leading economies, along with the European Union, plans to spotlight climate resilience, net-zero targets, green certification, and renewable energy. But the most heavily hyped technology on the agenda will likely be carbon capture — a scheme billed as the silver bullet for saving the planet from carbon dioxide emissions.

NASA has credited rising CO2 levels with 70% of Earth’s recent greening. More carbon dioxide, not less, helps feed the world.

Carbon capture refers to the removal of carbon dioxide from industrial exhaust or directly from the air. The captured gas is then injected underground or used commercially, such as for boosting oil production. That latter application has proven highly effective worldwide. But the idea of scaling up carbon capture to cool the planet is not just costly — it’s potentially counterproductive.

Carbon capture as a climate fix imposes heavy costs with no measurable benefits. It burdens consumers, risks environmental harm, and distracts from more effective energy solutions. Most proposals target emissions from coal- or gas-fired power plants, where the captured CO2 would be pumped underground and stored permanently.

With Alberta phasing out coal in favor of natural gas, the cost implications matter. Using data from the U.S. National Energy Technology Laboratory, we examined what it would cost to retrofit gas-fired plants in the province with carbon capture.

NETL analyzed two natural gas combined cycle plants: a 727-megawatt and a 992-megawatt facility. The numbers are staggering. For the smaller unit, construction and startup costs would jump from $760 million to $1.4 billion. Annual operation and maintenance would rise from $29 million to $55 million.

For the larger plant, the picture is no better. Costs climb from $1.1 billion to $1.9 billion to build and launch, and annual maintenance surges from $39 million to $70 million — an 80% increase.

On top of the financial hit, carbon capture reduces energy output by about 11%. That means consumers would pay more — for less electricity.

These systems also require an extensive network of pipelines to move CO2 to underground storage sites. One proposal to connect Canada’s oil sands operations with a CO2 transport system estimated the cost at $4 billion. And that’s just for the pipes.

Even if money were no object, carbon capture fails the basic test of relevance. The theory that CO2 is the primary driver of Earth’s temperature remains unproven. Natural factors — like changes in solar output, the planet’s orbit, and its axial tilt — play a far greater role. Alarmist climate models, built on faulty assumptions, fail again and again to match observed data.

According to the CO2 Coalition, even if the United States had reached net-zero emissions in 2010, the reduction in global temperature by 2100 would amount to just 0.1040 degrees Celsius. That’s not a meaningful impact. Alberta’s emissions, by comparison, are a fraction of the U.S. total.

Far from being a pollutant, carbon dioxide is essential to life. It feeds plants, boosts crop yields, and promotes ecosystem health. NASA has credited rising CO2 levels with 70% of Earth’s recent greening. More carbon dioxide, not less, helps feed the world.

Instead of obsessing over how to bury carbon, G7 leaders might do better to look around at the Canadian Rockies and ask why they’re trying to deprive the planet of the gas that makes them so green in the first place.

​Opinion & analysis, G7, Climate change alarmism, Global warming, Carbon dioxide, Carbon capture, Boondoggle, Temperatures, Celsius, Fahrenheit, Donald trump, Alberta canada, Coal, Natural gas, Nasa, Energy costs 

The Senate Finance Committee put out its version of the “big, beautiful bill,” and support from Republican lawmakers is already beginning to slip.

The House version of the bill narrowly passed in a 215-214 vote in May after weeks of tumultuous negotiations. The House then sent the bill over to the Senate, where the Finance Committee made key changes to several tax provisions in the bill, once again provoking various ideological factions within the GOP.

‘Yeah, I will not vote for this.’

RELATED: SALT Republicans left seething after Senate makes major changes to the ‘big, beautiful bill’

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

One of the most contested changes was lowering the SALT cap from the House’s $40,000 cap back down to $10,000 in the Senate. The SALT caucus vigorously negotiated for weeks on the House side and quadrupled its original cap, which leaders have said is nonnegotiable.

As expected, SALT Republicans came out strongly against the $10,000 cap put forth by the Senate, calling the bill “insulting” and “dead on arrival.” The Senate claims that the lower figure is simply a placeholder to negotiate with the House, but SALT Republicans have made clear that they won’t accept anything less than $40,000.

Given their narrow House majority, Republicans can afford to lose only a handful of votes to pass the bill. Without the support from the SALT caucus, the bill would not pass the House.

“I have been clear since Day one: sufficiently lifting the SALT Cap to deliver tax fairness to New Yorkers has been my top priority in Congress,” Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York said Monday. “After engaging in good faith negotiations, we were able to increase the cap on SALT from $10,000 to $40,000. That is the deal and I will not accept a penny less. If the Senate reduces the SALT number, I will vote NO and the bill will fail in the House.”

RELATED: House narrowly passes DOGE cuts despite Republican defectors: ‘The gravy train is up’

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

The Senate has also taken a gentler approach to rolling back green-energy subsidies first implemented through former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Certain solar and wind subsidies are now going to be extended through at least 2030 and in some cases through 2040.

Fiscal hawks like Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas fought for more aggressive cuts in the House version of the bill. While the Senate softened up on green-energy subsidies, Roy is insisting on deeper cuts.

“Yeah, I will not vote for this,” Roy said of the Senate’s bill.

“The IRA subsidies need [to] end,” Roy added. “Period.”

RELATED: Democrats vote overwhelmingly to allow illegal aliens to continue voting in key district

Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Most critics argue the Senate’s bill doesn’t go far enough, but with respect to Medicaid, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri says it went too far.

The House version freezes new provider taxes, strengthens work requirements, and puts forth certain cuts to the program in order to ensure only eligible individuals are receiving Medicaid benefits. This was crucial in securing support from fiscal conservatives like Roy, who otherwise were inclined to vote against the bill in the House.

The Senate version takes these cuts one step further, capping the expansion states’ charges at 3.5% by 2031. Hawley said he was “alarmed” by this provision, noting that many rural hospitals in low-income areas rely on support from the federal government.

“This is gonna defund rural hospitals effectively in order to, what, pay for solar panels in China?” Hawley said. “I’ll be really interested to see what the president thinks about this.”

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​Donald trump, Big beautiful bill, Reconciliation, House republicans, Senate republicans, Congress, Capitol hill, Mike johnson, Salt caucus, Mike lawler, Chip roy, Josh hawley, Mike crapo, Inflation reduction act, Joe biden, Green energy subsidies, Medicaid, Medicaid cuts, Doge cuts, Politics 

A former Coast Guard officer has been arrested after he allegedly repeatedly fantasized on social media about assassinating President Donald Trump, court documents indicate.

On Monday, Peter Stinson of Oakton, Virginia, was arrested for allegedly making threats to kill the president. Court documents revealed a man apparently obsessed with Trump’s death.

‘If we’re planning murders, I’d like to suggest an orange one.’

Stinson was a Coast Guard officer from 1988 until 2021, during which time he rose to the rank of lieutenant and received awards for his skill as a sharpshooter. He also conducted trainings for the FEMA Incident Command Systems, described as a series of courses designed to help first responders during disasters and emergencies.

‘Three inches to the right, and the shot woulda gone through the eyeball.’

Since at least April 2020, Stinson has allegedly been ranting wildly on social media about the urgent need to kill Trump, whom he often appeared to refer to using coded words like “orange.” The following alleged social media posts are but a small fraction of the statements included in the criminal complaint against Stinson:

“The orange must go. At any cost.””Somebody ought to do more than sue the orange mf’s a**,” adding, “It involves a rifle and a scope, but I can’t talk about it here.””Yes, I would pull the trigger. Would you?” he allegedly said in response to a post about Trump and his supporters.“If we’re planning murders, I’d like to suggest an orange one.”

RELATED: ‘Politically motivated assassination’: Minnesota Democrat rep and husband gunned down — state senator, wife wounded

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

“What a**h**e thought he was good enough to complete the mission and then so really f**k up? S**t takes skills. Practice. Etc. Most of us are not capable. As noted before, I’m not a good enough shot. Very few people are. Somebody needs to learn this lesson.””Three inches to the right, and the shot woulda gone through the eyeball. Practice. Practice. Practice. And to die in the process. If you’re going to do something big, get it right [winking emoticon].””Execution is critical.”

Gunfire was not the only method Stinson allegedly imagined might work to kill Trump. He also allegedly mentioned poisoning Trump, running him over with a car, and stabbing him. “The Ides of March can’t get here fast enough,” he allegedly posted in February.

‘This is war. Sides will be drawn. Antifa always wins in the end. Violence is inherently necessary.’

Stinson even allegedly alluded to notorious murder suspect Luigi Mangione, accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December. Trump “needs to be luigied,” Stinson allegedly wrote back in March.

RELATED: ‘Saint Luigi’? America’s moral compass couldn’t be more broken

Photo by Curtis Means – Pool/Getty Images

Stinson is also apparently affiliated with Antifa, reportedly including “#antifa” in his X profile and “Virginia Antifa” in his Bluesky profile.

“This is war. Sides will be drawn. Antifa always wins in the end. Violence is inherently necessary,” he posted in February, according to the complaint.

Stinson has been identified as the interviewee in a YouTube video entitled “THE MAYDAY MOVEMENT – Peter Stinson Interview.” In the video, Stinson repeatedly demands Trump’s impeachment and removal from office, but stops short of calling for violence.

“I first swore an oath to the Constitution 45 years ago,” he explained to the interviewer. “… I always thought until very recently that the the swearing to protect the Constitution ‘against all enemies foreign and domestic,’ I thought it was more of a metaphor, and it’s not.”

In a statement posted to Facebook, Mayday Movement USA expressed a “high degree of suspicion” about the allegations leveled at co-founder Stinson:

We learned today that Peter is charged with threatening President Trump. We think these charges are exaggerated and overblown. The Peter we know has been very clear that the only solution to Donald Trump’s transgressions is impeachment and removal, the Constitutionally sanctioned remedy. We would be surprised if Peter made any comments suggesting he was inclined toward violence.

According to ABC News, Stinson did not enter a plea for the charges against him and will remain in custody at least until his detention hearing on Wednesday.

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​Donald trump, Coast guard, Antifa, Peter stinson, Assassination, Luigi mangione, Politics 

Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was forcefully removed from a press briefing led by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem after creating a scene and interrupting Noem’s speech by shouting a question about immigration and citizenship.

Video shows Padilla being dragged into the hallway by security, where he was handcuffed and led away.

In a follow-up video on X, Padilla said, “If they can do that to me, if they’re willing to do that to me, a United States senator with a question, doing my job on behalf of the people of California and our country, what are they doing to a lot of the folks that are out there when the cameras are not on?”

“Not the dangerous violent criminals that they say they’re targeting — I have no issue with that — but I’m talking about all the otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants,” he added.

“I love that he says they were law-abiding,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.” “If they are here illegally, they are not law-abiding.”

“Yet this idiot wants to make a name for himself, I guess,” she adds.

“That’s exactly what he wanted to do, man. Look, it doesn’t matter who that was. It shows how these politicians think of themselves, that they believe that just because they are a senator, they can do whatever the hell that they want,” BlazeTV contributor and founder of Rippaverse Comics Eric July says.

“Imagine if that was me,” July continues. “What are they going to do to me? They’re going to slam my ass on the ground, and they’re going to put me in handcuffs. Doesn’t matter who it is. You being a senator doesn’t absolve you of that.”

“But he wanted the clip. He got the clip,” he adds.

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​Free, Video phone, Upload, Camera phone, Video, Sharing, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Senator alex padilla, Alex padilla, Kristi noem, Department of homeland security, Illegal immigration, Immigration crisis 

You’ve probably been watching the riots in Los Angeles.

For about a week now, angry foreign nationals (mostly Mexican), angry legal residents originally from Mexico, and lunatic leftist white American Democrats have been blocking highways, hurtling bricks at police from overpasses, shooting off fireworks into crowds, and setting cars on fire.

Your eyes are lying to you. You don’t see that man waving a Mexican flag while he fires off a bottle rocket into a group of cops.

Why? Because they’re very angry that laws against illegal immigration are being enforced. And they’re doing more than “protesting” this — they’re actively targeting the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers charged with carrying this out.

That’s the purpose of posting the known locations and identities of ICE officers on social media. They want them hurt or even killed.

Agitator Jack Quillin, who was arrested for posting the location of ICE raids live online, is pretending now that he’s sorry, undoubtedly in hopes that his punishment will be light. But you would be a fool if you believed people like this don’t hope to see cops and right-wingers dead.

Nothing to see here

I’ve been watching it all too, but it’s the response of California officials that has me fascinated.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) tells the press that there’s no violence that needs a police response. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D) claims there’s no violence or lawlessness in Los Angeles. Governor Gavin Newsom (D) says that the president sending in the National Guard is what caused the violence.

It all feels so familiar, and the reason why is because I grew up in a home that runs on the same deranged rules that modern American left-wing politics run on. For most of my life, I was under the spell of an important person in my life who behaved the way Gavin Newsom, Maxine Waters, and Karen Bass are behaving.

That person was my mother.

Mental derangement

My mother behaved that way because she had a mental derangement called a Cluster B personality disorder. You know this colloquially as clinical narcissism and clinical levels of emotional reactivity that comes out in screaming outbursts, lies, and blaming other people for what you yourself have done.

My weekly commentary show, “Disaffected,” has a thesis: Abuse that starts in the home between spouses, or from parent to child, grows and expands into our public politics.

The narcissistic, deranged mind of my mother (that’s the Cluster B personality) is the same kind of mind that we find in the political and cultural left. Yes, I’m saying that I believe many of these politicians, and their voters, are truly diagnose-ably personality disordered. Yes, I’m saying that this is just “child abuse” and “spousal abuse” scaled up to the public stage.

It’s not that it’s “like” domestic abuse; it is the very same thing.

The real ‘gaslighters’

Cause and effect are reversed. Your eyes are lying to you. You don’t see that man waving a Mexican flag while he fires off a bottle rocket into a group of cops. You’re not watching people throw bricks off highway overpasses. Do you understand? You’re crazy if you think you see that, and if it’s happening, people like you made the protesters get violent.

The proper term for these kinds of lies is “gaslighting.”

I know that you’re probably tired of hearing that, and you probably associate it with left-wing complaints. That’s a mistake. Gaslighting is real, and it is effective. It has worked on you many times in your life, I guarantee it.

The left simply reverses the truth — leftists hurt others, then claim to be victims. They lie and distort reality to make other people think that they are crazy, then the leftist accuses the person she bamboozled of “gaslighting” her!

‘Mommie Dearest’

I learned about it at home. If you’ve seen the movie “Mommie Dearest,” you have a good idea of what kind of childhood I had. We were poor, not rich, and we weren’t famous. But everything else was much the same.

Think back to the scene where Joan Crawford finds her 8-year-old daughter, Christina, playing make-believe in front of Joan’s mirror. Christina imitates her mother at press conferences, addressing her “wonderful fans.”

Joan’s ego is so bruised she starts screaming at her daughter and hacking her hair off. Joan yells, “You vain, spoiled child, trying to find ways to make people look at you. Why are you always looking at yourself in the mirror? Why are you doing that? Tell me!”

‘Look what you’re making me do’

Joan was projecting her own traits onto her daughter. My mother did the same. When she became frenzied with frustration, she would push me down onto my knees on the dining room floor, commanding me to “humble myself” while she hit me on the face and about the head. As her anger got to a peak of red-faced fury, she would shake me until my head bobbled and scream, “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?”

RELATED: Had an abusive mother? Then you understand the left’s anti-Trump insanity

AllNikArt/Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

A longtime babysitter named Theresa was similarly afflicted. Theresa lived down the block, and a bunch of us kids went to her apartment after school to be watched until our parents got home from work. Theresa had a love-hate relationship with children. She liked them enough to babysit and provide us with hundreds of comic books to keep us entertained, but she would lose control when we got too loud.

Maybe we screamed too much playing tag; maybe our feet stepped into the flower bed. Theresa would call us into the living room. She did her hair like Alice the maid from “The Brady Bunch” and wore horn-rimmed glasses with double-knit polyester shorts.

Theresa would have us children sit on the floor before her as she perched on the couch. Looking us in the eye, she’d take the palm of her hands and slap her inner thighs until they turned black and blue.

“You’re working my nerves and making me do this!” she’d yell, slamming her own thighs. “LOOK WHAT YOU’RE MAKING ME DO!”

That’s what Gavin Newsom is doing.

Narcissistic reversal

“Thanks to our law enforcement officers and the majority of Angelenos who protested peacefully, this situation was winding down and was concentrated in just a few square blocks downtown,” Newsom said in a video posted on X. “But that’s not what Donald Trump wanted. He again chose escalation; he chose more force.”

Translation: WHY IS DONALD TRUMP MAKING THE RIOTERS BE VIOLENT?

That’s what they’re all doing, the Democrats and city leaders blaming Trump, the police, the National Guard, or ICE, for the criminal violence of street thugs.

This is called a “narcissistic reversal.” It’s what my mother did when she blamed me for “hurting” her while she was beating me. It’s what Theresa did when she told 7-year-olds they were forcing her to beat her legs black and blue. It’s what Newsom is doing when he claims that Trump enforcing the law is what’s making illegal aliens and Americans break the law.

The Bible knows this devilish trick. Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.”

A taste of home

These denials, these reversals of blame, are familiar to me because I was raised from birth in just the kind of environment you see out on the streets and in politicians’ podiums this week. Yes, I am saying that politicians on the left are, in my view, behaving exactly as you would expect from patients with borderline or narcissistic personality disorders (and antisocial PD/sociopathy, too).

It’s all out in the open now. Turn on your TV, open social media, and it’s like watching a screening of “Mommie Dearest” or “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” but it’s all presented to you as if it were perfectly normal.

If you have felt for years that something is really psychologically off about the left, you were right. Maybe this essay has given you a framework that can help you understand what specifically that thing is that’s so “off.” I believe it’s Cluster B psychopathology. Domestic abuse has gone public and feral.

​Los angeles riots, Gavin newsom, Karen bass, Cluster b, Narcissism, Abuse, Culture, Mental health, Intervention 

In 2003 Palo Alto, California, Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, and cohorts founded a software company called Palantir. Now, these 20-odd years later, with stock prices reaching escape velocity and government and commercial contracts secured from Huntsville to Huntington, Palantir seems to have arrived in the pole position of the AI race.

With adamantine ties to the Trump administration and deep history with U.S. intelligence and military entities to boot, Palantir has emerged as a decisive force in the design and management of our immediate technological, domestic, and geopolitical futures.

Curious, then, that so many, including New York Times reporters, seem to believe that Palantir is merely another souped-up data hoarding and selling company like Google or Adobe.

The next-level efficiency, one imagines, will have radical implications for our rather inefficient lives.

It’s somewhat understandable, but the scales and scopes in play are unprecedented. To get a grasp on the scope of Palantir’s project, consider that every two days now humanity churns out the same amount of information that was accrued over the previous 5,000 years of civilization.

As then-Gartner senior vice president Peter Sondergaard put it more than a decade ago, “Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine.”

Palantir spent the last 20 years building that analytics combustion engine. It arrives as a suite of AI products tailored to various markets and end users. The promise, as the era of Palantir proceeds and as AI-centered business and governance takes hold, is that decisions will be made with a near-complete grasp on the totality of real-time global information.

RELATED: Trump’s new allies: Tech billionaires are jumping on the MAGA train

The Washington Post/Getty Images

The tech stack

Famously seeded with CIA In-Q-Tel cash, Palantir started by addressing intelligence agency needs. In 2008, the Gotham software product, described as a tool for intelligence agencies to analyze complex datasets, went live. Gotham is said to integrate and analyze disparate datasets in real time to enable pattern recognition and threat detection. Joining the CIA, FBI, and presumably most other intelligence agencies in deploying Gotham are the Centers for Disease Control and Department of Defense.

Next up in the suite is Foundry, which is, again, an AI-based software solution but geared toward industry. It purportedly serves to centralize previously siloed data sources to effect maximum efficiency. Health care, finance, and manufacturing all took note and were quick to integrate Foundry. PG&E, Southern California, and Edison are all satisfied clients. So is the Wendy’s burger empire.

The next in line of these products, which we’ll see are integrated and reciprocal in their application to client needs, is Apollo, which is, according the Palantir website, “used to upgrade, monitor, and manage every instance of Palantir’s product in the cloud and at some of the world’s most regulated and controlled environments.” Among others, Morgan Stanley, Merck, Wejo, and Cisco are reportedly all using Apollo.

If none of this was impressive enough, if the near-total penetration into both business and government (U.S., at least) at foundational levels isn’t evident yet, consider the crown jewel of the Palantir catalog, which integrates all the others: Ontology.

“Ontology is an operational layer for the organization,” Palantir explains. “The Ontology sits on top of the digital assets integrated into the Palantir platform (datasets and models) and connects them to their real-world counterparts, ranging from physical assets like plants, equipment, and products to concepts like customer orders or financial transactions.”

Every aspect native to a company or organization — every minute of employee time, any expense, item of inventory, and conceptual guideline — is identified, located, and cross-linked wherever and however appropriate to maximize efficiency.

The next-level efficiency, one imagines, will have radical implications for our rather inefficient lives. Consider the DMV, the wait list, the tax prep: Anything that can be processed (assuming enough energy inputs for the computation) can be — ahead of schedule.

The C-suite

No backgrounder is complete without some consideration of a company’s founders. The intentions, implied or overt, from Peter Thiel and Alex Karp in particular are, in some ways, as ponderable as the company’s ultra-grade software products and market dominance.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp stated in his triumphal 2024 letter to shareholders: “Our results are not and will never be the ultimate measure of the value, broadly defined, of our business. We have grander and more idiosyncratic aims.” Karp goes on to quote both Augustine and Houellebecq as he addresses the company’s commitment first to America.

This doesn’t sound quite like the digital panopticon or the one-dimensionally malevolent elite mindset we were threatened with for the last 20 years. Despite their outsized roles and reputations, Thiel companies tend toward the relatively modest goals of reducing overall harm or risk. Reflecting the influence of Rene Girard’s theory that people rapidly spiral into hard-to-control and ultimately catastrophic one-upsmanship, the approach reflects a considerably more sophisticated point of view than Karl Rove’s infamously dismissive claim to be “history’s actors.”

“Initially, the rise of the digital security state was a neoconservative project,” Blaze Media editor at large James Poulos remarked on the dynamic. “But instead of overturning this Bush-era regime, the embedded Obama-Biden elite completed the neocon system. That’s how we got the Cheneys endorsing Kamala.”

In a series of explanatory posts on X made via the company’s Privacy and Ethics account and reposted on its webpage, Palantir elaborated: “We were the first company to establish a dedicated Privacy & Civil Liberties Engineering Team over a decade ago, and we have a longstanding Council of Advisors on Privacy & Civil Liberties comprised of leading experts and advocates. These functions sit at the heart of the company and help us to embody Palantir’s values both through providing rights-protective technologies and fostering a culture of responsibility around their development and use.”

It’s a far cry from early 2000s rhetoric and corporate policy, and so the issue becomes one of evaluation. Under pressure from the immensity of the data, the ongoing domestic and geopolitical instability manifesting in myriad forms, and particularly the bizarre love-hate interlocking economic mechanisms between the U.S. and China, many Americans are hungry to find a scapegoat.

Do we find ourselves, as Americans at least, with the advantage in this tense geopolitical moment? Or are we uncharacteristically behind in the contest for survival? An honest assessment of our shared responsibility for our national situation might lead away from scapegoating, toward a sense that we made our bed a while ago on technology and security and now we must lie in it.

​Palantir, Big tech, Alex karp, Peter thiel, Tech, Cia, Analytics, Department of defense, Ai, Return 

President Donald Trump’s track record and repeated commitment to keeping the nation out of “endless wars” suggest that he does not have the interventionist reflex common to most of his predecessors.

Some lawmakers in Washington nevertheless appear uncertain amid the chatter about Iranian regime change, the recent buildup of U.S. forces in the region, the threat of an Iranian attack warranting American retaliation, and Trump’s recent remarks — “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

There is now a bipartisan effort underway to limit President Donald Trump’s ability to commit the United States to military actions without congressional approval.

Background

Israel launched an attack Thursday on Iran, hammering its nuclear facilities, taking out many of its air defense systems, and eliminating top Iranian military officials.

Iran responded to the apparent decapitation strike with missile and drone attacks, and the two nations have exchanged deadly fire in the days since, threatening to put President Donald Trump’s nuclear deal permanently out of reach.

Although the Trump administration initially stressed that the Israeli attacks were undertaken unilaterally and that the U.S. “was not involved” — a message the State Department recently emphasized in a directive to all of its embassies and consular ports — there are indications of foreknowledge and possibly even coordination on the part of Washington.

RELATED: Israel’s strategy now rests on one bomb — and it’s American

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Regardless of its previous involvement, the U.S. has helped Israel shoot down Iranian missiles and drones and appears now to be preparing for another Middle Eastern engagement.

White House spokesman Alex Pfeiffer clarified Monday evening that American forces are not presently attacking Iran but are rather “maintaining their defensive posture.”

Echoes of 2003

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth indicated that over the weekend, he “directed the deployment of additional capabilities to the United Central Command Area of Responsibility.” The USS Nimitz — set to be decommissioned next year — is among the warships now headed to the Persian Gulf along with a number of refueling planes.

While bolstering America’s military presence in the region, Trump nevertheless expressed hope for a peaceful resolution on Monday.

‘Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign.’

Before leaving the G7 summit in Canada early to deal with the Iranian matter, Trump told reporters, “As I’ve been saying, I think a deal will be signed, or something will happen, but a deal will be signed, and I think Iran is foolish not to sign.”

The Wall Street Journal indicated that Iran is desperate for a deal, telling Washington and Jerusalem through intermediaries that it wants an end to the hostilities — something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly not presently interested in — and that it is ready to negotiate so long as the U.S. stays out of the fight.

“The Iranians know the U.S. is supporting Israel in its defense, and they are sure the U.S. is supporting Israel logistically,” an Arab official told the Journal. “But they want guarantees the U.S. won’t join the attacks.”

The president appeared less hopeful Monday night, writing, “Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

‘What we’re likely looking at is yet another nation-building exercise in the Middle East.’

The evacuation notice came a day after Netanyahu indicated that regime change “could certainly be the result” of the escalating conflict, which he framed as an “opportunity”; several hours after exiled Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo Monday that it was a “matter of time” before the Iranian regime was overthrown; and shortly after Netanyahu said Israel was “doing what we need to do” when asked about plans to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and other lawmakers on the Hill began speaking as though America’s direct involvement in the conflict was a forgone conclusion.

“Israel has formally requested a direct US intervention in its war against Iran,” Sohrab Ahmari, the Iranian American editor of Compact, noted in an essay on X. “What we’re likely looking at is yet another nation-building exercise in the Middle East — except on a much vaster and more complex scale than anything attempted in the post-9/11 wars. In other words: another decade or two wasted in the Middle East. If you don’t want that, pray for rapid de-escalation.”

On Monday, Trump told reporters on Air Force One he was looking for “an end. A real end. Not a ceasefire — an end.”

Another attempt to handcuff the president

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — whom Trump said earlier this year “SHOULD BE PRIMARIED” — tweeted Monday evening, “This is not our war. But if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution.”

RELATED: Trump fires off serious threat to Iran — and then leaves G7 forum early to return to White House

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

“I’m introducing a bipartisan War Powers Resolution tomorrow to prohibit our involvement,” continued Massie. “I invite all members of Congress to cosponsor this resolution.”

Massie’s initial pitch drew commitments from numerous Democrats, including California Rep. Ro Khanna, who wrote, “Are you with the neocons who led us into Iraq or do you stand with the American people?”

Sen. Tim Kaine, the Virginia Democrat who was Hillary Clinton’s running mate in her most recent failed presidential bid, also took action Monday aimed at barring Trump from potentially embroiling the U.S. in a Middle Eastern conflict.

Kaine’s war powers resolution would require a debate and a vote prior to the use of military force against Iran.

“It is not in our national security interest to get into a war with Iran unless that war is absolutely necessary to defend the United States,” Kaine said in a statement. “I am deeply concerned that the recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran could quickly pull the United States into another endless conflict.”

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) also introduced legislation with several other Democrats Monday that would prohibit the use of federal funds for any use of military force in or against Iran without specific congressional authorization, stating, “Another war in the Middle East could cost countless lives, waste trillions more dollars and lead to even more deaths, more conflict, and more displacement.”

Blaze News reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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​President donald trump, Iran, Israel, War, Congress, Authority, Ro khanna, Thomas massie, Intervention, Regime change, Tehran, Tel aviv, Jerusalem, Washington, Trump, Politics 

Although I would do so reluctantly — while holding a barf bag in one hand — if forced to vote in the next New York City mayoral election, I’d cast my ballot for Zohran Mamdani.

Yes, that Zohran Mamdani.

It isn’t just the Democratic Party destroying these cities — it’s the people who keep voting for them. Let them live with the consequences.

A dire warning about this unappetizing candidate, a “Muslim lefty from the other side of Queens,” just appeared in the New York Post, which reports that Mamdani consorts with pro-Hamas rioters, adores Black Lives Matter, and recently said Bill de Blasio was “the best mayor of his lifetime.”

In a sane political environment, such a figure would be consigned to the loony bin. But in the present urban climate, voters find themselves grasping for the least ghastly option — if they bother voting at all.

And Mamdani, God help me, appears marginally less disgusting than Andrew Cuomo, who is now the front-runner.

Cuomo, who presided over the slow death of New York as governor, seems poised to take the helm of a city already in decay. In any race to the bottom, he’d win in a landslide. This is a man who groped and manhandled female staffers while parading his feminist credentials; who packed nursing homes with COVID patients, causing the deaths of thousands; who then lied about it repeatedly and shamelessly. He worked tirelessly to eliminate cash bail, unleashing a wave of criminality across the state.

And yet, somehow, Mamdani is supposed to be worse?

That former Mayor Mike Bloomberg — now a prolific funder of leftist candidates — is backing Cuomo only sharpens the stench of this whole affair. The staleness of the New York political class, its complete moral exhaustion, has never been more evident.

Still, I’ll give you another reason I prefer Mamdani: Sometimes collapse is a better catalyst than stagnation.

Cuomo would likely run the city into the ground — but slowly. He’d reward the usual Democratic parasites with patronage, keep street crime just under the boiling point, and exercise marginally more restraint when it comes to unwanted touching. He’d reassure the woke plutocrats and Wall Street donors that he won’t rock the boat too much. He knows the game and plays it well.

But the rot would fester.

RELATED: New 12-foot-tall statue of woman in Times Square meant to represent ‘cultural diversity’

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

New York would remain unsafe. Schools and other public institutions would stay in the grip of culturally radicalized unions. The courts would remain ideological tools of the left. Nothing would improve. The decline would just ooze along — business as usual.

Mamdani, by contrast, might deliver a spectacular crash.

If he’s as doctrinaire and deranged as his critics suggest, his administration could bring about real catastrophe with impressive speed. That kind of shock might finally push productive citizens to flee en masse and accelerate the corporate exodus already under way. Sometimes it takes a maniac to wake the slumbering.

This wouldn’t be the first time a disastrous mayor paved the way for genuine reform. In 1994, New Yorkers elected Rudy Giuliani after enduring the catastrophic tenure of David Dinkins. Giuliani cracked down on crime, brought investment back, and helped restore a semblance of order. But it took years of misrule to make that turnaround politically possible.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking: That kind of change isn’t possible any more. Cities like New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia are too far gone. Their voting blocs are locked into leftist fantasy. The idea of another Giuliani, a Richard Daley Sr., or even a Frank Rizzo showing up today seems laughable.

Maybe so. But if that’s true, then the voters are getting exactly what they asked for. It isn’t just the Democratic Party destroying these cities — it’s the people who keep voting for them.

Let them live with the consequences.

Given the state of our urban politics, the choice now is between ideological lunatics and cynical reprobates. Mamdani may fast-forward the train wreck. Cuomo might slow it down. But either way, the crash is coming.

At least with Mamdani, we might finally reach bottom — and from there, maybe, begin again.

​Opinion & analysis, Andrew cuomo, Sexual harassment, Covid-19 tyranny, Nursing home deaths, Mask mandates, Lockdowns, New york city, Mayor, Eric adams, Bill di blasio, Zohran mamdani, Mike bloomberg, Rudy giuliani, David dinkins, Crime, Homelessness crisis, Business, Economy, Broken windows, Investment, Law and order, Richard daley, Frank rizzo, Corruption, Islam, Democratic party 

Many assume conservative principles belong to the past. They don’t. The debate over cryptocurrency regulation — including the House GOP’s Clarity Act — offers a chance to apply those principles to a 21st-century frontier.

Cryptocurrency and decentralized finance reflect core American values: free speech, free markets, and innovation from the ground up. Across the country, developers are building protocols that move money in microseconds, create new investment tools, and expand access to capital like never before.

With a Republican-led Congress considering landmark cryptocurrency legislation, we have a historic opportunity to apply time-tested conservative values to the cutting edge of financial innovation.

Blockchain technology provides a means to secure property rights in the digital era. The most transformative products likely haven’t even launched yet.

The potential benefits are massive. In 2024 alone, decentralized finance grew to more than $114 billion. Even more capital — billions of dollars — stands ready to enter the space through pension funds and institutional investors.

But that money won’t move without guardrails.

Institutional investors need transparency. That means audit requirements they can trust, legally accountable custodians, clear reporting on asset health, and safeguards against manipulation.

They also need legal certainty. Defined rules give investors confidence. Without them, they’ll stay away — or invest elsewhere.

That’s where Washington plays a role.

The Trump administration shifted U.S. regulatory policy toward digital assets, elevating crypto to a national priority through executive order. Now, with a Republican-led Congress weighing landmark crypto legislation, conservatives have a real opportunity.

This moment demands more than slogans. It calls for applying time-tested conservative principles — rule of law, market discipline, and individual liberty — to the future of finance.

Don’t be afraid

Some treat cryptocurrency as a threat. Fair enough — the collapse of FTX still casts a long shadow over the current debate in Congress.

Sam Bankman-Fried, a Democratic megadonor, didn’t just run a failed company. He ran a cautionary tale — a playbook for what lawmakers must never allow again.

The FTX scandal highlights two enduring conservative truths:

Human nature is flawed. Left unchecked, individuals will act out of greed and self-interest. Conservatives have never pretended otherwise — and that’s why we build systems of accountability.The rule of law matters. Pre-established standards prevent chaos. Waiting for disaster or making policy on the fly only magnifies the damage.

FTX didn’t collapse because of cryptocurrency. It failed because no one held Bankman-Fried accountable. He amassed influence through backroom politics and ran a tangled network of private firms without meaningful oversight. The result: billions vaporized and public trust shattered.

Thoughtful legislation can prevent the next meltdown — not by stifling innovation, but by setting clear, enforceable rules rooted in transparency, responsibility, and the rule of law.

A remedy with room to improve

The bill now before Congress offers a rare chance to get crypto regulation right.

It tackles the custodial vulnerabilities exposed by the FTX collapse and establishes a framework that allows digital asset projects to integrate into the broader financial system. Just as important, it does so under a unified set of rules.

The bill follows conservative logic. It exempts infrastructure providers — such as blockchain validators and payment processors — from regulatory burdens that don’t apply. These actors don’t make governance decisions, and the law should reflect that.

It also classifies participants based on their actions, rather than the extent of their political influence.

But the bill still needs one critical fix.

Lawmakers need to include decentralized autonomous organizations as eligible cryptocurrency issuers. These DAOs, the opposite of central banks, operate through user-led governance. Crypto users vote on the rules of the system they help create.

DAOs have become common in decentralized finance. Yet the current bill overlooks them. That omission could block the very groups driving innovation from entering the regulated space.

RELATED: Trump’s Bitcoin masterstroke puts America ahead in digital assets

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

If a project follows the rules, discloses information, and acts responsibly, it should qualify, regardless of how it governs itself. Whether the issuer is a DAO, a startup, or a traditional bank, one standard should apply.

That’s the conservative way: equal rules, fair enforcement, and space for innovation to thrive.

What if we get it wrong?

Leaving the bill unamended carries real risks:

Overreaching compliance rules could smother the best of American innovation — now and in the future.Narrow legal definitions might force decentralized finance into the hands of a few massive exchanges, recreating the same “too big to fail” system that burned taxpayers in 2008.Ongoing regulatory ambiguity could drive developers and infrastructure providers offshore, into the arms of authoritarian regimes eager to benefit from America’s hesitation.

The biggest danger? Watching capital and talent flee to countries that welcome decentralized commerce while the United States — its origin point — falls behind.

Decentralized finance leaders aren’t calling for lawlessness. They want smart policy.

Joe Sticco, co-founder of Cryptex and a White House Crypto Summit participant, put it this way: “In DeFi, it’s not about evading rules — it’s about building better ones.”

Sticco believes today’s innovators want a seat at the table. “We believe open financial systems can coexist with responsible oversight,” he told me. “We have to show up, we have to explain the tech, and we have to help shape the rules.”

Congress still has time to get this right. But the window is closing.

The path forward

Republicans now hold both chambers of Congress. That means the window to act is wide open.

This isn’t about growing government. It’s about setting the rules so innovation can thrive, fraud gets stopped, and people are held accountable. Here’s what that looks like:

Clear rules that apply fairly to both traditional companies and decentralized projects;Basic protections like audits, secure custody of funds, and anti-fraud measures;Freedom for developers to build new tools without unfair roadblocks;And clear standards for when crypto projects are considered stable enough to ease up on oversight.

With these fixes, the Clarity Act can do what no other crypto bill has: protect investors, promote innovation, and keep America in the lead.

We can build the future of finance right here — on American terms, with American values. But we have to act now.

​Opinion & analysis, Bitcoin, White house, Cryptocurrency, Crypto, Congress, Regulation, Innovation, Rule of law, National interest, Sam bankman-fried, Democrats, Decentralized finance, Finance, Banks, Clarity act, Investments, Conservative, Principles, Markets 

Will Smith has made a shocking and mostly well-received return to hip-hop — but the music video for his song “Pretty Girls” has been mocked relentlessly — and BlazeTV contributor Shemeka Michelle isn’t planning to spare Smith’s feelings, either.

In the video, which features different women of all colors and sizes, Smith raps, “Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, lemon / Alright, f**k it, I like women / There it is, truth about me.”

“I’m ’bout to do some investing / I spend it on you and your bestie / You and your twin on a jet-ski / I’ll change your life if you let me,” is another verse.

“To see this 56-year-old man dancing around saying he likes pretty girls,” Michelle tells BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock, “the video starts out with him on a therapist couch kind of admitting that he has this problem and this obsession, and I just don’t buy it.”

“So for me, I don’t like the song simply because it doesn’t seem authentic. If he had said, ‘I like pretty people,’ then I would feel like he was being a little bit more authentic, but just to act as if he has this obsession with women, and you know, he can’t help himself, it just felt forced to me,” she continues.

“Couldn’t he just be trying to speak it into existence,” Whitlock counters, saying it reminds him of another video.

“There’s a black dude at a church that’s screaming, ‘I like girls!’” Whitlock recalls. “He’s like rebuking his homosexuality. It’s one of the funniest videos I’ve ever seen.”

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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I’m a strong supporter of President Trump. I respect his drive to secure our borders, restore national sovereignty, and bring real vitality back to the American economy.

But the Department of Homeland Security’s latest move — limiting workplace enforcement and putting a stop to Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on agricultural employers — cuts against the very heart of the America First agenda. It protects the same corporate giants that are bleeding rural communities dry.

If DHS and USDA want to fix agriculture, they need to stop hiding behind the word ‘farmer’ when they’re really talking about corporate middlemen.

Let’s not kid ourselves: This policy isn’t about helping “farmers.” It’s a gift to foreign-owned industrial agriculture giants like JBS and other multinationals that built their business models on cheap labor, government handouts, and total control over every link in the supply chain.

These are the corporations responsible for wiping out independent family farms across the country.

The Biden administration let Big Ag off the hook. Is Trump really about to follow suit?

Hiring legally and thriving

You don’t need to hire illegal workers to run a successful farm or ranch. In fact, some of the best in the business don’t.

Look at White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia. Or Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia. Or Meriwether Farms out in Wyoming. These aren’t fantasy models. They’re real, thriving operations built on legal labor, strong local roots, and, when needed, carefully managed visa programs.

They don’t rely on mass illegal labor. They don’t need to.

What they do is create real jobs. They pay honest wages. They bring life back to rural towns.

Will Harris is the biggest employer in Bluffton — not because he cuts corners on labor, but because he heals the land, strengthens his community, and delivers food independence.

This is what Trump’s golden age of American farming should look like: self-reliance, real prosperity, and pride in a job well done.

A free pass for Big Ag

With this new policy, DHS basically gave corporate amnesty to the likes of Tyson, Smithfield, JBS, Cargill — you name it. These are companies that depend on cheap, illegal labor to keep their bloated, centralized model afloat.

We’ve been down this road before. Remember Ronald Reagan’s 1986 amnesty? Legalization now, enforcement later — except “later” never came.

And now, we’re repeating the same mistake.

This policy protects a broken system built on:

Top-down corporate controlMassive consolidationDebt traps and labor abuseDe facto open bordersSlave-wage laborLegal loopholes for billion-dollar companies

What we’re left with is what journalist Christopher Leonard called “chickenization” — a corporate takeover of the food system that treats farmers like serfs and workers like machines.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s loyalty to these monopolies has already hollowed out towns, forced families off their land, and turned our food supply into a global pipeline where cartel-linked produce replaces homegrown independence.

This doesn’t serve America. It serves the bottom lines of a few mega-firms that like open borders and look the other way on enforcement.

And whether it admits it or not, this is how the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals get implemented — quietly, through broken farms, outsourced jobs, and illegal hires.

RELATED: Trump orders ICE to ramp up deportations in Dem-controlled cities following MAGA backlash over selective pause on raids

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

This isn’t just about agriculture. It’s about national security.

A nation that can’t feed itself without breaking its own laws isn’t sovereign. And one that lets multinationals run roughshod over the heartland while outsourcing production to places run by cartels is heading for trouble.

We can do better

If DHS and USDA want to fix agriculture, they need to stop hiding behind the word “farmer” when they’re really talking about corporate middlemen.

Trump has a chance to change course — one that truly puts Americans first. That means backing the producers who follow the law, hiring citizens or legal workers, and building food systems that support independence, not dependence.

Independent farmers and ranchers are ready to help. They’ve already shown what works: strong property rights, legal labor, fair water access, and a commitment to community.

This isn’t some policy wish list. It’s already happening.

And it’s winning.

Let’s not give our food, our land, or our future back to the monopolies that wrecked the past.

​Opinion & analysis, Illegal immigration, Department of homeland security, Usda, Big ag, Family farms, Agriculture, Immigration and customs enforcement, Mass deportations, Food and drug administration, Food prices, Grocery, Debt, Labor, Open borders, Ronald reagan, Amnesty, White oak pastures, Polyface farm, Meriwether farms, Jobs americans won’t do 

The U.S. Department of Justice charged Vance Luther Boelter with murder and stalking in the assassination of a top Minnesota lawmaker Monday and revealed he allegedly went to four state legislators’ homes Saturday intending to kill them.

Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, Minn., was captured at 9:15 p.m. Central on Sunday, June 15, after the largest police manhunt in Minnesota history. He was about a mile from his home and 60 miles from where the murders took place.

He is charged with killing Minnesota Speaker of the House Emerita Melissa Hortman (DFL) and her husband, Mark, as he burst into their Brooklyn Park home just after 3:30 a.m Saturday. About 90 minutes earlier, authorities said, he shot state Sen. John Hoffman (DFL) and his wife at their home in Champlin. The Hoffmans had emergency surgery and are expected to recover.

Boelter was charged in U.S. District Court in St. Paul with two counts of murder, two counts of stalking, and two firearms offenses related to stalking. He is being held without bond. He is also charged in Hennepin County with first-degree murder and attempted murder, but the federal charges will be prosecuted first.

“Vance Luthor [sic] Boelter went on a violent rampage against our elected officials,” said acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson. “These were targeted political assassinations the likes of which have never been seen before in Minnesota. It was an attack on our state and on our democracy. We will not rest until he is brought to justice.”

The crimes “have shocked the nation and united us in grief,” said U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. “These horrific acts of violence will not go unanswered.”

The story laid out in the criminal complaint and accompanying FBI affidavit is unprecedented in Minnesota history — literally the stuff of nightmares.

Boelter surveilled the homes of the victims and researched their lives using commercial data sites such as Been Verified, Whitepages, Intelius, and numerous others, the affidavit says.

Boelter carried out his rampage disguised as a police officer, wearing a “hyper realistic” silicone mask, a police uniform, and a black tactical vest with body armor, the complaint continued. He allegedly drove a Ford SUV detailed to look like a squad car, including emergency lights.

RELATED: ‘Politically motivated assassination’: Minnesota Democrat rep and husband gunned down — state senator, wife wounded

Screenshot of FBI affidavit

At just after 2 a.m. on June 14, Boelter allegedly drove to the Hoffman home in Champlin. He knocked on the front door and shouted, “This is the police. Open the door,” the affidavit reads.

The senator opened the door to Boelter, who said there had been a shooting reported at their address. “He asked whether the Hoffmans had any guns,” the affidavit said. “Senator Hoffman responded that there were but that all firearms were locked away.”

Although Boelter had been shining a flashlight in their faces, Mrs. Hoffman realized Boelter was wearing a mask. The couple told Boelter he was not a real police officer, to which he responded, “This is a robbery.”

Senator Hoffman tried to push Boelter back out the front door but was shot repeatedly, the complaint says. Mrs. Hoffman then tried to shut the door on the suspect, but she was also shot multiple times.

The Hoffmans’ daughter called 911 at 2:06 a.m. to report that her parents had been shot.

Boelter then allegedly left the Champlin home and drove to the home of another legislator, identified in the affidavit as “Public Official 1,” in Maple Grove. He repeatedly rang the doorbell at 2:24 a.m., shouting: “This is the police. Open the door. This is the police. We have a warrant,” the affidavit said. The lawmaker was not at home, so the suspect left the area.

Boelter then drove to the New Hope home of another lawmaker and parked down the street. A New Hope police officer saw Boelter’s vehicle and believed it “was in fact a law enforcement officer providing protection for Public Official 2,” the FBI affidavit said. The officer tried to speak to Boelter through the vehicle window, but Boelter stared straight ahead and did not respond.

The New Hope officer continued driving to the home of the lawmaker and waited for backup to arrive. By that time, the suspect had left the area.

Around 3:30 a.m., police in Brooklyn Park sent squad cars to check on Hortman and her husband. Officers saw a black Ford Explorer SUV parked outside the home with its emergency lights flashing. The license plate had been replaced with a fake plate that read “POLICE.”

RELATED: Suspect tied to Walz? Democrat governor may have appointed alleged Minnesota shooter to state board

The FBI said Vance Boelter used materials he bought at a Fleet Farm store to make this fake license plate.Screenshot of FBI affidavit

Officers said they spotted Boelter on the porch of the home and he opened fire on them. As Boelter “moved into the house, a second set of gunshots can be heard. At the same time, several flashes appear in the entryway window,” the affidavit says.

Brooklyn Park officers approached the front entrance, where they found Melissa Hortman, who had been shot multiple times. They tried to provide medical aid to Mark Hortman. Both died from their wounds. Boelter also allegedly shot and killed the family dog.

Boelter fled the home, leaving the SUV out front, according to the affidavit. As he ran, he reportedly ditched the silicone mask, the body armor vest he wore, and a flashlight.

RELATED: Florida woman poses as ICE agent to kidnap ex-boyfriend’s wife, says victim must ‘suffer consequences of husband’s actions’

Vance Boelter wore a hyper-realistic silicone mask that covered his entire head, the FBI said.Screenshot of FBI affidavit

Police began tracking the locations of cell phones “known to be used by Boelter and his wife,” the affidavit says. She was in a vehicle near Onamia, Minn., police said June 15.

Mrs. Boelter allowed officers to search her phone. Her husband apparently sent a group text message at 6:18 a.m., in which he wrote: “Dad went to war last night. … I don’t wanna say more because I don’t wanna implicate anybody.”

A short time later, Boelter reportedly sent a text to his wife: “Words are not gonna explain how sorry I am for this situation. …There’s gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger-happy and I don’t want you guys around.”

When police searched Mrs. Boelter’s vehicle, they found two handguns, about $10,000 in cash, and passports for her and the couple’s children, who were in the vehicle when stopped by police.

Police said Boelter was seen on security video behind a home on Fremont Avenue in North Minneapolis. A man who lives there told reporters on June 15 that Boelter rented a room in the home. The man, David Carlson, said he had known Boelter since grade school.

RELATED: Police detain suspected assassin’s wife with cash, passports, weapon, ammunition

David Carlson reads text messages he said he received from Vance Boelter after the shootings of two lawmakers and their spouses.Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Security video showed a man identified by police as Boelter walking around a black SUV parked in the alley. He smashed the front passenger window with a blunt object, then opened the door.

After leaving the area, Boelter reportedly approached a man at a bus stop about 7 a.m. at 48th Avenue North and North Lyndale Avenue in North Minneapolis. The man said Boelter wanted to buy an electric bicycle from him. The men boarded a bus and traveled to the witness’ home. Boelter allegedly asked to also buy the man’s Buick sedan.

The men drove to a U.S. Bank branch in Robbinsdale, Minn., where Boelter reportedly withdrew $2,200 — all of the funds in the account. The suspect was captured on bank security video wearing a dark jacket and cowboy hat. He gave the witness $900 for the e-bike and the vehicle.

By this time, Blaze News’ Julio Rosas reported exclusively that Boelter was the person believed to have committed the Hortman murders and the Hoffman shootings.

Around 2:30 p.m. on June 15, police received a tip that someone was riding an e-bike about two miles north of the Boelter family home in Green Isle. Police could not find anyone.

At the time, tactical officers began flooding the area in Sibley County looking for Boelter.

A short time later, police discovered the Buick that Boelter reportedly purchased earlier in the day, abandoned on Highway 25, not far from the e-bike sighting. Inside, officers discovered Boelter’s cowboy hat and a letter addressed to the FBI. In the letter, Boelter allegedly admitted to being “the shooter at large in Minnesota involved in the 2 shootings the morning of Saturday June 15th [sic].”

Police located Boelter in a field in Green Isle about 9:10 p.m. June 15 and arrested him.

RELATED: Minnesota ‘assassination’ suspect captured

Screenshot of FBI affidavit

When they searched the 2015 Ford SUV abandoned at the Hortman home, police said they found license plates for the vehicle, registered in the names of Boelter and his wife. They found five firearms, including semiautomatic rifles, “as well as a large quantity of ammunition organized into loaded magazines,” the FBI affidavit said.

Police found several notebooks in the SUV with handwritten pages. They included the names of 45 Minnesota state and federal public officials, including Hortman. Her Brooklyn Park address was written next to her name.

RELATED: Alleged manifesto of murder suspect Luigi Mangione highlights lessons learned from Unabomber: Court docs

Police found several notebooks they said belonged to Vance Boelter.Screenshot of FBI affidavit

A Garmin GPS device found in the SUV had a trip history that included the addresses of Hortman, Hoffman, and one of the unidentified legislators in Maple Grove. The trip history included home addresses “for at least two other state officials,” the affidavit says.

Police found components of a disassembled Beretta 92 9mm semiautomatic handgun with at least three magazines “strewn across the ground a few blocks from Representative Hortman’s home.” Rounds contained in the magazines had the same head stamp as those found on expelled cartridges from the Hortman crime scene. Boelter purchased the handgun in or around January 2000.

When they searched the North Minneapolis home where Boelter occasionally stayed, police found a handwritten list of names containing “many of those same public officials named in the notebooks found in Boelter’s SUV,” according to the affidavit.

Police found a receipt from a Fleet Farm store that showed purchase of a flashlight, tactical rifle case, two types of ammunition, and “materials believe to have been used to create the fake ‘POLICE’ license plate attached to Boelter’s SUV.”

In one of the notebooks found in the North Minneapolis home, officers found lists of names along with addresses and personal details. For Hortman, a notation read, “Married Mark 2 children 11th term.” Another notebook had more details about Hortman: “Big. House off golf course 2 ways in to watch from one spot,” the affidavit reads.

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​Vance boelter, Melissa hortman, John hoffman, Minnesota, Assassination, Politics 

As the war raged on between Israel and Iran on Monday, President Donald Trump issued a grave threat against Iran on social media.

The president has previously warned against Iran continuing its retaliatory strikes against Israel, but he ended his post with a five-word warning that alarmed many.

‘I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!’

“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again!” the president wrote on Truth Social.

“Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” he added.

Many marveled at the proclamation, since the capital city of Iran includes 9 million residents. Very soon after, CNN reported that Trump was leaving the G7 economic forum in Canada early and returning to the White House.

On Thursday evening, Israel launched a devastating attack meant to cripple Iran’s nuclear weapons development capabilities in addition to killing as many military leaders as possible. The strike was named Operation Rising Lion.

Prior to the attack, the U.S. had evacuated personnel from the region after Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh issued a threat to U.S. bases that were within the reach of Iranian missiles.

Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran have stalled over whether Iran will be allowed to refine nuclear material for nonmilitary energy production.

The president had indicated that he was working behind the scenes to negotiate a peace deal between Iran and Israel.

“We will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran! Many calls and meetings now taking place,” he wrote. “I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!

RELATED: Former IDF spox shoots down Axios report claiming Trump deceived Iran before ruinous Israeli strike

Photo by Wisam Hashlamoun/Anadolu via Getty Images

The White House has said they knew about the attack beforehand but denied that the U.S. had any part in the planning.

“We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense.”

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Police officers on duty at the annual WestFest carnival in West Valley City, Utah — which is about 20 minutes southwest of Salt Lake City — noticed two groups of people arguing around 9:20 p.m. Sunday, police said.

As officers approached the groups to break things up, police said a 16-year-old male from one of the groups pulled a gun and opened fire.

‘I don’t even know how to explain this night.’

Police said the following victims were fatally shot: 18-year-old Hassan Lugundi of West Valley City — a male from one of the arguing groups; 41-year-old Fnu Reena — a female bystander from West Jordan; and an 8-month-old boy whose name authorities won’t release.

According to KSTU-TV, the 41-year-old female victim and the infant victim were not connected to each other.

Police said gunfire struck two teens — a 17-year-old female and a 15-year-old male — in their arms. Police added that it’s not clear if the two wounded teens were connected to the arguing groups.

The 16-year-old male suspect was taken into custody, police said, adding that an officer fired but didn’t hit the suspect. Police also said the suspect was taken to the police station for questioning.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill told KSTU it’s too early to determine if the teen suspect will be charged as a juvenile or as an adult.

“We have not yet screened the case. Whether a case is filed in a juvenile or district court is a decision that is made at time of filing,” Gill said in a statement, according to KSTU. “It would be premature for us to talk about these matters at this time.”

RELATED: Former reality TV contestant shot and killed at No Kings protest by ‘peacekeeper,’ police say

Sunday was the final day of the four-day event, which took place at Centennial Park and featured “food, fun, and festivities” such as music and carnival rides.

A shocked employee of a business located next to the park told Blaze News on Monday afternoon that he feels “bad for what happened” and added that it was completely out of the ordinary for the area.

“I’d definitely say it was a one-off,” the worker noted to Blaze News before acknowledging the “dark” nature of the crime.

RELATED: ‘No brainer’: Utah becomes first state to ban rainbow flags in both schools and government buildings

A pregnant woman also was injured while trying to climb a fence to flee the scene, KUTV-TV reported.

Roxeanne Vainuku — public information officer for West Valley City police — told KUTV that “it’s heartbreaking, I think for all of us, to see something like this happen at something that is just a real treasure, something that we really enjoy in our community.”

Vainuku added to the station that it’s not clear if the shooting was gang-related. KUTV also said police won’t release the name of the suspect since he’s a juvenile.

“I don’t even know how to explain this night,” one witness told KSTU. “I am traumatized. I don’t think I would ever go to a fair, especially if they’re not checking the people that walk in.”

Another witness added to KSTU: “I was very scared because I’m not used to hearing gunshots, and I almost had a panic attack because that was scary.”

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​Annual festival, Argument, Arrest, Fatal shooting, Festival, Infant fatally shot, Teen shooting suspect, Utah, West valley city, Centennial park, Westfest, Suburban salt lake city, Crime