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President Donald Trump was snubbed from receiving the Nobel Peace Prize despite negotiating peace deals all over the world, and instead, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Machado won the prize for “her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

“Hold on,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says. “It says here it was ‘her struggle to achieve’ the ‘transition from dictatorship to democracy.’ Did she actually pull any of that off? Because as far as I can tell, the country is still being ruled by a dictator and carries out a whole bunch of human rights abuses.”

“And on top of that, they also are still sending a bunch of drugs to our country to kill our citizens. So this woman is in a struggle session, has not been successful, and they’re like, ‘Well, she tried, but she tried really hard, guys. She gets a participation trophy,’” Gonzales continues.

“I mean, this is just laughable at this point. I don’t know why anyone would take this seriously at all,” she adds.

In an attempt to justify why Trump didn’t win, the Nobel chairman explained, “In the long history of the Nobel Peace Prize, I think this committee has seen any type of campaign media attention. We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say what for them leads to peace.”

“This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates and that room is filled with both courage and integrity. So we base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel,” he continued.

“Oh, okay,” Gonzales comments. “Like good old Barack Hussein Obama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in, what was it, 2009? Less than nine months after taking office his first term. Like, dude had not done anything yet, but the Nobel committee said it awarded him the prize for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

“And by the way, Obama actually himself admitted that he did not even deserve it,” she says, noting that under Obama, America was led into two wars.

“How many wars is America in under President Trump?” She asks, adding, “Oh, zero.”

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A Portland trauma hospital’s emergency helicopters were forced to divert, significantly adding to their travel time, when local anarchists threatened to “ground” aircraft with laser lights — a federal crime.

Oregon Health & Science University told KGW that several air ambulance vendors refused to land on the hospital’s helipad Saturday evening because of the planned attack. The threatened interruption to air travel added 45 to 60 minutes of travel time for these emergency helicopters.

‘If enough lasers are pointed at the aircraft, we think it will not be able to safely stay in the air for long enough to continue to pinpoint the source for law enforcement, and numbers will make it difficult to focus on a single person.’

“For most patients, that will be an acceptable delay. However, for some sensitive situations, such as unstable trauma patients, STEMIs and strokes, the delay could have real impacts,” OHSU stated.

Rose City Counter-Info, an online anonymous anarchist blog based in Portland, shared a flyer advertising the protest.

“You’re invited: Laser tag!” it read. “Every night for weeks, we are forced to listen to the threatening rhythm of helicopter blades as the federal regime spies on us.”

The flyer encouraged readers to “mask up” and “go to a park, a field, or some other public place” to point lasers at “cop copter[s]” at 9 p.m. on Saturday.

RELATED: If Trump labels Antifa a foreign terrorist organization, here’s what he can do next

Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

“It won’t take many of us to ground the helicopters!” the flyer stated.

The blog post provided further instructions on how to evade law enforcement while engaging in this illegal act.

“If enough lasers are pointed at the aircraft, we think it will not be able to safely stay in the air for long enough to continue to pinpoint the source for law enforcement, and numbers will make it difficult to focus on a single person,” the blog post read. “Be ready to dispose of the laser if you need to — wear gloves and clean it with alcohol in case you have to toss it in a hurry. Consider taking precautions to keep DNA off of it as well.”

The Portland Police Bureau told Fox News that no laser incidents were reported that evening. However, the department said it did arrest one individual earlier in the week.

RELATED: Flyer posted on Antifa-affiliated website appears to call for laser attacks on police helicopters in Portland

Photo by Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images

The Department of Homeland Security vowed to stop “Antifa domestic terrorists” from taking over cities.

“We will bust their networks and bring every one of them to justice,” the DHS wrote in a post on X.

The website that shared the flyer has also recently doxxed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, posting photos of alleged officers and their alleged home addresses.

“We put together some posters for people to slap up around town. Name and shame these Gestapo clowns. No peace. No safety. Not welcome in our town,” one blog post stated.

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On October 1, the U.S. government entered a partial shutdown, as Congress remains deadlocked over federal budget appropriations.

On paper, a shutdown just means Congress is bickering over federal funds, but Mark Levin rips back the curtain, exposing what’s really going on behind closed doors: Democrats are fighting to slip health care for illegal immigrants into the budget.

He plays a clip from “MSLSD’s” Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, during which they argue that House Speaker Mike Johnson is lying about the shutdown — specifically that Democrats are pushing to reinstate taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits for illegal aliens.

“They’re lying to their own followers, saying Democrats want to shut down the government because they want to give great health care benefits to illegal immigrants. It’s a total lie,” Scarborough said. “I’m wondering where in the Bible does Mike Johnson read Jesus saying, ‘You know what? Tell the truth, except well when it might serve you well politically.”’

“Why don’t you spread lies about those who are on the outskirts of society, those who are suffering right now the most? Why don’t you lie about the weakest among us, Mikey?” he spat.

What Johnson has said is “absolute fact,” Levin says.

“I don’t know why this should surprise anybody. Remember the big, beautiful bill eliminates this in health care and Medicaid for illegal aliens? Biden put it in. Trump took it out. The Democrats are trying to put it back,” he asserts, calling Scarborough’s Jesus insult an “attack on the fact that Mike Johnson is an evangelical Christian.”

As for Scarborough’s lamentation that illegal immigrants are the “the weakest among us,” Levin counters, “Our government’s damn near bankrupt in the name of the weakest, in the name of redistributing wealth.”

The shutdown, he argues, is a deliberate Democratic strategy to manufacture a crisis for political gain and to “hurt Republicans” like Johnson. Democrats are stalling a routine temporary funding bill — something that is supposed to be “non-controversial” — by pushing for health care for illegal immigrants. On top of that, they’re exaggerating the shutdown’s impact, when only a small portion of the budget is affected.

“The fact of the matter is, the vast majority of the government’s open — over 80% of it. The fact of the matter is that Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are going to keep running. Government keeps collecting taxes. The veterans’ programs will continue. Food stamps continue. … Other programs — redistributing wealth to the poor and the needy and so forth and so on — those are continuing,” he says.

“The Democrats decide to use [a government shutdown] because they’re fighting among themselves, because they’re trying to empower their party. They’re trying to get their … swagger back, and this is all they have,” Levin explains.

“But it’s not going to create that much pain” because the majority of the government will continue running. “So, unless you’re so desperate to go to a national park … or the Smithsonian or some of these other things or unless you’re a bureaucrat who’s affected by a cut or reduction, you’re not going to feel it,” he says.

As the shutdown drags into its second week with no end in sight, Levin insists Democrats are playing a dangerous game, using the budget battle to score political points while most Americans carry on unaffected.

Want more from Mark Levin?

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After some public outrage, the Department of Homeland Security released details about the criminal accusations against a minor who was arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The mother of the teenager told the media that she didn’t know why he was arrested. She also claimed that when she went to pick him up from the Everett Police Department, she was told he was being detained by ICE and then transported to a detainment center in Winchester, Virginia.

‘Here are the facts: he posed a public safety threat with an extensive rap sheet including violent assault with a dangerous weapon …’

Critics pounced on the story to criticize the administration.

“This makes NO SENSE. A 13-year-old was arrested by local police for unknown reasons, and then turned over to ICE, which is detaining him far away from his mother — who is going through immigration court, has an asylum application on file, and is legally authorized to work,” claimed Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, who heads an immigration activist group.

On Monday, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin released information about the teen’s legal troubles.

“Here are the facts: he posed a public safety threat with an extensive rap sheet including violent assault with a dangerous weapon, battery, breaking and entering, destruction of property,” she wrote on social media. “He was in possession of a firearm and 5-7 inch knife when arrested.”

RELATED: Democratic senator accuses Trump administration of faking anti-ICE rioting

On Sunday, Judge Richard Stearns told ICE and the Department of Homeland Security that they must release the boy unless they produce a legitimate justification for his detainment. He also ordered that they must have a hearing no later than Oct. 17 for bail.

The mother said that her son is a seventh-grader and they are both from Brazil but have pending asylum claims.

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​13 year old arrested, Dhs arrest, Tricia mclaughlin, Trump deportations, Politics 

Video shows an Austin, Texas, police officer appearing to throw a single punch — and a male crumpling to the ground and lying flat on his back a second later.

The video is part of a KXAN-TV report about a “crowd control” incident Friday night on Sixth Street, and the station said it received “two witness videos of the scene.”

‘The action is inexcusable and indefensible.’

One of those videos “appears to show an officer in a blue shirt shoving a bystander in an orange shirt. Another officer wearing a black shirt appears to throw a punch. The man in the orange shirt is later seen on the ground,” KXAN said. The male seen lying on the ground also is wearing blue jeans and a backward white baseball cap.

The video included in the station’s story — which contains no sound — shows just one angle of the officer’s apparent single punch.

However, another video circulating on social media shows what apparently is a much closer view of the punch from a front-facing angle — and the crowd reacts strongly as a male wearing an orange shirt, blue jeans, and a backward white baseball cap is motionless on the ground.

But that wasn’t the only incident involving police recorded on video that night in Austin.

KXAN said a second video it received shows an “officer on top of a person, appearing to punch them multiple times.”

Indeed, KVUE-TV in its report said it received two videos of this second incident “from witnesses at the scene. Both videos show an officer on top of a person, appearing to punch them numerous times. Another officer, who is holding a separate person down, then assists the first officer, putting his knee on the back of the person being held down and appearing to throw a punch at him.”

Here’s a video report showing another angle of the second incident. Interestingly, it shows a male dressed in an orange shirt, blue jeans, and a backward white baseball cap — apparently the same one who was knocked flat on his back in the video of the single-punch incident — standing off to the side and watching the officers punch the male on the ground:

Officers’ names reportedly revealed

In a follow-up story, KVUE said it obtained documents from the District Court of Travis County revealing more information about what took place in the second incident caught on video.

The station said Austin Police Officer Leger was working in the downtown area when he heard a radio call reporting a “physical altercation” outside the Voodoo Room nightclub. With that, Officer Leger and Officer Garcia responded to the scene, where two men reportedly were fighting, KVUE said.

The station, citing court documents, reported that Officer Leger tried to break up the fight when he was struck in the back of the head, after which he “executed a controlled takedown maneuver” on one of the men, who allegedly resisted. KVUE noted that the court documents indicate Officer Leger struck the man in the face several times in response.

Documents added that a crowd reportedly formed around the officers, and people began throwing objects and pushing and kicking, the station said.

KVUE reported that the male accused of attacking Officer Leger was identified as 19-year-old Johnny Acuña-Jacobo, and he was arrested on a charge of assault on a peace officer, a second-degree felony, and booked into the Travis County Jail on a $10,000 bond. Jail records on Monday indicated Acuña-Jacobo was booked into jail at 4:16 a.m. Saturday and that he was still behind bars Monday. The jail on Monday told Blaze News that while his bond has been paid, Acuña-Jacobo remains incarcerated until an ankle monitor arrives for him.

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis in a statement to KXAN early Saturday said “last night, an Austin police officer struck an individual during a crowd control incident on Sixth Street. After reviewing the video footage, I share the community’s concern and take this matter very seriously. The officer has been removed from patrol and placed on restricted duty pending a thorough investigation.”

While two officers were named in the follow-up KVUE story — Officer Leger and Officer Garcia — it doesn’t indicate which officer was placed on restricted duty.

Blaze News reached out to Austin police for clarification on which officer was removed from the street in regard to which incident, but the department on Monday afternoon didn’t immediately respond to Blaze News’ request for clarification.

Maria Delgado told KXAN that Acuña-Jacobo is her son and that on Saturday afternoon she saw the video of him getting punched and hasn’t slept much since then. When asked how she is feeling, Delgado replied to KXAN, “Tired, frustrated, [and] helpless. When are these individuals going to face criminal charges? That’s a crime, what they committed.”

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson released the following statement Saturday to KXAN: “I have seen the video of an Austin Police Officer on 6th Street last night. The action is inexcusable and indefensible. There is no room in APD for such violent behavior or for someone who claims to be a public servant and acts that way. I know that Chief Davis will take appropriate action, including action that leads to termination. Again, there is no room for such offensive, ridiculous action.”

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​Austin, Police, Punch, Punches, Police throw punches, Restricted duty, Police chief, Mayor, Crowd control, Arrest, Cops throws punch, Officer throws punch, Crime 

The chaotic protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, took a different turn over the weekend when hundreds of nude cyclists appeared at the federal property.

The naked cyclists temporarily blocked the ICE facility’s driveway, according to NewsNation correspondent Jorge Ventura. A large crowd showed up on Sunday despite the heavy rain.

Several arrests were made after some in the crowd refused to move away from the driveway when ordered.

As has become common during these rowdy demonstrations, agents with the Federal Protective Service, Border Patrol, ICE, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons had to move the crowd back from the driveway and street to allow vehicles to access the facility. Several arrests were made after some in the crowd refused to move away from the driveway when ordered.

Video from Sunday shows some in the crowd fighting against the federal agents and trying to prevent people from being arrested.

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Portland is one of the cities to which President Donald Trump is trying to send federalized National Guardsmen. While Blaze News was in Portland the previous week, a judge blocked the California National Guard from being deployed after originally blocking Oregon’s troops from being sent to the facility.

RELATED: Inside the Portland ICE facility under siege by Antifa extremists

Inside the Portland ICE facility under siege by Antifa extremists Julio Rosas/Blaze Media

A lawsuit filed by Portland and Oregon is still being deliberated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. At least two of the judges on the three-judge panel, both appointed by Trump in his first term, seemed skeptical of the lower-court judge’s ruling. The circuit court’s ruling is expected to be handed down sometime this week.

The protests and riots outside the ICE facility have taken a toll on the residents who live near the contested area. In addition to loud noise and tear gas, Chris Hayes, FPS assistant director for field operations, previously told Blaze News the constant traffic disruptions have posed a hazard to demonstraters and drivers.

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​Politics 

Journalist James O’Keefe has done it again, this time exposing a U.S. State Department diplomat via hidden camera for dating a CCP leader’s daughter and hiding it from the government.

“‘I Defied My Government for Love’: US State Department Foreign Service Officer Dated Senior CCP Leader’s Daughter, Admits ‘She Could Have Been A Spy,’ Refused to Report Her,” reads the headline of O’Keefe’s latest exposé.

“This is Daniel Choi, worked at the State Department for almost 20 years and was in charge of vetting all student visas from China, a program that recent arrests show has become less about education and a pipeline for infiltration and espionage,” O’Keefe tells BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

“This is a guy in the State Department talking to a random stranger about how he’s sleeping with a Chinese spy,” O’Keefe explains.

“And now he’s been fired, which is really extraordinary because it’s the first time in American history that the executive branch of government has fired a State Department official in this way,” he continues.

“I understand, James,” Gonzales responds, “you are the best at what you do, and I wouldn’t ever ask you — just as you don’t ask a magician to reveal his secrets, I wouldn’t ask you to reveal all of your … behind-the-scenes secrets, but I just keep watching these, and I’m like, ‘How are you getting these people to talk?’”

“I think we have to look at it a little differently than the way that people look at it when they ask that question, because it’s a good question. But I think if you change your perspective on the way things are in the world, that all around us, everything’s a lie,” O’Keefe explains.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s so much fraud. Things are so systemically broken in our world, in our politics, in our government. There’s a conspiracy of silence that everyone maintains. We all know it’s B.S., but we don’t talk about it,” he continues.

“So,” he adds, “when the official narrative is so far afield from reality, all you have to do is point your hidden camera in any direction, and you’ll contradict what the official narrative is.”

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“Let those who are accustomed to finding fault and censuring ask, while they sit in security at home, ‘Why did you not do so and so under such circumstances?’ I wish they now had this voyage to make. I verily believe that another journey of another kind awaits them, or our faith is nothing.” So wrote Christopher Columbus of his contemporary critics, demonstrating his humor, diplomacy, and faith. All three were instrumental in his tumultuous career as an explorer and colonial governor.

His letter also makes it clear that our current anti-Columbus sentiment has been in fashion before. When Columbus refused to allow the Spanish settlers of the West Indies to enslave the natives, they summoned one Francisco de Bobadilla from the homeland. Eager to claim the spoils of the colony for his own, Bobadilla fabricated accusations against Columbus and shipped him and his brothers back to Spain in chains. He then proceeded to establish a reign of slavery, rape, and murder often carelessly attributed to the man he deposed.

The truth is, despite incomplete, out-of-context quotes to the contrary, Columbus respected the indigenous people he encountered and wished to make them both Spanish citizens and Christians. Born into obscurity to a Genovese wool weaver, Columbus was a self-made man and an impressive autodidact. He was also a man of vision, determination, and courage, embarking on a journey many discouraged (it took Columbus eight years and multiple rejections to secure funding) and few dared attempt. He was one of the first immigrants to the New World, and like many immigrants after him, he faced his share of injustice and prejudice. But he bore his struggles with grace and dignity, leaving a heritage that all Americans should claim with pride.

If you know any young people who have recently encountered Howard Zinn for the first time, a useful corrective on the subject of Columbus is Samuel Eliot Morison’s masterful “Admiral of the Ocean Sea.” Or perhaps they just need a thrilling, true-life tale to activate their own dormant sense of adventure. For that, I recommend Apsley Cherry-Garrard’s “The Worst Journey in the World,” his account of Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated Terra Nova Antarctic expedition of 1910-1913.

Young, inexperienced, and unqualified, Garrard was an Oxford-educated aristocrat who won his place on the crew through connections, persistence, and a sizeable donation. However, he quickly proved to be an asset, not least because he could withstand the freezing temperatures, poor visibility, and near-starvation without complaint.

Fortunately for the reader, Cherry-Garrard is not so taciturn on the page, leaving us with an elegantly written, witty, and unsparing look at a venture gone horribly wrong. Beaten to the South Pole by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, Scott and four of his men died on the return journey. They managed to carry everything with them to the very end, including diaries and the first Antarctic fossils. Though ultimately the record of a failure, “The Worst Journey in the World” survives as a testament to their courage and resolve.

With typical understatement, Cherry-Garrard called his adventure “the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time which has been devised.” Such character-fortifying and mettle-testing ordeals may not be easy to come by for most of us, but it could be that we are called to chart a different, if also hazardous, course.

History may be written by the victors, but those currently revising our national story do so in a distinctly loserish spirit. They are less guided by zeal for truth than by resentment and self-aggrandization; in their hands the past is primarily a weapon with which to demand status and power for their particular aggrieved tribe. But this frenzied, compulsive “debunking” diminishes us all.

The American founding, like all foundings, rests on both historical fact and edifying myth. To keep this country together, we have to clarify the former while restoring the latter. Today, the holiday formerly known as “Columbus Day,” is as good a time as any to start.

Editor’s note: This essay was originally published in 2023.

​Culture 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement claims to have arrested an illegal alien truck driver who was issued a commercial driver’s license by New York State, reading, “NO NAME GIVEN.”

‘Allowing illegal aliens to obtain commercial driver’s licenses to operate 18-wheelers and transport hazardous materials on America’s roads is reckless and incredibly dangerous to public safety.’

In September, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) shared a photo of a New York State CDL belonging to “NO NAME GIVEN,” whom he described as an illegal immigrant. Much of the identifying information on the Real ID was redacted.

Stitt indicated that the individual was apprehended as part of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol’s enforcement actions, adding that troopers had captured 125 illegal immigrants.

ICE announced Friday that it had arrested Anmol Anmol, an alleged illegal alien from India who had been issued a CDL by New York State.

A photo of the license reads, “Anmol NO NAME GIVEN.”

The CDL appeared to match the one previously posted by Stitt, as both displayed the same issue and expiration date. Blaze News contacted ICE to determine whether the license previously shared by Stitt belonged to Anmol.

A search of the online ICE database confirmed that as of Monday afternoon, an individual named Anmol Anmol from India is being held at an ICE detention facility in Oklahoma.

RELATED: The fraud crippling American trucking: ‘Ghost’ carriers and ‘NO NAME GIVEN’ driver’s licenses issued to foreigners

Image source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ICE stated that OHP encountered Anmol during a routine inspection at a weigh station on I-40.

Anmol reportedly unlawfully entered the country in 2023, amid the Biden administration’s open-border crisis. He was arrested as part of a three-day enforcement operation partnership with OHP and placed in removal proceedings.

“Allowing illegal aliens to obtain commercial driver’s licenses to operate 18-wheelers and transport hazardous materials on America’s roads is reckless and incredibly dangerous to public safety. Thanks to the successful 287(g) partnership of ICE and Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Anmol Anmol is no longer posing a threat to drivers,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated.

RELATED: American trucking at a crossroads: Deadly crash involving illegal alien exposes true cost of Biden’s border invasion

Image source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

“New York is not only failing to check if applicants applying to drive 18-wheelers are U.S. citizens but even failing to obtain the full legal names of individuals they are issuing commercial driver’s licenses to,” McLaughlin continued. “DHS is working with our state and local partners to get illegal alien truck drivers who often don’t know basic traffic laws off our highways.”

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“To see that on a driver’s license issued by a state, ‘No name given,’ and the worst part, there’s a Real ID star right up there in the corner,” acting ICE Director Todd Lyons stated during an interview with Fox News.

“You have these sanctuary states that want to go ahead and try to just make it welcoming for these people that we don’t even know who they are,” Lyons continued.

New York State Department of Motor Vehicles told Blaze News last week that the license in Stitt’s social media post “was issued in accordance with all proper procedures, including verification of the individual’s identity through federally issued documentation.”

“The individual has lawful status in the United States through a federal employment authorization and was issued a license consistent with federal guidelines,” the DMV’s statement continued. “This document was not issued under the Green Light Law. It is not uncommon for individuals from other countries to have only one name. Procedures for that are clearly spelled out in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services policy manual, and it is important to note that federal documents also include a ‘no name given’ notation.”

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Debate over Donald Trump’s tariff doctrine has turned toxic for one simple reason: Critics keep mistaking the tool for the target. The tariffs aren’t the policy. They’re the lever.

The real goal is to dismantle anti-competitive market distortions, which have strangled global growth for decades. According to a recent paper from the Growth Commission, which I chair, roughly 80% of the world’s economic drag from trade barriers doesn’t come from tariffs at all. It comes from domestic distortions that tilt markets toward protected incumbents and away from new entrants.

Trump’s trade doctrine is not a rejection of free trade. It’s a correction.

If Trump’s doctrine succeeds in forcing other nations to roll back those distortions, U.S. tariffs will fall — and global growth will surge.

Hidden barriers

What counts as an ACMD? The test is simple and pro-market: Does a policy block voluntary exchange and weaken efficiency? If it does, it’s distortionary.

These distortions take many forms: subsidies that protect national champions, licensing rules that freeze out competition, or “harmonization” regulations that entrench advantage under the guise of fairness. We propose a clear diagnostic: measure the GDP loss per capita caused by these distortions. We found three pillars that predict income performance: international competition, domestic competition, and property rights.

The results are striking. A one-point gain in domestic competition correlates with an 11.2% rise in GDP per capita. Strengthening property rights adds about 7%, and boosting international competition adds roughly 4%.

The conclusion is obvious: the fastest path to prosperity isn’t another tariff round. It’s aggressive pro-competition reform.

Where globalization went wrong

The failure of the modern trading system didn’t come from liberalizing at the border — it came from stopping there.

Since the 1990s, global institutions have trimmed tariffs but tolerated an explosion of industrial policy, subsidies, and regulatory frameworks that quietly cripple competition.

Look at the U.S. trade representative’s annual National Trade Estimate report. The latest edition runs 397 pages cataloging barriers to global growth. Fully 80% aren’t tariffs. They are behind-the-border distortions — ACMDs — doing the real damage.

Trump’s trade doctrine is not a rejection of free trade. It’s a correction. It uses America’s market access as leverage: Reduce your distortions and our tariffs go down. Refuse and face penalties. The measure of success isn’t political theater — it’s income growth. How much GDP per capita can be restored by real reform? That’s the metric that aligns incentives at home and abroad.

RELATED: Trump nails China with massive tariffs after ‘extraordinarily aggressive’ action

Photo by Dilara Irem Sancar/Anadolu via Getty Images

Reform by incentive

Future deals should include an ACMD chapter requiring competitive neutrality, limits on subsidies, and mutual recognition between trading partners. This turns tariff negotiations into something productive: a race to open markets, not close them.

The doctrine also turns inward. The Trump administration has directed federal agencies to identify and eliminate domestic rules that block competition. That matters both for credibility and growth. If America expects others to reduce distortions, it must show the same resolve at home — in health care, licensing, and sectors riddled with protectionist rules.

What companies should do

Business leaders should treat this as a once-in-a-generation opening. First, expose distortions. Identify anti-competitive market distortions and report them to the U.S. trade representative.

Second, de-risk supply chains. Avoid jurisdictions that refuse to reform. Tariffs will make them unviable.

Third, coordinate with allies. Work with like-minded firms to propose reforms where tariff relief can follow.

The incentive is powerful: Reform your markets, gain access to ours.

The strategic payoff

Reducing market distortions isn’t just about economics. Ultimately, it’s about power. State-backed distortions — especially in economies built around state-owned enterprises — fuel geopolitical coercion. They channel wealth into non-market dominance. Linking market access to ACMD reduction forms a “coalition of the willing” that ties prosperity to liberty.

Critics call tariffs blunt instruments. They’re right. But they may be the only tools sharp enough to cut through the web of distortions that standard trade talks have ignored for 30 years. If America can use its market power to unlock true competition abroad while cleaning up its own regulatory excess at home, the result will be stronger wages, higher productivity, and renewed global leadership.

That’s the promise of the Trump doctrine — not a wall of tariffs, but a bridge to freer markets and faster growth.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Trump tariffs, Tariffs, Tariff policy, Free trade, Trade, Competition, Markets 

President Donald Trump was enthusiastically welcomed to Israel after brokering a historic peace deal between Israel and Hamas, leading to the release of all the remaining living hostages in the region.

Trump arrived in Israel to find newspapers praising the peacemaker, roaring applause and standing ovations in the Knesset, and even some attendees wearing MAGA-style hats celebrating the “peace president.” The 20 remaining living hostages were returned to their families on Monday.

‘I got my life back thanks to you.’

For the first time in over two years, Hamas no longer holds any living hostages thanks to Trump’s historic peace deal.

“After two harrowing years in darkness and captivity, 20 courageous hostages are returning to the glorious embrace of their families, and it is glorious,” Trump said in his address to the Knesset. “Twenty-eight more precious loved ones are coming home at last to rest in this sacred soil for all of time. … The sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace.”

RELATED: ‘Who the hell cares?’ Trump veers off script, urges Israeli president to pardon Netanyahu

Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Trump met with all the families of the hostages following their release, many of them recounting the horrors that took place on October 7, 2023. The hostages also expressed overwhelming gratitude for Trump’s peace deal, saying if it were not for him, they might not be alive.

One hostage told Trump about meeting, for the first time, his 14-month-old daughter, who was born while he was in captivity.

“I got my life back thanks to you and your staff,” the freed hostage told Trump. “I came back here, met my baby girl when she was already 14 months old, and now, life is full.”

“Your name will be remembered for generations,” another hostage family said.

RELATED: ‘BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!’ Trump brings an end to another bloody war ahead of Nobel Prize announcement

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Trump later greeted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Sharm El Sheikh, where regional leaders will finalize the peace deal during the International Gaza Peace Summit.

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A powerful nor’easter storm crashed onto the shores of New Jersey over the weekend and continued raging Monday, but Governor Phil Murphy (D) was nowhere to be seen during the disaster preparation.

The term-limited Democrat governor was missing in action Saturday as the state prepared its emergency response, leaving the lieutenant governor to fill the role of acting governor.

‘Governor Murphy and first lady Tammy Murphy are out of state this weekend to attend a close family friend’s wedding in Europe.’

Democrat acting Governor Tahesha Way, whom Murphy appointed to be lieutenant governor in 2023, declared a state of emergency on Saturday night ahead of the storm. A press release asked residents to prepare for flash flooding, sustained winds of up to 60 mph, and heavy rain.

“Starting on Sunday, a dangerous coastal storm will begin to move past our state with extreme weather conditions for several counties, especially those on the Shore,” Way said in the press statement.

“I urge all New Jerseyans to exercise caution, monitor local weather forecasts and warnings, stay informed on evacuation protocols, and remain off the roads unless absolutely necessary.”

RELATED: New Jersey’s Democrat governor appears to admit harboring illegal immigrant in his garage — challenges feds to come ‘get her’

Lieutenant Governor Tahesha WayPhoto by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The acting governor issued a state of emergency for all 21 counties in New Jersey “out of an abundance of caution.”

The New York Post reported that Murphy and his wife, Tammy, would be in Europe for nearly a week starting on October 9.

“Governor Murphy and first lady Tammy Murphy are out of state this weekend to attend a close family friend’s wedding in Europe. The governor has been in close communication with his team and emergency response officials regarding the nor’easter storm impacting the East Coast,” Murphy spokesman Tyler Jones told the Post early Sunday evening.

Jones reportedly did not elaborate on whether Murphy and his wife planned to cut the trip short in light of the storm. He is expected to return Tuesday, October 14.

The governor’s exact whereabouts in Europe are unknown.

Neither Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli nor his Democratic opponent, Mikie Sherrill, have apparently spoken on X about the governor’s whereabouts, though both accounts were actively posting over the weekend.

Blaze News contacted Murphy’s office and the Sherrill and Ciattarelli campaigns for comment

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As the world seems to grow darker by the day, many Christians find themselves wondering if we’re living in the end times. They look to the book of Revelation, where chronicled prophecies — many of which center around Israel and the Middle East — give us a window, albeit a blurry one, into the final days before Christ returns.

One theory that has emerged is that the current turmoil in the Middle East, including the events of October 7, aren’t merely political but actually mirror ancient biblical battles such as those between the Israelites and the Philistines.

Conservative author, filmmaker, and political commentator Dinesh D’Souza delves into this idea in his new documentary, “The Dragon’s Prophecy.” Weaving together on-site reporting, interviews (including with figures like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), and archaeological discoveries, the film suggests that the same evil forces that fought against God’s people in the Bible are still at work today — just in new forms.

On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Dinesh joined Glenn to explain in his own words what the dragon’s prophecy is and why we would be wise to pay close attention to it.

“In the book of Revelation, 12, there is a depiction of a dragon, representing the devil, going to war against a woman, representing Israel, and the woman is pregnant, representing the Messiah,” D’Souza explains.

Satan, knowing he cannot win the ultimate battle, opts to kick God where it hurts most by targeting His most “cherished creation”: mankind. We see this in Genesis when the serpent leads Adam and Eve into sin, ushering all forms of darkness into the cosmos and necessitating the sacrifice of Jesus.

“I think for the same reason, the devil targets the Jews and the Christians — the Jews because they are the original chosen people,” says D’Souza. “And so the devil’s agenda is really simple: Drive them out of their ancestral homeland from the river to the sea and also put a big Islamic victory arch right on top of their holiest site, which was the site of the Solomonic temple.”

This vitriol for the Jews is also channeled toward Christians, whom scripture describes as “spiritual Israelites,” he explains. “And so the devil is like, ‘I hate them too. I will persecute and harass and destroy the Christians no less than the Jews.”’ We see this happening today in the growing hostility toward Christians and Christian beliefs in the West.

Although President Donald Trump has miraculously facilitated a peace deal between Israel and Hamas, much conflict remains unresolved. And even if all the details of the negotiation are ironed out, it still doesn’t change the spiritual reality that undergirds this age-old conflict.

“Hamas in Arabic means something like force or strength, but in Hebrew, interestingly, the word means violence and destruction,” says D’Souza, noting that in the Hebrew Bible, the word “ḥāmās” is used repeatedly to describe wrongdoing, injustice, and brutality.

“The Bible in Hebrew, it literally says things like, ‘Lord, save me from the men of ḥāmās’ or ‘ḥāmās dwells in the dark places of the earth,”’ he tells Glenn.

But there’s another uncanny connection: The colors of the Palestinian flag mirror those of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelation 6, where white represents conquest, red represents war and bloodshed, black represents famine or economic collapse, and green represents death.

D’Souza notes, “There are so many of these connections. … You have to step back and reconsider if you are even understanding what’s happening in front of you in the widest and sort of deepest possible light.”

Glenn, who has watched “The Dragon’s Prophecy,” says, “It is worth pondering because it shows you where we might be right now.”

To hear more of the conversation, watch the clip above.

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Four people are dead and at least 20 people are injured after a shooting at a bar on the South Carolina coast early Sunday morning, officials told the Associated Press.

A large crowd was at Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island when arriving sheriff’s deputies found many people with gunshot wounds, the AP said. St. Helena Island is just north of Hilton Head Island.

‘Our prayers are with the victims, their families, and everyone impacted by this horrific act of violence.’

Bar owner Willie Turral was inside the restaurant — which was full of patrons there for a high school alumni gathering — when he heard shots “in bursts” outside, the AP said, adding that Turral said the reaction was “screaming and panic and fear.”

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that it received reports about the shooting shortly before 1 a.m.

“Upon arriving at the scene, deputies made contact with a large crowd of people, several of which were suffering from gunshot wounds,” the statement reads. “It was learned that hundreds of people were at the location when the shooting occurred. Multiple victims and witnesses ran to the nearby businesses and properties seeking shelter from the [gunshots].”

More from the sheriff’s office:

The circumstances of this incident are still under investigation. At this time, we know that at least 20 people were injured. Four were transported to area hospitals in critical conditions and four victims were pronounced deceased at the scene. Names of victims will not be released at this time. The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office may release additional information regarding the deceased victims pending notification of their next of kin.

The sheriff’s office added that it is “investigating persons of interest.”

RELATED: VIDEO: 3 dead, multiple victims injured in North Carolina mass shooting; suspect reportedly flees by boat

Turral said his bar was hosting an alumni event for Battery Creek High School in Beaufort, which is about 10 miles northwest of St. Helena Island, the AP reported.

Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (S.C.) posted on X that she was “COMPLETELY HEARTBROKEN to learn about the devastating shooting in Beaufort County. Our prayers are with the victims, their families, and everyone impacted by this horrific act of violence.”

The AP said about 5,000 or more Gullah people living on St. Helena Island trace their ancestry to enslaved West Africans who worked rice plantations in the area before being freed at the time of the Civil War.

Willie’s Bar and Grill advertises itself as serving authentic Gullah-inspired food and describes itself on its website as “not just a restaurant but a community pillar committed to giving back, especially to our youth,” the AP added.

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When self-proclaimed “backwoods Navy Seal wizard hermit” Chadd Wright walked into Joe Rogan’s studio, he didn’t have a script or a plan — just a prayer. And their Spirit-led gospel conversation ended up reaching millions.

“I’m very passionate about the faith that I’ve been given,” Wright tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey, explaining that he also owns a company called the 3 of 7 Project that’s committed to helping others grow physically, mentally, and spiritually.

“I listened to you on Joe Rogan’s podcast, and I said, ‘I like this guy,’” Stuckey tells Wright. “Because you were so persistent in sharing the gospel and so clear. I was just so drawn in to the whole conversation.”

“What was it like sharing the gospel on such a huge stage?” she asks.

“I was definitely scared as a cat going in there,” Wright answers.

“I’ve done a lot of crazy stuff in my life, both through being a SEAL and then through ultra-endurance sports. But that’s just like a different type of challenge that, you know, is hard for me. … And so, I was scared going in there, but Joe was very welcoming,” he explains.

“He’s the one that led into that conversation around faith and why I believe the way I believe. I didn’t have to force that. He led us into that,” Wright tells Stuckey.

“I’m not an intellectual type, and the Holy Spirit took over and allowed me to say the things that I said. Truly … I didn’t have any of that pre-prepared,” he adds.

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President Donald Trump once again has gone off script, this time during his historic address to Israel’s Knesset on Monday.

Trump traveled to Israel Sunday to deliver remarks and celebrate the landmark peace deal the administration brokered between Israel and Hamas. During the speech, Trump admitted he went off script when he urged Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.

‘Who the hell cares?’

“Hey, I have an idea,” Trump said. “Mr. President, why don’t you give [Netanyahu] a pardon?”

Trump promptly received another standing ovation from the Knesset. Notably, the majority of the Knesset share a political affiliation with Netanyahu, who is part of the right-wing Likud party.

RELATED: ‘BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!’ Trump brings an end to another bloody war ahead of Nobel Prize announcement

Photo by Evelyn Hockstein – Pool/Getty Images

“That was not in the speech, as you probably know,” Trump added. “But I happen to like this gentleman right over here, and it just seems to make so much sense. Whether we like it or not, this has been one of the greatest wartime presidents. Cigars and champagne, who the hell cares?”

Trump has previously expressed support for pardoning Netanyahu, who he says is the victim of a legal “witch hunt.”

“Such a WITCH HUNT, for a man who has given so much, is unthinkable to me,” Trump said in a Truth Social post in June. “He deserves much better than this, and so does the State of Israel. Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State.”

RELATED: Democrats feign outrage as Trump administration shutdown layoffs hit: ‘They seem to be enjoying it’

Photo by Saul Loeb – Pool/Getty Images

“Perhaps there is no one that I know who could have worked in better harmony with the President of the United States, ME, than Bibi Netanyahu,” Trump added. “It was the United States of America that saved Israel, and now it is going to be the United States of America that saves Bibi Netanyahu. THIS TRAVESTY OF ‘JUSTICE’ CAN NOT BE ALLOWED!”

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President Donald Trump successfully brokered a peace last week in the Gaza Strip, bringing an end to the bloody, two-year war between Israel and Hamas terrorists that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people and prompted political unrest across the world.

The European members of the Nobel Peace Prize committee opted on Friday not to recognize this triumph of life-saving diplomacy or the peaceful resolutions that the American president previously secured between other warring nations, including Azerbaijan and Armenia and India and Pakistan.

While the Nobel Prize Organization is loath to recognize the good work that Trump is doing, others much closer to home appear to be paying attention.

‘Trump is still more popular now than he was eight years ago.’

According to the RealClearPolitics poll average, President Trump is presently outperforming former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama in terms of second-term job approval.

As of Oct. 13, President Trump’s job approval rating was 45.3%.

At the same point in their respective second terms, Obama — then arming Islamic terrorists in Syria and facing heat for his Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups — had a rating of 44.4%, and George W. Bush — then dealing with the political fallout of Hurricane Katrina and a seemingly interminable war in Iraq — had a rating of 39.5%.

RELATED: Oops! The man they call a ‘threat to democracy’ just made peace again

Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Pollster Nate Silver’s approval tracker alternatively shows Trump with an average approval rating of 43.9% and a disapproval rating of 52.3% as of Oct. 13.

According to the Silver Bulletin, the historical daily approval polling average for Obama on Oct. 13, 2013, was 44.41%, and the approval average for George W. Bush on Oct. 13, 2005, was 40.12%.

Silver indicated that Trump, whose rating has apparently not taken a hit from the Democrats’ government shutdown or his administration’s recent layoffs of federal workers, is outperforming himself, noting, “Trump is still more popular now than he was eight years ago.”

An Oct. 9 Quantus Insights poll had Trump’s job approval rating even higher than indicated by the RealClearPolitics poll average or Silver’s average — at 47% approving with 51% disapproving. While a slim majority, 53%, signaled disapproval for his handling of the economy, 68% of voters said they supported his Gaza peace plan.

Blaze News has reached out to the White House for comment.

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President Trump told members of a White House roundtable on Wednesday that he would designate Antifa a foreign terrorist organization.

The roundtable discussion, which included reporters who have covered Antifa street violence in Portland and Seattle for years, led to the president saying, “Let’s get it done.”

‘We’ve been treating Antifa like a local crime issue.’

While Trump designated the group a domestic terrorist organization in late September, no such formal designation officially exists in U.S. law. The president did direct all “relevant executive departments” to use their authorities to disrupt and investigate Antifa operations, but escalating the group to an FTO comes with a wider array of enforcement options.

First, providing any material support or resources to an FTO is a federal crime with a prison sentence of at least 20 years. Any bank, person, or organization that provides funding to an FTO is subject to a federal investigation, and any financial institution that becomes aware that it “has possession of, or control[s]” FTO funds and fails to intervene would face a $50,000 fine per violation.

The designation also opens up any noncitizen to possible deportation, if ties to Antifa are found. Aliens can also be determined to be inadmissible to the United States if they are found to be in connection with or in support of any FTO.

RELATED: Concrete action the feds, states, and citizenry can take right now to stop the madness

A man is arrested after a shootout with anti-fascist activists on August 22, 2021, in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Mathieu Lewis-Rolland / AFP) (Photo by MATHIEU LEWIS-ROLLAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Executive Order 13224, signed by President George W. Bush in September 2001, blocked the ability of those connected to FTOs to make transactions related to property.

The FTO designation also unleashes the Treasury Department, giving the Office of Foreign Assets Control the ability to freeze assets and block use of assets of any organization found to be working with terrorists.

“All property and interests in property of designated individuals or entities that are in the United States or that come within the United States, or that come within the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked,” the executive order states.

Additionally, labeling Antifa an FTO allows for surveillance of any “foreign powers” and their “agents” at a lower threshold than the average U.S. citizen.

This is where the possible downside of designating Antifa as an FTO comes into play. Spying on foreign governments, foreign factions, or a “foreign-based political organization, not substantially composed of United States persons” could lead to all sorts of diplomatic issues, as well as civil rights problems.

RELATED: Leftists try to shut down Turning Point USA at Rutgers for criticizing Antifa professor

Journalist Nick Sortor (2nd R) holds an American flag as he speaks during a roundtable about Antifa in the White House on October 8, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

The risk of political weaponization in the future is also of grave concern, considering how federal entities have already been seemingly used against Trump.

First Amendment issues could also arise, and the designation raises questions as to whether expressing support for Antifa’s stated beliefs, past or present, online would prompt a federal investigation.

Blaze News national correspondent Julio Rosas, who attended the Antifa roundtable, says the FTO designation would be a great move to dismantle the support Antifa has overseas.

“This movement is not just a problem in our country. Antifa is very active in the U.K., France, and Germany, to name a few places,” Rosas told Blaze News. “Due to its decentralized nature, Antifa relies on support groups that work towards their same goals.”

Blaze News senior politics editor Christopher Bedford stated that freedom of speech and civil liberties must be protected but added, “We’ve been treating Antifa like a local crime issue when they are, in fact, enacting political terror.”

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Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele was among those in 2021 forced to take the COVID-19 vaccine in order to keep her job — but after complying and getting the shots, her employer let her go anyway.

Steele was taken off the air following a podcast appearance on “Uncut with Jay Cutler,” where she called vaccine mandates “sick” and “scary.”

“You’ve had this long career, this illustrious career, and it came to a point when truth was on the line, and you took a risk,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey says to Steele.

“I had been suspended, punished at ESPN in 2021. As we tape this, exactly four years ago I was suspended and in bed, sobbing and scared to death of what was next,” Steele explains.

“I was suspended for speaking up about being forced to take the COVID vaccine in order to keep my job at Disney. … I had to be fully vaccinated by September 30, 2021, or else, and I waited until the very last second, and I had prayed about it,” she continues.

While Steele was against taking the shots, the pressure she felt as a mother with bills to pay was too much, and she decided to comply.

“I was ready to walk away, but as the sole wage earner with three kids and an ex and alimony and all those things, I felt like I had to make the choice to do it to keep my job. I still struggle with that. I feel like I caved,” she explains.

“So, I did it, and I complied, and then I talked on a podcast about it,” Steele tells Stuckey, noting that she went on the podcast immediately after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, so she was extra angry.

“I said, ‘I think it’s sick and wrong for any employer to force an employee to do something to their bodies that they don’t want to.’ Pretty simple. I said, ‘But I love my job, and I need my job.’ And here we are,” she tells Stuckey.

“And that was the beginning of the end,” she adds.

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Americans are accustomed to innovation improving their lives. From smartphones to artificial intelligence, breakthroughs keep coming — and most of them happen in the United States, where freedom fuels invention. But across the Atlantic, the story is very different. Europe’s regulators have built a bureaucracy that smothers creativity.

The lesson is simple: Innovation thrives where government steps back, not where it rules from Brussels.

Europe doesn’t need more commissions or consultations. It needs courage to scrap bad laws and let innovation breathe again.

A recent analysis from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation drives home the point. All seven of the world’s trillion-dollar tech firms are American. Europe can claim only 28 companies worth more than $100 billion. Over the past decade, European firms raised about $426 billion — $800 billion less than their U.S. counterparts.

Rather than learn from failure, Brussels tightened its grip — proving again that when regulators fail, they regulate harder. Their Digital Markets Act and Copyright Directive saddle companies with costly mandates that make life harder for both innovators and consumers.

EU regulators insist that their rules ensure fairness, transparency, and competition. In reality, they’re strangling convenience and driving users crazy.

Take Google Maps. Because of DMA rules, Europeans can no longer click directly into expanded map views. As one user complained on Reddit, it’s become “a severe pain in the butt.” The new restrictions also hobble tourism. Google Search can’t link directly to airlines or hotels, forcing travelers through clunky intermediaries that waste time and money.

The Copyright Directive makes things worse. It tells search engines to display only “very short” snippets of news articles — without defining what that means. Bureaucrats promise to judge “the impact on the effectiveness of the new right,” which means nothing. By contrast, American courts have long recognized that snippets are fair use and help people find what they need. U.S. policy treats information as a public good; the EU treats it as a privilege controlled by the state.

The damage goes beyond search results. The EU now forces Apple and other “gatekeepers” to make their devices interoperable with third-party software — a costly demand that undermines engineering efficiency. Features like iPhone-to-Mac mirroring and real-time translation could disappear from European markets because of it.

As Cato Institute’s Jennifer Huddleston noted, “The real-time translation feature would be immensely helpful in Europe with so many languages; however, the consequence of European regulation is that it might not be available.”

RELATED: Can anyone save America from European-style digital ID?

Photo by Lab Ky Mo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

And when companies don’t comply fast enough, Brussels slaps them with massive fines. Apple got hit with 500 million euros (around $580 million), Meta with 200 million euros (around $232 million) — punished not for misconduct but for trying to innovate.

The EU now says it will review whether the DMA “achieves its objectives of ensuring contestable and fair digital markets.” That’s bureaucratic code for “we might make it worse.” Meanwhile, the Copyright Directive’s vague language grows even more dangerous in the age of AI, where machine learning depends on large-scale data use that Brussels can’t seem to comprehend.

Europe doesn’t need more commissions or consultations. It needs courage to scrap bad laws and let innovation breathe again. If Brussels wants to compete with America, it should stop punishing success and start trusting its own entrepreneurs. A lighter-touch approach has worked for the United States — and it could save Europe from technological irrelevance.

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