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The Bayou State has reportedly issued an arrest warrant for a Northern California doctor accused of sending abortion pills to a Louisiana woman in 2023 — a woman who has indicated she was pressured to take the drugs and is now “haunt[ed]” by her chemical abortion.

“On multiple occasions, I have raised concerns about the unlawful distribution of these pills in our sate and the harm that it does to women,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement. “It’s dangerous, irresponsible, unethical, and illegal to distribute these pills to strangers in violation of the criminal laws of our state, without any relationship whatsoever to the individual who may ultimately be consuming them.”

‘I would have told the doctor that I wanted to keep my baby.’

“I will enforce and defend the laws of our state, including suing the governors whose shield laws purport to protect these individuals from criminal conduct in Louisiana,” added Murrill.

The warrant for Remy Coeytaux’s arrest is the latest action in a broader battle between red and blue states over federal approvals for mifepristone — an abortion drug that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has indicated is linked to a number of serious adverse events as well as the deaths of dozens of mothers.

Rosalie Markezich, the recipient of the drug who is now “haunt[ed]” by her chemical abortion, has joined Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill in requesting to join a lawsuit aimed at prompting the FDA to prohibit telehealth prescriptions to mifepristone. Texas and Florida are similarly keen to get involved in the lawsuit that was revived last year by Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho.

Markezich claimed in a court filing earlier this month that despite initially celebrating her pregnancy, her boyfriend “soon changed his mind,” then used her personal email address and mailing address to obtain mifepristone and misoprostol “from an online provider that his sister has used multiple times before.”

RELATED: The abortion pill’s body count — and the progressive cover-up behind it

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill. Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

A few days after allegedly forwarding to Remy Coeytaux the $150 her boyfriend sent her, Markezich received the drugs by mail.

According to her declaration, Markezich changed her mind about killing her child, but her boyfriend, who apparently “had anger issues and a criminal record,” allegedly coerced her into taking them — and she proved unable to throw them back up.

“The trauma of my chemical abortion still haunts me,” said Markezich. “Had the FDA required an in-person visit with a doctor before dispensing the drugs, my boyfriend would never [have] been able to obtain the drugs that he made me take. I also would have told the doctor that I did not want to take them. And I would have told the doctor that I wanted to keep my baby.”

‘Safeguards for women regarding the administration of mifepristone have been significantly reduced.’

Murrill, who has not elaborated on what charges Coeytaux faces or when the warrant was issued, said in a statement to the Associated Press that Markezich is bravely representing many women “who are victimized by the illegal, immoral, and unethical conduct of these drug dealers.”

Coeytaux, who did not immediately respond to the Associated Press’ request for comment, is also named in a civil complaint filed in July with the federal court for the Southern District of Texas.

The Texas complaint, filed on behalf of Jerry Rodriguez, alleges that Rodriguez’s girlfriend, Kendal Garza, became pregnant with his child but was ultimately pressured by her estranged husband to use abortion drugs allegedly obtained from Coeytaux “to murder Mr. Rodriguez’s unborn child.”

Weeks after the filing of Rodriguez’s suit, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ordered Coeytaux to cease and desist from mailing abortion drugs into the state of Texas and indicated such conduct not only violates Texas state law but the federal Comstock Act of 1873, which prohibits the mailing of abortion-related drugs.

Whereas some red states have laws on the books enabling mothers to take legal action against out-of-state abortion drug pushers, several Democrat-run states — including California, as of Friday — have passed laws shielding abortion-pill peddlers from legal consequence for violating other states’ abortion bans.

While the multi-state lawsuit that Markezich and Murrill seek to join could end up resolving this conflict, the Trump administration may end up deciding independently to impose restrictions on mifepristone prescriptions.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary reportedly told Republican state attorneys general in a Sept. 19 letter that the Department of Health and Human Services was conducting a safety review of the abortion drug.

“Recent studies — such as the study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), which you highlighted in your letter — indicate potential dangers that may attend offering mifepristone without sufficient medical support or supervision,” said the letter. “FDA’s own data collected between 2000 to 2012 indicated 2,740 adverse events, including 416 events involving blood loss requiring transfusions. Since then, safeguards for women regarding the administration of mifepristone have been significantly reduced.”

A coalition of 20 Democratic attorneys general cited Kennedy’s letter in a joint statement on Monday where they noted, “If access to mifepristone is challenged, we will take action to protect it.”

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​Mifepristone, Abortion drug, Abortion, Pro-life, Lousiana, Markevich, Bayou, Babies, Drugs, Big pharma, California, Newsom, Politics 

After President Trump announced that the results of a study from Harvard show pregnant women could be endangering their unborn babies’ health by taking the pain reliever Tylenol — liberal pregnant women across the country have been uploading videos of themselves taking the pain medication out of spite.

And former President Barack Obama is egging them on.

“So we have the spectacle of my successor, in the Oval Office, making broad claims around certain drugs and autism that have been continuously disproved. And the degree to which that undermines public health to the degree to which that can do harm to women who are pregnant,” Obama said in a speech following Trump’s announcement.

“I’d love to see Trump say pregnant women shouldn’t drink alcohol and watch them deny that,” BlazeTV host Pat Gray says in the middle of Obama’s rant on “Pat Gray Unleashed.”

“For parents who do have children who are autistic, which by the way itself is subject to a spectrum and a lot of what is being trumpeted as these massive increases actually have to do with a broadening of the criteria across that spectrum so that people can actually get services and help,” Obama continued.

“All of that is a violence against the truth,” he added, despite Tylenol being reported years ago to be unsafe for pregnant women — before Trump ever mentioned it.

“Medical health experts have released an important statement on pregnancy and pain medication. It’s part of a study in the British Scientific Journal Nature, and here’s what it does,” a reporter on the Canadian Broadcast Company said in October 2020.

“It cautions pregnant women about using acetaminophen, and that is the active ingredient in Tylenol and many other medications that so many of us use to relieve pain or fever,” the reporter added.

“The statement is backed by nearly 100 scientists and doctors from around the world. They insist a higher level of caution is needed when pregnant people use fever and pain meds that contain acetaminophen, including Tylenol. The authors don’t have any new evidence showing the drug harms a developing fetus,” CBC’s health and science reporter Christine Birak chimes in.

“But their statement does say a growing body of experimental and epidemiological research suggests that prenatal exposure to acetaminophen might alter fetal development, which could in turn increase the risks of certain neurodevelopmental, reproductive, and urogenital disorders,” she added.

Gray is shocked, commenting, “Wow, did you hear the violence? Did you hear the violence against the truth?”

Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Sharing, Video phone, Free, Video, Upload, Camera phone, Youtube.com, Pat gray unleashed, Pat gray, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Tds, Trump derangement syndrome, President barack obama, Obama, President trump, President donald trump, Pregnant women taking tylenol, Tylenol, Autism, Autism awareness 

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced another policy shake-up in the department to uproot remaining woke policies that have plagued our military.

Hegseth delivered remarks to hundreds of generals and admirals in Quantico, Virginia, calling out policies that promote gender diversity rather than military strength and merit.

‘This job is life or death. Standards must be met.’

“This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department,” Hegseth said. “To rip out the politics.”

“No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction, or gender delusions. No more debris,” Hegseth added. “As I said before and will say again, we are done with that s**t.”

RELATED: Netanyahu signals support for Trump’s latest peace proposal: ‘It has to be done’

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Hegseth announced that moving forward, every combat requirement will be enforced to the “highest male standard” to ensure that the American military performs at the highest level. Some of these requirements include a height and weight requirement, biannual physical tests, and rigorous combat training.

“Each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat [military occupational specialty], for every designated combat arms position returns to the highest male standard only,” Hegseth said. “Because this job is life or death. Standards must be met.”

“Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops,” Hegseth added. “Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It’s a bad look. It is bad. And it’s not who we are.”

RELATED: Democrats gloss over anti-ICE violence in Portland ahead of Trump’s crackdown on ‘domestic terrorists’

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

These heightened standards quickly raised questions about women serving in the military. Hegseth maintained that the standards would be enforced across the board, regardless of the gap in biological capabilities between men and women.

“If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is,” Hegseth said.

“It will also mean that weak men won’t qualify, because we’re not playing games.”

“This is combat. This is life or death.”

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​Donald trump, Trump administration, Pete hegseth, Dei, Woke policies, Military standards, Gender diversity, Racial diversity, Department of war, Department of defense, Military, Warrior ethos, Quantico, Politics 

A specter is haunting America — the specter of left-wing radical violence. As the country balances on a knife edge and radical nutcases shoot up and burn churches and assassinate conservative icons, Hollywood figured it was time to throw a Molotov cocktail into the tinderbox.

I went and paid 17 good American dollars to see “One Battle After Another” so you don’t have to. Fair warning: Better-paid critics than I have given this terrible movie — a loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s 1991 novel “Vineland” — rave reviews. It has also generated plenty of precious “Oscar buzz” for director Paul Thomas Anderson as well as for stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, and Sean Penn.

Watching ‘One Battle After Another’ may not be entertaining, but its celebration of vitriol and murder is clarifying. This is not the usual ‘anti-conservative’ Hollywood bias.

Insidious propaganda

As you might suspect from the people involved, this is more than the usual Hollywood slop. It’s an insidious piece of propaganda that speaks to the depravity of the left and, I fear, wanders into wholly new territory that portends truly dark times ahead.

The movie’s first offense is its running time: an interminable two hours and 50 minutes. (Am I the only one who thinks we need a new rating system for any movie over 90 minutes long? Rated NB = “Nap Before.”)

The film opens with our antifa heroes violently attacking an ICE detention center to liberate the detainees. One wonders whether Juan, up here to work construction, might have some hesitation about white and black revolutionaries spraying AKs and gassing U.S. Border Patrol agents on his behalf, but the white liberal director’s myopic lens doesn’t dwell on those questions.

Weed and self-pity

DiCaprio plays Bob Ferguson, a has-been revolutionary holed up in a Northern California sanctuary city, padding around in a weed haze, a bathrobe, and self-pity. His daughter Willa, played by Chase Infiniti, scolds him for misgendering her nonbinary prom date. The revolution will always eat its own.

Her mother, Perfidia Beverly Hills, was a rat who turned state’s witness and slept with Penn’s comically over-the-top ICE agent, named Lockjaw. Willa may be his biological daughter. Lockjaw is evil because he wants border security and has a Nazi haircut. Hollywood eschewed subtlety a long time ago.

Lockjaw, meanwhile, wants to impress a cabal of Patagonia-vested white supremacists — a hedge-fund-meets-Gestapo ensemble who seem to have wandered in from a bad HBO pilot — so they’ll let him join their club. How better to do that than by hunting down our antifa heroes?

RELATED: ‘Hey, fascist! Catch!’ Leftist group apparently recruiting college students with slogan tied to Kirk murder

Photo by Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images

Empty artistry

Here’s the tragic part: Paul Thomas Anderson is still a genius. The camera work is exquisite. The pacing (when he wants it to be) is taut. The centerpiece car chase is one of the most technically stunning action sequences of the century.

Anderson is, after all, the man behind “There Will Be Blood” and “Boogie Nights.” But artistry is empty if it doesn’t serve the truth, and “One Battle After Another” is pure left-wing propaganda. The film glorifies the fantasy of bloodshed, depicting conservative America not as wrongheaded neighbors but as literal Nazis to be liquidated. The revolutionaries are cast as sexy, tragic heroes. Blowing up a senator’s office? Righteous. Knocking out half of Los Angeles’ power grid? Revolutionary chic. The collateral damage to working stiffs barely scraping by? Never mind.

Watching “One Battle After Another” may not be entertaining, but its celebration of vitriol and murder is clarifying. This is not the usual “anti-conservative” Hollywood bias. When the perpetually sweaty DiCaprio shouts “¡Viva la revolución!” while detonating bombs, you’re meant to cheer. And if you’re not cheering, well, those bombs are meant for you.

Increasingly, Hollywood views half the country not as fellow citizens with outdated beliefs, but as enemies who deserve punishment. Owning firearms, favoring borders, voting differently — these aren’t policy differences; they’re treated as moral crimes, grounds for extermination.

Luxury nihilism

The old trick was to sneer at conservatives as rubes or buffoons. Now the fantasy is direct violence. What was once snide mockery has hardened into veneration of the kill shot.

That’s not to say that it is an altogether convincing fantasy. The usual ignorance of liberals when it comes to actual, real-world violence — their compulsive need to make revolution “cool” — is on full display. At one point, a bank robbery is staged by an antifa firebrand with a name I won’t print; this is the group’s usual method of “fundraising.” Anderson seems blissfully unaware that modern bank heists are idiotic — bills are marked, surveillance is everywhere. No one outside a Nicolas Cage movie thinks it’s viable.

And let’s face it, none of the laptop warriors celebrating “One Battle After Another” are likely to to take to the streets to firebomb ICE. Then again, they don’t have to. While they indulge their adolescent rebellion fantasies in front of an IMAX screen, their luxury nihilism trickles down to the truly unhinged and desperate, some of whom are perfectly willing to try to change minds with a bullet. Which means the fight may be coming to you, whether you sit out this “Battle” or not. Buy ammo.

​One battle after another, Paul thomas anderson, Culture, Entertainment, Movies, Antifa, Hollywood, Leonardo dicaprio, Sean penn, Review 

For nearly 80 years, a painting of Jesus guiding stranded sailors hung at the United States Merchant Marine Academy’s Wiley Hall as a symbol of the sailors’ religious heritage. Now, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is returning the painting to a place of prominence back from the dark basement to which it was relegated during the Biden years.

During his visit to the academy in May, Duffy announced his intention to reinstall the painting that was removed in 2023.

‘God is good for these Mariners — true FAITHFUL American patriots!’

On Monday, Duffy celebrated the successful installation in a social media post.

“Jesus is out of the basement!” Secretary Duffy wrote on X. “I promised you I would restore faith at @UsmmaO by returning ‘Christ on the Water’ to its place of prominence, where it belongs after being taken down under Biden and my predecessor. God is good for these Mariners — true FAITHFUL American patriots!”

RELATED: Duffy threatens funding freeze for 3 states flouting English requirements for truck drivers

Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“Our purpose today is to preserve a piece of the Academy’s cultural and historical legacy. We honor the past and the resilience of those who came before us,” U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Acting Superintendent Captain Tony Ceraolo said in a press statement. “This painting is about history, remembrance, and hope ensuring that the story of our midshipmen and their wartime experiences remain part of our shared institutional memory.”

“Christ on the Water,” also known as “Jesus and Sailboat,” had been a fixture at the academy since 1947, when it was originally installed. Painted by marine artist Lt. Hunter Wood, USMS, in 1944, the painting is guessed to be set on sail canvas, likely with marine paints, and the varnish seems to have been spar varnish.

The Biden administration removed the painting in 2023 due to a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. It was placed in a flood-prone space in the lower area of the building.

Now back on full display in the Elliot See Room of Wiley Hall, the painting can be enjoyed by the numerous faithful patriots at the academy. Duffy’s post included a photo of more than two dozen midshipmen.

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​Politics, Sean p duffy, Department of transportation, Christ on the water, Lt hunter wood, United states merchant marine academy, Wiley hall, Faith, Biden administration 

President Donald Trump began his battle against urban crime when he federalized police and deployed National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., in August.

As if on cue, leftists pulled out statistics saying that crime in the nation’s capital already had been decreasing, and they criticized Trump, calling his move dictatorial, a power grab, and overkill.

‘Stay out of DC.’

After all, what’s the point when Metropolitan Police Department stats say that, as of Friday, violent crime in D.C. is down 28% compared to 2024?

But those numbers essentially are meaningless. There are several reasons why.

RELATED: Democrats gloss over anti-ICE violence in Portland ahead of Trump’s crackdown on ‘domestic terrorists’

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

First, Blaze News recently published a fact-check noting that the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has been accused by its own union of manipulating crime data. D.C. Police Commander Michael Pulliam reportedly was placed on paid administrative leave in May following the union’s allegations.

What’s more, Gregg Pemberton, chairman of the D.C. Fraternal Order of Police, told WRC-TV that higher-ups instructed officers to fudge data: “Instead of taking a report for a shooting or a stabbing or a carjacking, they will order that officer to take a report for a theft or an injured person to the hospital or a felony assault, which is not the same type of classification.”

Pemberton noted that felony assaults aren’t listed on the MPD’s daily crime stats and aren’t a requirement of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program — and that there’s “absolutely no way” crime in D.C. has declined as much as the department claims.

‘Not a very livable place’

While violent crime in the nation’s capital has received much of the attention of late, what about the far more frequent “petty” property crimes such as burglary, theft, and shoplifting?

The latest numbers from the FBI — which only account for reported crimes (and the less violent the offense, the more likely it will go unreported) — show only a marginal drop in property crimes in D.C. in 2024 compared to 2023.

For example, the FBI said larcenies dropped to 18,260 in 2024 from 19,752 in 2023, and motor vehicle thefts dropped to 5,328 in 2024 from 6,861 in 2023. Burglaries actually increased to 1,675 in 2024 from 1,666 in 2023.

The other factor is that overall crime in D.C. exploded in 2023. A compilation of the FBI numbers shows that violent crime in the nation’s capital that year was a whopping 207.4% higher than the 50-state average, and property crime was 124.7% higher.

Yet, even the federal government’s count shows that property crime didn’t drop much in 2024 compared to 2023’s historically bad numbers. So how much better have the D.C. streets really been of late when rampant theft and other property crimes still occur, and an untold number of incidents aren’t even reported?

Even when crooks are arrested for ‘petty’ property crimes, in most cases — unless they involve high dollar amounts — they’re misdemeanors that often aren’t subject to bail, and the criminals are right back out on the streets.

Jeffrey H. Anderson — who served as director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics during Trump’s first term — told Blaze News that the effects of not policing property crimes in D.C. “has only gotten worse” in the post-George Floyd and pandemic era.

In fact, Anderson said D.C. has been doing the “opposite” of broken-windows policing, which hits lower-level crime harder so more serious crime is less likely to get a foothold. But he said when items in stores in the nation’s capital are “under lock and key” to prevent shoplifting and “lifestyle crimes” like turnstile jumping run rampant, it gives the impression that “nobody’s in charge here” and sends a stark message: “Stay out of D.C.”

Anderson added that it’s all a “constant reminder that it’s not a very livable place.”

John R. Lott Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and former senior adviser for research and statistics in the Office of Justice Programs and the Office of Legal Policy at the Justice Department, told Blaze News about another disheartening factor: People overall seem “less confident” in the possibility of criminal convictions, and indeed citizens are “less likely to report crimes” as a result.

Lott added that it’s more difficult these days to report crimes in some places, noting that often those who tell police about crimes after the fact are instructed to “come down to the station” to fill out police reports, which means they’re less likely to go to the trouble — and thus fewer crimes are reported.

Anderson also noted that in regard to unreported crimes, people simply “don’t trust police,” and the National Crime Victimization Survey — which annually asks U.S. residents if they’ve been crime victims and explores related details and is far more reliable than FBI stats, he said — suggests that only half of the crimes that take place actually are reported to police.

RELATED: DC Dems are furious at Mayor Bowser for admitting Trump’s troops are lowering crime

Photo by Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Fewer arrests, more crime

Anderson last September argued in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that “crime rates haven’t been falling, and urban crime is far worse than it was in the pre-George Floyd era.” And as far as the urban property-crime rate goes nationally, Anderson contended it’s also getting worse. Property crimes “rose from 176.1 victimizations per 1,000 households in 2022 to 192.3 in 2023. That’s part of a 26% increase in the urban property-crime rate since 2019. These numbers exclude rampant shoplifting, since the NCVS is a survey of households and not of businesses.”

The result is easy to discern. In D.C. — and everywhere else — crooks commit property crimes significantly more often than violent crimes. And even when property crimes are reported, they’re more likely to go unsolved, as stretched-thin law enforcement resources are more focused elsewhere.

In that vein, the Manhattan Institute published “Doing Less with Less: Crime and Punishment in Washington, DC” a little over a year ago, and part of it examines arrest numbers in the district in 2019 compared to a significant decline in certain arrests in 2023 — which, as noted, was a year in which D.C. crime exploded.

Yet, the study found that the steepest arrest declines were for “minor or quality-of-life crimes. Levels of arrests for prostitution, traffic violations, narcotics, disorderly conduct, liquor law violations, release violations, and driving while intoxicated, for example, have all collapsed.” The study adds that such numbers indicate the “MPD has not only reduced its activity but focused the activity that remains on gun crimes (i.e., homicide and weapon violations).” In addition, the study notes that “the city has also experienced a decline in its capacity to investigate.”

Plus, even when crooks are arrested for “petty” property crimes, in most cases — unless they involve high dollar amounts — they’re misdemeanors that often aren’t subject to bail, and the criminals are right back out on the streets. Then we’ll soon see them once again ripping off stores with impunity.

In D.C., the consequences have been front and center. A few examples:

CVS in early 2024 announced it was closing a Washington, D.C., store after teen thieves routinely emptied its shelves.Petco in late 2024 said it was closing its D.C. USA mall location because of repeated theft.In late 2023, a D.C. resident actually remarked that if those in power in the nation’s capital could provide “hair care” products and other toiletries for “unhoused or under-income folks,” then rampant CVS shoplifting might end.

Trump’s plan is working

In the meantime, Trump’s federalization of D.C. police and infusion of National Guard troops appears to be working. Even Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser — who’s no Trump fan — acknowledged in August that the federal surge has helped drive down crime significantly. In fact, Bowser said carjackings fell by 87% during August’s surge period, compared to the same period the previous year. Indeed, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents stopped a D.C. carjacking.

But what about other cities to which Trump has been directing his attention? The president noted in August that he received calls from Democrats across the country asking him to clean up their cities like he’s done in D.C.

Early on, Trump hinted that Chicago would be next, and predictably, leftist leaders like Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have been opposed to Trump’s federal intervention. While the National Guard hasn’t made an appearance there yet, the Associated Press said that “dozens of armed federal agents, in full tactical gear, walked the streets of some of the city’s most prominent tourist and shopping areas” on Sunday.

RELATED: Pritzker and other libs melt down over Trump’s ‘Chipocalypse Now’ meme, prompting a badly needed reality check

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Left-wing pushback in Chicago mirrors the left-wing pushback in D.C. when it comes to crime stats.

NewsNation noted that Johnson and Pritzker said troops aren’t necessary in Chicago “where homicides are down by 31%, shooting incidents have been reduced by 36% and crimes like robbery, burglary and car thefts are all down by between 21 and 36%, according to the Chicago Police Department.” But tell that to residents of the Windy City who favor Trump’s troops and federal agents.

NewsNation reported that even as leaders tout falling violent crime, Chicago faces a rash of smash-and-grab burglaries, store break-ins, and home invasions targeting the elderly. Sound familiar?

On to Portland and Memphis

National Guard troops are on their way to Memphis and Portland, and while the deployment in Portland is centered on violent anti-ICE activity, the move on Memphis looks to be a crackdown on overall crime.

But again, those same overtures in regard to crime stats have been ringing out loud and clear in regard to both cities. Reuters pointed out Monday that “violent crime in Portland has dropped in the first six months of 2025, according to preliminary data released by the Major Cities Chiefs Association in its Midyear Violent Crime Report.” Memphis police in early September reported “historic crime reductions, with decreases across all major categories in the first eight months of 2025 compared to the same period in previous years.”

No city seems to want Trump’s federal deployments to help fight crime, despite his success in D.C.

Perhaps this thought-provoking TikTok message that user “thinkingnotsosimple2.0” posted in late August can help spell things out. The TikTok user — a black female — praised Trump’s efforts in D.C., noting that she has gathered “video after video showing D.C., specifically Union Station, and how clean and safe it is” since Trump federalized police in the nation’s capital.

“People don’t understand how big of a deal this is, because the Capitol is right there within, like, a six- or seven-minute walk,” she said, before adding that local residents “did not like walking there, whether in the daytime or the evening. Some people would take taxis just to avoid any type of encounters” with drug users and dealers.

She concluded: “People have been talking about cleaning this up for a decade. And you mean to tell me President Trump hasn’t even had control for 30 days, and he cleaned it all up.”

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​Opinion & analysis, Crime, Crime statistics, Donald trump, Data, Washington d.c., Federalizing local police, Law enforcement, National guard, Law and order 

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Democrats on Monday in complaining about ex-FBI Director James Comey’s Sept. 25 indictment by a grand jury, suggesting that the White House may have applied undue influence on the Justice Department.

Murkowski’s concern comes across as insincere in light of how she responded in 2023 to President Donald Trump’s indictment over his handling of classified documents — an indictment made possible with the help of the Biden White House.

When asked about the senator’s response, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement to Blaze News, “The Trump administration will continue to deliver the truth to the American people and restore integrity to our justice system. It is the ultimate hypocrisy to accuse President Trump of what Joe Biden actively did throughout his presidency: engaging in lawfare against his political opponents.”

“The indictment against Comey, by a grand jury, speaks for itself, and the Trump administration looks forward to fair proceedings in the courts,” added Jackson.

Quick background

Comey was indicted on Sept. 25 on charges of making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.

‘The charges in this case are quite serious and cannot be casually dismissed.’

Comey made the alleged false testimony to Congress on two occasions. However, owing to the relevant five-year statute of limitations, the second instance, in 2020, is at issue.

During a Senate hearing in 2017, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asked Comey whether he had “ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation.” Comey responded, “No.”

RELATED: Released FBI docs reveal Comey allegedly used media mole to plant info at New York Times for Russian collusion investigation

Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

During a Senate hearing in 2020, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) referenced Grassley’s question, cited contradictory testimony provided by ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, then prompted Comey to respond. Comey said, “I stand by the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017.”

“No one is above the law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement regarding Comey’s indictment. “Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case.”

Claiming innocence, Comey said in response to the indictment, “Let’s have a trial.”

“JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “He has been so bad for our Country, for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation.”

Murkowski’s response, this time

Democrats such as Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.) and Adam Schiff (Calif.) weren’t not the only lawmakers who previously pretended the indictment of President Donald Trump was not political but that Comey’s is.

Murkowski, among the seven Republican senators who voted unsuccessfully in 2021 to convict the president on impeachment charges of “incitement of insurrection,” joined in, stating on Monday that “the Department of Justice has long been insulated from presidential administrations to protect public trust in the rule of law. But that independence is called into question when overt political pressure from the White House leads to unusual personnel changes and criminal charges filed just days after the president calls for them.”

“Former FBI Director James Comey, like any American, is entitled to the presumption of innocence and a fair trial. As the legal process moves forward, I expect the DOJ to act in accordance with the Constitution and federal law, and to demonstrate that this case is being handled free from political interference,” continued Murkowski. “If Americans come to believe that federal prosecutions are driven by politics rather than facts and evidence, the damage will be difficult to undo.”

Murkowski’s response, last time

Murkowski alternatively appeared receptive in 2023 to the 37-count indictment brought against President Donald Trump in the classified documents case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, whom a judge later determined had been unlawfully appointed by Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Murkowski said of the indictment brought in June 2023 by Smith, “No one is above the law but every American is innocent until proven guilty. Still, the charges in this case are quite serious and cannot be casually dismissed.”

“Mishandling classified documents is a federal crime because it can expose national secrets, as well as the sources and methods they were obtained through,” continued the Alaska politician. “The unlawful retention and obstruction of justice related to classified documents are also criminal matters. Anyone found guilty — whether an analyst, a former president, or another elected or appointed official — should face the same set of consequences.”

RELATED: ‘Shut it down’: Newly released FBI doc reveals who apparently killed probes into Clinton Foundation

Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Breakthrough T1D

In addition to emphasizing the gravity of the charges against Trump and suggesting they could not “be casually dismissed” — which she did not do in the case of Comey’s indictment — Murkowski refrained from raising alarm about the role that the Biden White House played in the criminal probe into Trump’s handling of classified documents.

For instance, a year earlier, Just the News detailed government documents showing that after Trump voluntarily returned 15 boxes of classified information and other materials to the National Archives and Records Administration in January 2022, then-White House deputy counsel Jonathan Su engaged in discussions with the Biden DOJ, the FBI, and NARA.

Su reportedly set the stage for the DOJ to get a grand jury to issue Trump a subpoena by indicating Biden would not object to waiving Trump’s claims to executive privilege.

Then-acting National Archivist Debra Steidel Wall acknowledged the Biden White House’s involvement in a May 10, 2022, letter to Trump’s lawyers.

“The counsel to the president has informed me that, in light of the particular circumstances presented here, President Biden defers to my determination, in consultation with the assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel, regarding whether or not I should uphold the former president’s purported ‘protective assertion of executive privilege,'” wrote Wall. “I have therefore decided not to honor the former president’s ‘protective’ claim of privilege.”

While the probe leading to the indictment was clearly facilitated by the Biden White House, Murkowksi did not complain of “political interference.”

She also did not appear overly concerned about political interference when Jack Smith brought another indictment against Trump in August 2023 — lawfare of the kind sources told the New York Times Biden had said he wanted to see executed by his DOJ.

Blaze News has reached out to Murkowski for comment.

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​Lawfare, James comey, Indictment, Donald trump, Lisa murkowski, Department of justice, Justice, Doj, Politics 

Members of the church of Latter-day Saints faced a heavy weekend as the head of the church, Russel Nelson, passed away on the same morning that a man shot up an LDS church and set it on fire.

At least four were killed.

“Yesterday was a very tough day for anybody who is a member of my faith,” Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck says on “The Glenn Beck Program.”

“I did get a lot of emails from friends who are part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and most of them were in tears because they were online, and they read the words of so-called Christians,” Glenn says.

These “so-called Christians” were saying things like, “I’m glad they’re dead,” “I’m glad the leader died,” “I’m glad those people died because they’re going to hell anyway because they’re a dangerous cult.”

“When I read that, I wept with the same kind of pain that I had on the death of Charlie Kirk when the non-Christians celebrated his death. ‘I’m glad he’s dead,’” Glenn recalls.

“If your church wasn’t talking about these things yesterday, maybe you should find a new church. I don’t know. There’s been a lot of things going on, and we need pastors that are actually talking about things. They’re not talking about politics; they’re talking about, ‘How do I love my neighbor if my neighbor hates me?’” he continues.

“We need people who are applying it to today, because I want you to understand, there is hatred on the rise. There is violence on the rise. There’s all of this stuff on the rise,” he says, asking, “But what is it really? What is really on the rise?”

He then answers himself with one word, “evil.”

“That’s what’s on the rise: evil, chaos, disorder. That all comes from one author, and it’s evil,” he says, before explaining another horrific murder that occurred in North Carolina over the weekend.

A “madman” targeted a crowded dockside restaurant in North Carolina, firing his rifle into a crowd of diners. He killed three people and injured eight.

“This is happening in small communities. And you’re like, what? What is happening to us?” Glenn says.

“We are now living in Gotham. And you need to understand that the times and the seasons have changed. We’re now living in Gotham, and this is all part of the leftist plan. Destabilize, release people from prison, cause chaos in the streets,” he continues. “This is by design.”

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Camera phone, Free, Video phone, Sharing, Video, Upload, Youtube.com, The glenn beck program, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Latter day saints, Church, Michigan church shooting, Michigan church fire, Russel nelson, Leftism, Evil, Good vs evil, Religion, Charlie kirk, Christianity, Christians 

Police in Fairview Heights, Illinois, said an officer pulled over a vehicle around 9 a.m. Wednesday for having an expired license plate sticker. Fairview Heights is about 20 minutes east of St. Louis.

The stop was on Old Collinsville Road about a quarter of a mile south of Frank Scott Parkway, police said, adding that the police vehicle was fully marked with activated emergency lights.

‘I been drinking, and I took some weed pills.’

The officer began walking up to the pulled-over vehicle from the passenger side when a gray 2018 Chevrolet Camaro slammed into his squad car from behind, police said.

The impact of the crash “was so hard it pushed the squad car into the vehicle in front of it and impaled them together,” police said.

The driver of the Camaro quickly exited and approached the officer, who had his body camera activated, police said.

RELATED: Florida female going wrong way on interstate claims husband was driving. Then cops find rather large hole in her story.

Image source: Fairview Heights (Ill.) Police bodycam video screenshot

The motorist asks, “What happened?”

The officer replies, “You tell me.”

The motorist states, “I need a new car.”

Soon the the officer instructs the motorist to get out of the street and sit on the sidewalk, and the driver — who says he’s all right and was alone in his car — complies.

RELATED: Male wielding 2 knives caught on police bodycam video jumping from window, running at cop, stabbing officer

Image source: Fairview Heights (Ill.) Police bodycam video screenshot

“I been drinking, and I took some weed pills,” the motorist tells the officer.

Soon he adds, “I got insurance, but it ain’t gonna cover that, though.”

RELATED: ‘Break it!’ Bodycam video shows moment cops save crying little kids locked in dangerously hot car for nearly an hour

Image source: Fairview Heights (Ill.) Police

Later, as the motorist hands over what appears to be his driver’s license to the officer, he offers a stunning admission to the cop: “I did that on purpose, sir.”

“Why’s that?” the officer inquires.

“I’m bored,” the man answers.

But it gets better.

Soon, as another officer stands behind the motorist, still sitting on the sidewalk, the officer asks, “So you ran into the back of me on purpose?”

RELATED: Officer meets machete-wielding male running at her with a little more firepower, just-released bodycam video shows

Image source: Fairview Heights (Ill.) Police bodycam video screenshot

“Yup,” the motorist replies.

Again, the officer asks, “Why’s that?”

“I hate cops, man,” the motorist answers.

The entire exchange is noticeably calm and cordial, even when the officer handcuffs the motorist.

Content warning: Language:

Fairview Heights Police said Illinois State Police were called to the scene to conduct an impartial investigation into the incident that was captured on video.

Police said the motorist was arrested and transported to county jail.

The St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office on Friday filed the following charges against 28-year-old Keajion L. Jennings of Belleville, Illinois, police said:

one count of criminal damage to government property;two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon;one count of aggravated battery with a motor vehicle.

The Belleville News-Democrat added that Jennings also is charged with aggravated assault for allegedly placing Officer Travis Montgomery “in reasonable apprehension of being struck by a vehicle while Montgomery was in close proximity to his squad car.”

Jail records indicate that Jennings was arrested and booked the same day as the motor vehicle crash; there is no bond listed for him. A Monday court date also is listed in jail records, which showed him as still incarcerated Tuesday morning.

RELATED: Video: Entitled female hits cop with car, drives down closed street because she has to ‘go to work.’ Bad idea.

Keajion L. Jennings. Image source: St. Clair County (Ill.) Jail

The State’s Attorney’s Office also filed a pretrial petition seeking to detain Jennings, arguing that his release before trial would “pose a real and present threat to community safety,” the News-Democrat also reported.

Police said the two individuals inside the pulled-over vehicle in front of the police cruiser were not injured — and were given a warning for the expired license plate; the officer speaking in the bodycam video wasn’t injured, as he was outside his police vehicle at the time of the crash.

Image source: Fairview Heights (Ill.) Police

Citing charging documents, the News-Democrat reported that the crash left the police cruiser with more than $10,000 in damage.

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​Aggravated battery with a deadly weapon charge, Aggravated battery with a motor vehicle charge, Arrest, Bodycam video released, Car crash, Criminal damage to government property charge, Drinking, Fairview heights, I hate cops, Illinois, Intentional crash, On purpose car crash, Weed pills, Crime 

President Donald Trump and his team deserve considerable credit for the skillful way they gained control of TikTok, the video-sharing app that has become one of America’s main sources of news.

The deal could have gone down badly. Critics could have called it “proto-socialism,” especially after the government’s recent purchase of a 10% stake in Intel and its “golden share” of U.S. Steel. Moreover, the same bureaucrats who can’t run the IRS and the post office without getting egg on their faces probably aren’t equipped to run a $30 trillion annual economy either.

Every embedded Chinese system carries a national security risk. Each piece of foreign tech installed in American supply chains is another listening device, another lever of control.

However, most otherwise critical observers gave this deal a pass because the change in TikTok’s control wasn’t about market meddling; it was about national security.

Digital espionage

Despite the platform’s American majority of investors, TikTok still posed a significant national security threat. China’s tactic of using electronics for espionage purposes is well-documented. The targets of this espionage go beyond China’s enemies to friends, neighbors, and competitors alike — including the U.S. government. Technologists working on Beijing’s behalf have hacked their way through secure U.S. government systems for at least a decade, if not longer.

In that vein, TikTok’s role in Beijing’s espionage apparatus is clear. Its nearly ubiquitous presence on smartphones presents Beijing with tantalizing opportunities: a nearly endless network through which viruses can spread, or a means of obtaining private data from a global consumer base. But turning TikTok over to American management doesn’t solve the problem — not by a long shot.

The Chinese telecommunications industry is not like “Ma Bell.” It operates as an adjunct of state security forces, sometimes gathering and reporting requested data back to Beijing. The British press has reported extensively on how Huawei was doing just that: leaving secret back doors open in its equipment that the People’s Liberation Army could walk through anytime it wanted.

Spying through shopping

Huawei isn’t the only offender. A lesser-known firm called Hanshow supplies “smart electronic shelf labels” to supermarkets, a price and inventory control tool that provides Beijing with data about what Americans are buying and in real time, wherever it’s installed.

In the midst of a trade war — with America overly dependent on China for essential consumer goods and medical supplies — that information could be used against us. It’s not just marketplace ephemera; it’s a road map to identify choke points of a major competitor that could disrupt our daily patterns of life.

RELATED: TikTok is finally coming home

Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images

That’s only one of the products Hanshow sells. It also offers AI-powered cameras, inventory robots, and smart shopping carts, which are all tied to a proprietary IT platform called All-Star. These products together provide the company and its associates in the Chinese security services with an entry point into supermarket IT networks, from point-of-sale systems to vendor portals.

Like Huawei, Hanshow is backed by investors tied to the regime and is legally bound to cooperate with the Chinese military. Its footprint is expanding, with its technology and systems used in some capacity by major customers in the American marketplace, including Instacart, Kroger, and Walmart. By some estimates, tens of millions of American shoppers have already transmitted critical financial and personal data through portals linked to Hanshow devices. By 2025, it could be more than 150 million.

The Chinese digital Cerberus

Every embedded Chinese system carries a national security risk. Each piece of foreign tech installed in American supply chains is another listening device, another lever of control. The Chinese Communist Party has a head start, and Washington cannot afford to keep looking the other way.

Trump’s TikTok deal was the right move. But the broader fight isn’t about one app. It’s about defending American data and protecting national security. The United States needs a comprehensive response to China’s technological infiltration — starting yesterday.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Tiktok, Tiktok ban, Tiktok chinese spying, Tiktok communist spying, Chinese espionage, Chinese communist party, Ccp, Donald trump, Bytedance, Trojan horse, Spyware, Big tech, National security, Hanshow, Tracking 

The government shuts down at midnight Tuesday. That is, so long as Democrats stick with their plan (and they will). It’s not a good plan, but it’s one they believe they need to act upon. Polls show their base is out for blood, and their radicals are drawing it weekly, so smart politics are out the door.

It’s not a winning fight. Democrats will lose, further empower the White House, destabilize the strongly Democratic-leaning Virginia governor’s race, and, in the end, surrender. It’s essentially the opposite of anything Sun Tzu or Machiavelli ever taught about battle, but here it is. This is the field they have chosen. Here’s how it will all play out.

Surrender is inevitable. Democrats simply do not have any off-ramps from this fight. So what will they have gained?

Republicans have a majority in the House, which last week passed a “clean continuing resolution” that will fund the government without any meaningful policy changes or add-ons, then left town. The Senate requires seven Democrats to join Republicans to hit the 60-vote threshold, but Democrats weren’t allowed to vote yes unless Republicans agreed to a $1 trillion bunch of their demands. Republicans did not, so here we are.

A shutdown puts the Office of Management and Budget squarely in charge of what’s funded and what isn’t. OMB Director Russ Vought, a veteran tactician and shrewd architect of small government, will very soon be in the driver’s seat. If Congress shuts down the government on his watch, he’s going to work to make some of the changes permanent.

Vought instructed agencies to send “[reduction in force] notices to all employees in programs, projects, or activities” that check all three of the following boxes: 1) They’re not paid for by mandatory spending. 2) They aren’t covered by the Big Beautiful Bill Act. 3) They aren’t in line with the president’s goals. And not for just the week, either, but until the program is reauthorized — at which point they can apply for their old job if they’d like.

That’s a whole lot of government. As usual, press reports are focused on scary things like air traffic control and Social Security, while Vought and the White House are focused on wasteful, and hitherto “untouchable,” entrenched Democratic bureaucracies.

These are the kinds of changes that won’t be easily undone without Republicans giving in — or Democrats once again winning power. In effect, many are lasting changes — and wins Democrats didn’t need to give the administration. Except they felt they needed to.

Why? Because their base wants a fight. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) took a heavy blow for passing the triumphant GOP’s first budget earlier this year. A Politico reporter who spoke with every serious Democrat Senate primary candidate across all open and targeted races could not find one who would endorse Schumer’s leadership of the party. “Of the 19 who responded … [11] said they would not support him and eight were noncommittal.”

All responders demanded that he fight the Grand Old Party to the mat. This time, he can’t give in without first showing up for a fight.

Republicans are fine with this battle. Neither Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), nor President Donald Trump so much as took a meeting to hear Democrats’ theatrical demands before Monday afternoon. That meeting went about as expected, for the above reasons: Democrats must fight, and Republicans aren’t afraid of losing.

One major Democrat focus is the expiring Obamacare tax credits, which don’t end until December. If Republicans are going to give this issue to them (and they likely will, because without it they’ll get pinned for rising health insurance premiums), it will be in exchange for a real win — not merely funding the government for 30 days. In fact, several Republicans are already working on this (though they don’t have leadership’s blessing yet).

Meanwhile, nearby Virginia has a governor’s race in a little over a month. Democrat Rep. Abigail Spanberger is expected to win, but the trick to turning this once-conservative state blue was always the ever-rising population of federal employees and government-program-dependent refugees and immigrants most immediately and materially affected by a government shutdown.

The entire Virginia delegation voted for that shutdown. That could mean thousands of pink slips in the Democrat north. It’s a long shot, but if Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) has a shot at changing the election’s outcome, this is her ticket.

Finally, surrender is inevitable. Democrats simply do not have any off-ramps from this fight. So what will they have gained?

They’ll have handed power to one of their ablest opponents, who used it to change the federal government; thrown a wild card into an otherwise safe race for the Virginia executive; and surrendered.

It’s understandable: Their base demands a hostage situation, even if leadership has neither hostages nor bullets. And so the outcome is determined.

Blaze News: State Department faces its moment of truth under Rubio

Blaze News Lifestyle: Save thousands on your next car with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

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​Opinion & analysis, Politics 

California loves to pretend its problems don’t exist. Power shortages, housing shortages, suffocating regulation, wildfires, polluted waterways, and the nation’s largest homeless population all make the Golden State look less like a paradise and more like a failed state.

Yet, its politicians keep picking fights with Donald Trump while ignoring the rot at home.

Once an issue becomes symbolic in California, solutions no longer matter. Every crisis becomes a stage for politicians to declare themselves protectors of the people.

That’s why Bed Bath & Beyond executive chairman Marcus Lemonis made waves in August. “We will not open retail stores in California,” Lemonis said. “This isn’t about politics — it’s about reality. California’s system makes it nearly impossible for businesses to succeed, and I won’t put our company, our employees, or our customers in that position.”

Unlike the political class, Lemonis acknowledged what business leaders see clearly: The state’s promises don’t match its reality.

California’s theater of waste

Take the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in northwest Los Angeles County. In operation since the early 1970s, it stopped taking trash on Dec. 31, 2024, and formally closed in January. Regulators had blocked expansion a year earlier, citing odor and earthquake risks. Residents and politicians then piled on with lawsuits, claiming health harms and price gouging in new waste contracts.

Now, a federal judge is hinting at a preliminary injunction — against a landfill that’s already closed. The legal circus has little to do with waste management and everything to do with California’s political theater. The real waste that needs to be disposed of is the state’s broken system of governance.

California masks its failures with glossy headlines about “protecting communities” while courts and agencies bankrupt operators with lawsuits. That’s not stewardship. It’s damage control dressed up as virtue.

I’ve worked for decades as an investor with a focus on sustainability. Real stewardship balances safety, markets, and management. When the state cripples businesses caught in its crosshairs, it destroys the very resources needed for remediation. Mining provides a clear example: If regulators bury companies in red tape after they scar mountainsides, no one has the money left to restore the land.

But California prefers to bankrupt operators, create thousands of plaintiffs, and unleash a regulatory swarm. At Chiquita alone, more than 9,000 plaintiffs are attached to multiple lawsuits, and at least 10 agencies — from the EPA to the California Air Resources Board — have swarmed the site. With that many bureaucrats involved, solving problems takes a back seat to turf wars and political maneuvering for credit.

Image over impact

I saw this dynamic firsthand in 2015, when I led takeover attempts of American Apparel, then one of the nation’s largest manufacturers. Regulators in Los Angeles didn’t care about managing waste or energy use. They cared about projecting the right social image. Meanwhile, toxic dyes, chemical runoff, and hazardous waste poured into the basin.

RELATED: DHS has a fiery message for Newsom after he bans masks for ICE: ‘We will NOT comply!’

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The pattern repeats. Los Angeles “fixed” diversity in its fire department just before wildfires swept the city. San Francisco “fixed” homelessness just in time for a visit by China’s Xi Jinping. And Gavin Newsom is scrambling to “fix” his reputation by backtracking on Medicaid for illegal immigrants.

Once an issue becomes symbolic in California, solutions no longer matter. Every crisis — from wildfires to homelessness to waste management — becomes a stage for politicians to declare themselves protectors of the people. The real beneficiaries are trial lawyers, regulators, and politicians themselves.

Lemonis is not alone in seeing through the charade. Californians deserve better than endless lawsuits and performative fixes. Until the state values results over theater, it will keep hemorrhaging businesses, people, and trust.

​Opinion & analysis, California, Environment, Wildfires, Toxic waste, Lawsuits, Landfill, Chiquita canyon, Los angeles county, Bed bath and beyond, Environmental protection agency, Epa, California air resources board, Gavin newsom 

Every fall, Apple releases the latest software updates for its fleet of iPhones, iPads, and more. This year is exceptionally special, as iOS 26 brings a brand-new look to iPhones everywhere. Unfortunately, the refreshed design makes text difficult to read throughout the operating system, but don’t worry. We have an easy fix.

iOS 26 is a Liquid Glasstastrophe

Apple has some big changes for iOS this year. For starters, the numbering scheme moved from its usual sequential order to an annual system. Instead of iOS 18 upgrading to iOS 19, it’s jumping to iOS 26 in recognition of 2026. The rest of Apple’s software ecosystem also got the same treatment, with iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, macOS 26, and tvOS 26 all available now.

The next big change is the design. As the first major iOS overhaul since 2013, this year ushers in an entirely new design language called “Liquid Glass.” The main theme of iOS 26 is inspired by the way light fluidly interacts with panes of glass in the real world. As a result, the update is packed with transparent layers, light refractions, and buttons that react like tiny droplets of water when dragged or touched.

A befuddled Apple is still refining its look and feel in iOS 26.1, even after an entire summer of beta tests.

While iOS 26 won’t drastically change the way your phone works, Liquid Glass certainly impacts how the UI looks and feels, especially when it comes to text. Many of the transparent layers throughout iOS 26 — like Notification Center and Control Center — are filled with words, and although Apple tried to improve legibility with subtle background blurring, the unfortunate truth is that many sections are either hard to read or just plain distracting:

Screenshots: Zach Laidlaw

Luckily, there’s a simple fix.

How to make iOS 26 easier to read

Apple deserves the blame for iOS 26’s legibility issues, but the company also included an accessibility setting to reverse it. Just follow these steps for instant eye relief.

Open up the “Settings” app on your iPhone. If you’re not sure where to find it, swipe down from the center of your home screen and type “Settings” into the Spotlight search bar.Scroll down and tap on the blue “Accessibility” icon.Tap the blue “Display & Text Size” icon.You’ll find “Reduce Transparency” near the top of your screen. Select that.

Screencaps: Zach Laidlaw

With the push of a button, all of the difficult-to-read transparent panes in Liquid Glass are replaced by opaque layers, making text much easier to digest. This same feature also works on iPads running iPadOS 26, so be sure to enable it there too, if you need it.

RELATED: Apple is falling — is the smartphone next?

Photo by Izhar Khan/Getty Images

Bonus tip

If you hate Liquid Glass, you can avoid it altogether, at least for now. Apple will continue to support iOS 18 for a little while longer, which means you can stay on the current version and receive the latest security updates until you’re ready to make the switch.

Keep in mind that all four new iPhones this year come with iOS 26 built in, and there’s no way to roll the software back to iOS 18 once you’re there. Liquid Glass is unavoidable if you upgrade to iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, or iPhone Air.

iOS 26 is currently available for iPhone 11 and up. Models released before 2019 cannot install the update.

More pane points to come?

With the last major iOS redesign dating back to more than a decade ago, iPhone was well overdue for a fresh coat of paint. The new transparent layers, smooth animations, and bloopy buttons of Liquid Glass breathe new life into a device category that’s nearly 20 years old, and for that, it’s a welcome change.

That said, iOS 26 isn’t for everyone. The buzz online suggests that it’s more polarizing than pleasing, and a befuddled Apple is still refining its look and feel in iOS 26.1, coming this fall, even after an entire summer of beta tests. The version of Liquid Glass that’s on devices today may not be its final form, but until Apple figures out how to thread the needle between transparency and legibility, it might just be easier to turn the glass panes off entirely.

​Tech 

The Trump administration has negotiated a 10% federal stake in Intel in exchange for the disbursement of $8.9 billion of grants originally allocated by Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act.

First, let me offer a disclaimer: I disapprove.

If companies don’t want their equity diluted, then they should not have the option of taking taxpayer money.

Not of the Trump administration’s negotiation — but of the fact that this money was ever appropriated in the first place. The CHIPS Act was a redistribution of wealth from taxpayers to corporations. What Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are doing is simply making the best of a bad deal.

If Intel had raised this capital on Wall Street, it would’ve had to sell debt or dilute its shareholders. This is not popular among free-market conservatives because this is not how capitalism is supposed to work.

In free-market capitalism, Congress would never have appropriated $8.9 billion to Intel. Therefore, we are no longer talking about free-market capitalism. If Intel is accepting capital injections, its existing shareholders deserve to have their equity diluted.

Moreover, the government’s 10% share of Intel will be nonvoting stock. The federal government will not have management control. It will just hold a passive ownership share — something it can sell down the line to recoup what taxpayers were forced to spend.

The core issue of this deal is the redistribution of wealth from taxpayers to corporations. Yet much of the pearl-clutching among “free-market” conservatives is about the stock ownership, not about the massive taxpayer grants to corporations.

“Not long ago,” the Wall Street Journal groaned, “it would have been hard to imagine a Republican president demanding government ownership in a private company, but here we are.”

Oh, please. Before George W. Bush, I couldn’t imagine a Republican president bailing out Wall Street either. But the Journal didn’t seem to mind when its banking buddies got billions in bailouts with no strings attached, which was also footed by “we, the taxpayers.” That is much more offensive to me than the taxpayers taking a nonvoting equity share of a company that is appropriated by my tax dollars.

The Journal forgets how “principled” conservatives defended Bush’s $700 billion handout to the very institutions that caused the 2008 financial crisis. In return, those banks gave the government preferred stock, which didn’t have voting rights either — but did give the government first dibs on dividends and liquidation. That’s ownership.

Even better, Bush’s Treasury also demanded warrants — rights to convert into common stock down the line. If Trump had exercised those warrants in his first term, the federal government could have taken actual equity in Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and the rest.

RELATED: Corporate America is eating its seed corn — and our future

Photo by Kwangmoozaa via Getty Images

National Review is up in arms too. Its editorial board — which tried to get us Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris — scolded Trump’s plan like it was some socialist scheme:

Looking at that sad situation, the Trump administration wants a piece of the action. Rather, it wants to use your money to get a piece of the action.

The White House said it was entertaining the U.S. taking a 10 percent stake in Intel, a roughly $10 billion investment at the company’s current valuation. A government $37 trillion in debt and running a $2 trillion deficit has no business playing investment manager with even more borrowed money. And the idea that what Intel really needs to fix its long-running problems is the managerial genius of the federal government is laughable.

That is deeply dishonest. Trump and Bessent negotiated about money already allocated to Intel by Congress under Joe Biden. They did not propose new spending. What’s more, the 10% equity stake does not give the Trump administration governance rights over Intel.

We’ve seen this play before with EV handouts. In 2024, the Department of Energy approved an $80 million grant to Blue Bird to manufacture electric school buses. Trump froze those appropriated funds. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) threw a fit, demanding the money get released.

If Blue Bird gets that $80 million, then taxpayers should have an equity share in Blue Bird, and the ownership of its current stockholders should be diluted accordingly. This isn’t a free market. It’s crony capitalism — or worse, corporate communism with the redistribution of wealth from taxpayers to publicly traded companies. If they don’t want their equity diluted, then they should not be taking taxpayer money.

I’ll let Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have the final word. “We should get an equity stake for our money,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” “So we’ll deliver the money, which was already committed under the Biden administration. We’ll get equity in return for it.”

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Intel, Government bailout, Corporate bailout, Bailout, Taxpayer dollars, Taxpayer dollars wasted, Equity, Chips act, Investment, Wall street, Wall street journal, National review, Socialism 

Over the weekend, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called White House adviser Stephen Miller a “FASCIST” — all caps — on X. His official press office account repeated the smear. Hours later, a horrific shooting struck a Latter-day Saints church service in Michigan. The two events were unrelated, but the juxtaposition raised an obvious question: Why inflame the public with reckless language at a moment when violence already runs high?

Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi unsettled conservatives weeks earlier when she said she would prosecute “hate speech.” After decades of watching universities and the media brand nearly every Christian or conservative position as “hate,” many asked whether Bondi was simply turning the same weapon around. Should the right fight with the left’s tactics, or should it fight with righteousness?

We don’t need to wait for courts. The most powerful judgment comes from ordinary Americans who say, peacefully and firmly: Enough.

Bondi later clarified: She meant only speech that incites violence. That matters. But it also forces a deeper look at what counts as incitement under the First Amendment.

What the Supreme Court says

The leading case is Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969). The Supreme Court ruled that government may not punish “advocacy of the use of force or of law violation” unless the speech is:

directed at inciting imminent lawless action,intended to produce that violence, andlikely to succeed.

That’s why the classic “fire in a crowded theater” illustration works: If you yell “fire” without cause, and people are trampled, your “speech” helped cause the injuries.

But political and cultural debate is different. The court has given enormous latitude to speech in the public square, even when it is crude or inflammatory.

Where the line blurs

Two other principles complicate matters.

First, libel law: False statements that damage a reputation can lead to civil liability, though public figures face a higher burden (which is why so many crazy National Enquirer stories survive lawsuits).

Second, known risk: If a public figure keeps using rhetoric he has been warned may incite violence, and violence follows, he could face legal exposure.

That’s where Democrats like Newsom invite scrutiny. They lecture the public about “toning down rhetoric,” yet hurl the same charges themselves. At the attempted assassination of Charlie Kirk, one cartridge bore the phrase, “Hey fascist! Catch!” Democrats know this language fuels hatred. They keep using it anyway. At best, it is hypocrisy. At worst, it edges toward the standard they want to impose on conservatives.

The moral dimension

Hypocrisy is ugly, of course, but it isn’t illegal. Nor should it be. The First Amendment protects the right to be foolish, offensive, and wrong. The remedy for bad speech is not government censorship but the judgment of a free people.

Conservatives do not need to silence their opponents. They can simply withdraw support: Stop watching their shows, stop buying their books, stop supporting their advertisers, and stop voting for their candidates. Hypocrites can keep talking into the void.

RELATED: The right message: Justice. The wrong messenger: Pam Bondi.

Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

And we can model a better way. Instead of trading insults, use arguments. Expose false assumptions and dismantle them in public view. That was Charlie Kirk’s example, and it is the model conservatives need to multiply.

Marxist professors may keep their jobs, but let them lecture to empty classrooms. Late-night hosts may keep sneering, but let them do so without advertisers. That is how a free people governs the public square — by choosing what to reward and what to ignore.

Discernment over censorship

Christians and conservatives should not wait for government to police “hate speech.” That path leads only to disappointment, or worse, to censorship of our own beliefs when power changes hands.

Instead, take practical steps:

Teach young people how to spot manipulative rhetoric and defeat it with arguments.Withdraw money, time, and attention from those who abuse free speech.Support institutions that foster open debate rather than silencing it.

If Democrats someday cross the Brandenburg line and face legal consequences, so much the better. But we don’t need to wait for courts. The most powerful judgment comes from ordinary Americans who say, peacefully and firmly: Enough.

​Opinion & analysis, First amendment, Brandenburg v ohio, Violence, Fascist, Incitement, Inciting violence, Freedom of speech, Gavin newsom, Social media, Libel, Discernment, Charlie kirk, Pam bondi, Hate speech 

From Bruce Springsteen to Britney Spears, the NFL used to platform legends at Super Bowl halftime shows — but that has irrefutably changed.

In 2026, rapper Bad Bunny will headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, and BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock believes the choice is a slap in the face to not only President Donald Trump and MAGA supporters — but to Americans everywhere.

“They have selected a Latin, gay, hip-hop, gangster, trap music, no-english-speaking rapper to perform at the Super Bowl this year. His name is Bad Bunny. I had heard the name,” Whitlock says.

“And once you start going down the rabbit hole, this is a demonic rapper selected by Jay-Z and the National Football League to promote demonic activity. And I think it’s a reaction in part, partially, to what the Charlie Kirk assassination sparked,” he continues, noting that it was a “terrific moment of religious revival.”

“And the Super Bowl this year is in Northern California, and that is the headquarters of Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi and just this whole revolutionary Marxist left-wing. That’s their headquarters, Northern California,” he explains.

Whitlock loves football but unfortunately is having to come to terms with the NFL now being “a part of a demonic movement” that’s been run by Jay-Z since 2020.

“This is an unapologetic drug dealer,” Whitlock says of Jay-Z. “Says that he was involved in violence and murder, but we’ve placed him on a pedestal. Him and all of his demonic music. We’ve placed him on a pedestal in the National Football League. The most powerful force in American culture.”

“And so Bad Bunny, Puerto Rican rapper, not one song does he sing in English. Not one. So we’re about to have a halftime show where most of the audience will have no idea what’s going on,” Whitlock adds.

“But I guarantee you, Bad Bunny’s going to put on a drag show at halftime because that’s how he got there. By redefining masculinity, by dressing in women’s clothing, by pretending, well, ‘I’m not gay, I’m sexually fluid,’” he continues.

In one music video, Bad Bunny does dress in drag, going as far to wear what appears to be pounds of makeup and giant fake breasts.

“The National Football League is going to put on a halftime drag show,” Whitlock says, disturbed. “I can’t do it. And I’m telling you, I love football, but I fear God more than I love football. They’re grooming our babies. We’re going to pay a price for this.”

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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A former famed financier with money ties to George Soros is accused of torturing women at a secret BDSM “sex dungeon,” according to authorities.

Howard Rubin, 70, used to be a high-profile money manager at Salomon Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Merrill Lynch.

‘The defendants allegedly exploited Rubin’s status to ensnare their prospective victims and forced them to endure unthinkable physical trauma before silencing any outcries with threats of legal recourse.’

On Friday morning, FBI agents arrested Rubin at his home in Fairfield, Connecticut.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said in a Friday statement, “A 10-count indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging retired New York-based financier, Howard Rubin, also known as ‘Howie’ and ‘H,’ along with his personal assistant, Jennifer Powers, with sex trafficking and transporting women in interstate commerce for sex acts with Rubin.”

Federal authorities said Powers became Rubin’s personal assistant around 2011 and “managed the logistical aspects of their commercial sex operation.”

Federal officials added that Rubin additionally was charged with bank fraud in “connection with misrepresentations made to a bank in the course of financing Powers’ mortgage for the Texas home of Powers and her husband.”

Powers also was arrested Friday at her home in Southlake, Texas.

The alleged sexual abuse crimes occurred between 2009 and 2019 when Rubin and Powers “recruited multiple women to travel to New York City to engage in commercial sex acts with Rubin involving bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, and sadomasochism, referred to as ‘BDSM’ sex, and some of the women were trafficked.”

ABC News reported that Rubin “lured dozens of women, including former Playboy models, to be sexually and physically assaulted during encounters in his Central Park penthouse in a soundproofed room described in court papers as ‘The Dungeon.'”

The feds said the alleged sexual encounters took place at luxury hotels and at Rubin’s two-bedroom penthouse apartment in midtown Manhattan, where one of the bedrooms was converted into “what they referred to as a sex ‘dungeon’ that was painted red, soundproofed, and furnished with BDSM equipment and devices, including a device to shock or electrocute the women.”

“During many of these encounters, Rubin brutalized women’s bodies, causing them to fear for their safety and/or resulting in significant pain and injuries,” the statement says.

“Rubin also used force, fraud, and coercion to traffic another woman in 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada,” the statement reads.

Rubin and Powers are accused of requiring the women to sign nondisclosure agreements, which would “require the women to assume the risk of the hazards and injury of the BDSM encounters with Rubin, prohibit the disclosure of information about the BDSM sex with Rubin, and require the payment of damages in the event of a breach.”

Federal investigators said Rubin used the NDAs to intimidate the women, warning of legal action and public humiliation if they pursued legal recourse.

RELATED: DOJ preparing probes into Soros’ Open Society Foundations following bombshell exposé by Ryan Mauro, Glenn Beck

Joseph Nocella Jr. — interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York — stated, “As alleged, the defendants used Rubin’s wealth to mislead and recruit women to engage in commercial sex acts, where Rubin then tortured women beyond their consent, causing lasting physical and/or psychological pain, and in some cases physical injuries.”

Christopher G. Raia — assistant director in charge of the FBI — revealed, “For many years, Howard Rubin and Jennifer Powers allegedly spent at least one million dollars to finance the commercial sexual torture of multiple women via a national trafficking network.”

“The defendants allegedly exploited Rubin’s status to ensnare their prospective victims and forced them to endure unthinkable physical trauma before silencing any outcries with threats of legal recourse,” Raia said. “The FBI will continue to apprehend any trafficker who sexually abuses others for twisted gratification.”

Harry Chavis — acting special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation of the New York Field Office — noted that the alleged sexual abuse “was not a one-man show.”

“While Rubin dehumanized these women with abhorrent sexual acts, Powers is alleged to have run the day-to-day operations of the enterprise and got paid generously for her efforts,” Chavis said. “IRS-CI and FBI partnered to see fit that all the facts are detailed in this case and ensure that this pair realizes the full consequences of their ghastly behaviors.”

If convicted of sex trafficking, Rubin and Powers each face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment. Rubin and Powers face a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment if convicted of transporting women to engage in commercial sex acts.

Rubin faces a maximum prison sentence of 30 years if he is convicted of bank fraud.

Rubin pleaded not guilty in a federal court in Brooklyn.

Rubin’s lawyer did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Reuters.

Rubin is a former high-profile Wall Street trader and hedge fund manager who became notorious for making unauthorized trades.

CNBC said of Rubin, “He first gained public notoriety in 1987 for making unauthorized trades at Merrill Lynch, which the firm at the time said contributed to a massive $250 million loss from mortgage securities. Rubin’s action at Merrill, which led to his termination, is detailed in Michael Lewis’ Wall Street memoir ‘Liar’s Poker.'”

“Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street” was written by best-selling author Michael Lewis, known for penning popular books such as “Moneyball,” “The Blind Side,” and “The Big Short.”

The premise of “Liar’s Poker” as per Goodreads:

Michael Lewis was fresh out of Princeton and the London School of Economics when he landed a job at Salomon Brothers, one of Wall Street’s premier investment firms. During the next three years, Lewis rose from callow trainee to bond salesman, raking in millions for the firm and cashing in on a modern-day gold rush. ‘Liar’s Poker’ is the culmination of those heady, frenzied years — a behind-the-scenes look at a unique and turbulent time in American business. From the frat-boy camaraderie of the forty-first-floor trading room to the killer instinct that made ambitious young men gamble everything on a high-stakes game of bluffing and deception, here is Michael Lewis’s knowing and hilarious insider’s account of an unprecedented era of greed, gluttony, and outrageous fortune.

Bloomberg reported that Rubin was described in the book as a “young trader who studied behavioral research into which homeowners were likely to prepay their mortgages.”

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​George soros, Howard rubin, Howard rubin arrest, Howard rubin victims, Sexual abuse, Sexual assault, Sex trafficking, Human trafficking, Crime, Bdsm, Feds 

A Texas man made threats against members of the LGBTQ movement as payback for the assassination of conservative Charlie Kirk, police said.

Joshua Cole from Anson posted the threats on a Facebook page related to the Abilene Pride Parade & Festival, according to court documents.

‘Theres only like 30 of em we can send a clear message to the rest of them.’

“I say we lock and load and pay them back for taking out Charlie Kirk,” one comment reads.

He allegedly added, “Theres only like 30 of em we can send a clear message to the rest of them.”

Federal agents tried to contact Cole on Sept. 19 a day after Abilene police were tipped off about the threats. His employer told investigators that he had just quit his job and stormed out of the building. His fellow employees reportedly described him as a “hothead.”

Cole was arrested after a traffic stop the day before the festival.

RELATED: 19-year-old posted social media threat to attack Charlie Kirk vigil, police say

Court documents argued that the threats were real because they were specific and not conditional in nature.

“The threats were also specific to a particular set of victims: people participating in the gay pride parade tomorrow,” prosecutors wrote. “With this level of specificity, [Cole’s] comments were not mere idle of [sic] careless talk, exaggeration, or something said in only a joking manner.”

He allegedly said that he did not plan to harm the parade-goers but admitted that his statements could be taken as threats.

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​Threats against lgbtq parade, Threat payback charlie kirk, Political violence, Joshua cole, Politics 

Willie Wilson, a conservative Chicago businessman and former mayoral candidate, was apparently invited to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday regarding the ruinous soft-on-crime Democrat policies that set the stage for what he regards as a badly needed intervention by the National Guard.

“I support the National Guard coming to Chicago,” Wilson said in a statement earlier this month. “Crime is out of control, crippling our economy, and costing countless innocent lives. Saving lives is the most important responsibility we have to the citizens of Chicago.”

A spokesman for Wilson alleged to Blaze News that his client’s invitation to testify was rescinded by the committee of both Democrats and Republicans on the eve of the hearing due to his attempt to unseat Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in 2020.

‘It’s personal for me.’

“He got a call from the committee staff saying that they have a custom, and the custom is if you’ve run against someone who’s a member of the committee, then you actually cannot testify as a witness on that committee,” said the spokesman. “Dr. Wilson’s a busy man, and he made time to come out here to Washington, so it’s a little disappointing that they would utilize a custom to actually try to silence him.”

Wilson said in a statement to WFLD-TV, “Senator Durbin can stop me from testifying, but he cannot silence my voice or refute the facts that under his leadership, Chicago has averaged 652 homicides a year.”

“Democrat leaders have failed to protect the African-American community,” added Wilson.

Senator Durbin’s office did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment by deadline.

A committee aide confirmed to Blaze News on Monday that Wilson “is not noticed as a witness tomorrow.”

RELATED: Democrats gloss over anti-ICE violence in Portland ahead of Trump’s crackdown on ‘domestic terrorists’

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

“Wilson has experienced personal loss and suffered the real-world impact of Democrats’ soft-on-crime policies,” said the aide. “Therefore, the committee has put him in contact with the White House to explore an opportunity to share his experience.”

Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, told Blaze News, “It is absolutely ludicrous that Republicans would bow down to the sensitivities of Dick Durbin, of all people. The president and the White House have made it a top priority to restore order to our decayed urban centers. Hearing directly about what’s happening in Chicago is absolutely necessary for any committee that’s seriously looking into this matter.”

The office of Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) declined to comment. The other members of the committee did not respond by deadline.

“It’s personal for me, from personal loss,” Wilson reportedly said during a press conference in August. “But also personal for me as a citizen of Chicago.”

“People who happen to want to help, whatever the motive may be,” continued Wilson, “I welcome it.”

Editor’s note: Mike Howell is a contributor to Blaze News.

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​Dick durbin, Durbin, Willie wilson, Senate, National guard, Trump, President donald trump, Politics 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed optimistic after President Donald Trump revealed his administration’s latest effort to end the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu came out in support of Trump’s latest peace proposal during a joint press conference at the White House Monday. The 20-point proposal includes demilitarizing and rebuilding Gaza, the unconditional return of Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Gazan prisoners, and establishing a “Board of Peace,” which will be chaired by Trump, to oversee the redevelopment of Gaza. The proposal was met with applause from some staffers, Cabinet members, and Israeli media.

‘This can be done the easy way, or it can be done the hard way.’

With the peace deal seemingly earning Netanyahu’s support, it is now up to Hamas to review and accept the terms of the agreement in order to bring an end to the war in Gaza.

“This is the closest we’ve ever come to real peace,” Trump said during the press conference. “Not fake peace. Not political fools’ peace.”

RELATED: Democrats gloss over anti-ICE violence in Portland ahead of Trump’s crackdown on ‘domestic terrorists’

Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Trump told reporters that Hamas “wants to get this done too,” although it has not publicly taken a stance. In the event that Hamas rejects the peace agreement, Netanyahu said Israel “will finish the job by itself.”

“This can be done the easy way, or it can be done the hard way,” Netanyahu said. “But it will be done. We prefer the easy way, but it has to be done.”

“If Hamas rejects the deal, Bibi, you will have our full backing to do what you have to do,” Trump said.

Moments before the presser, Trump and Netanyahu held a call with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani in order to put Israeli-Qatar relationships back “on a positive track.” During the call, Netanyahu expressed “deep regret” for killing a Qatari serviceman and violating Qatari sovereignty after Israel conducted a strike on Doha targeting Hamas leadership in early September.

RELATED: Health organizations attacking Trump’s Tylenol-autism claims are cozied up with Big Pharma

Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Trump ultimately declined to take any questions from an eager press corps, citing ongoing negotiations. Trump also offered Netanyahu the option to take questions from Israeli press, which the Israeli leader declined. Notably, Netanyahu’s popularity has steadily declined in Israel and in the United States as the war in Gaza approaches its second anniversary.

The press erupted with questions while both world leaders promptly left the press conference.

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​Donald trump, Abraham accords, Bibi netanyahu, Benjamin netanyahu, Hamas, Qatar, Israeli strike, Israel hamas war, Israel palestine conflict, Gaza, Peace deal, Peace proposal, Politics