Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said on Sunday afternoon that his country will be withdrawing from communist China’s predatory Belt and Road Initiative after meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio’s trip comes as President Donald Trump has signaled that he is willing to use military power to retake control of the Panama Canal if the country does not regain complete control over the operations of the canal from China.
“One important thing, which is a decision I made and communicated to him, is that the 2017 memorandum of understanding on the Silk Road, part of the Belt and Road Initiative, will not be renewed by my government,” Mulino said. “That is a fact.”
“We are going to study the possibility of whether it can be ended earlier or not,” he continued. “I think it is up for renewal in one or two years, because it’s every three.”
“So that initiative which was signed will not be renewed by my government,” he added.
🇵🇦🇺🇸 | Luego de la reunión con el secretario de Estado de Estados Unidos, Marco Rubio, el presidente de Panamá, José Raúl Molino, informó que su gobierno no renovará el memorando de entendimiento sobre la “Ruta de la Seda” firmado con China.
Rubio thanked Mulino for his support of the program to repatriate illegal immigrants, which has reduced illegal migration through the Darien Gap.
The two leaders also spoke about improving the playing field for fair competition by U.S. businesses, and Mulino’s support for a democratic, free Venezuela.
“Secretary Rubio expressed his gratitude for the productive discussion and underscored the United States’ dedication to making both nations safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” the statement added. “He noted this meeting marks an important step in reinvigorating the strategic relationship between the United States and Panama, in line with President Trump’s vision.”
Democrat strategist James Carville slammed former Vice President Kamala Harris during an interview that aired on Friday following her loss in November to President Donald Trump.
Carville made the remarks during an interview on PBS News’ “Firing Line” with Margaret Hoover while discussing the fallout of the election.
“If we were planning a Super Bowl, we started our seventh-string quarterback. That’s what happened,” Carville said of the Democrats’ picking Harris to replace former President Joe Biden at the last moment.
“You can’t address a problem unless you are honest about a problem, and none of this was inevitable,” he continued.
“Never should have happened. It was not inevitable – Joe Biden stands over this disaster like a colossus. And he just does, you can’t – he’s a great guy. ‘James you shouldn’t say that.’ He’s a wonderful man. Who cares! If you don’t win a g*****n election, you’ve done nothing. Zip, de nada. You don’t count.”
“I don’t care how good a man you are,” he added. “And till Democrats learn that and quit keeping their head in the cloud and talking goofy language that no one else talks. We got to be nice to people. Screw that! Run over ‘em.”
WATCH:
James Carville takes Kamala Harris to the woodshed by calling her a ‘7th string quarterback’ that couldn’t put together a sentence:
James Carville: “We ran a presidential election, if we were playing a superbowl, we started our 7th string quarterback. You can’t address a problem… pic.twitter.com/RBUXKNJSMa
Liberal comedian Bill Maher slammed the political Left’s protection of communist China during the Friday night broadcast of his HBO show “Real Time.”
Maher made the remarks while discussing the growing list of problems that the communist nation is causing the world and the threats that they pose, ranging from hacks to dangerous apps like DeepSeek and TikTok.
“It is kind of an evil empire,” Maher said. “And this kind of gets back to the DEI thing because when you make everything about race, not good!”
“I mean, we couldn’t look into the origins of COVID being from the lab, which now the CIA, this week, has joined the FBI and many other organizations saying it probably did come from a lab,” he continued. “I said it from the beginning. It’s being studied in this lab where it breaks out. Really? We’re gonna even wonder about this?”
He said curiosity about where the pandemic originated from was stifled because organizations like The New York Times “said to even look into that is racist.”
“China’s like the new Islam,” he said. “We can’t be honest about them because they’re not white. And China, okay, I’m sorry, kids, they do some bad things, China. And we should just recognize that.”
Bill Maher laments liberals making everything about race, because they cannot criticize ‘Evil Empires’ who are ‘not white’:
Bill Maher: “It is kind of an evil Empire. When you make everything about race, not good. We couldn’t look into the origins of Covid being from a lab.
CIA… pic.twitter.com/TSYxpbHyKx
President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he ordered a strike on Islamic terrorists in Africa that resulted in the deaths of “many” terrorists.
“This morning I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia,” Trump said in a statement. “These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies.”
“The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians,” Trump continued. “Our Military has targeted this ISIS Attack Planner for years, but Biden and his cronies wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done. I did!”
“The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that ‘WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!'” Trump concluded.
This morning I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia. These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies. The strikes destroyed the caves they live in,…
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a statement that the strike was carried out in the Golis mountains in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia.
“Our initial assessment is that multiple operatives were killed in the airstrikes and no civilians were harmed,” the statement said. “This action further degrades ISIS’s ability to plot and conduct terrorist attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians and sends a clear signal that the United States always stands ready to find and eliminate terrorists who threaten the United States and our allies, even as we conduct robust border-protection and many other operations under President Trump’s leadership.”
President Donald Trump’s envoy for special missions Richard Grenell secured the release of six Americans from socialist Venezuela on Friday after being sent there to force them to take back illegal aliens from their country.
“We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens,” Grenell wrote in a post on X late on Friday. “They just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and they couldn’t stop thanking him.”
We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens.
Trump said Saturday morning that it was “so good to have the Venezuela Hostages back home and, very important to note, that Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their Country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including gang members of Tren de Aragua.”
The identities of the six Americans who were released were not immediately known.
“Venezuela has further agreed to supply the transportation back,” Trump continued. “We are in the process of removing record numbers of illegal aliens from all Countries, and all Countries have agreed to accept these illegal aliens back.”
“Furthermore, record numbers of criminals are being removed from our Country, and the Border numbers are the strongest they have been since the First Term of the Trump Administration!” he added.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during an interview this week that President Donald Trump is serious about the U.S. retaking the Panama Canal and acquiring Greenland for national security purposes.
Rubio made the remarks during an interview with Megyn Kelly after being confirmed and sworn in to the role last week.
“The Arctic Circle and the Arctic region is going to become critical for shipping lanes for how you get some of this energy that’s going to be produced under President Trump,” Rubio said. “These energies rely on shipping lanes. The Arctic is some of the most valuable shipping lanes in the world. As some of the ice is melting, [it’s] become more and more navigable. We need to be able to defend that.”
Rubio said that communist China was trying to stage operations in Greenland to take control of shipping lanes the same way that it was in the Panama Canal.
Rubio said that they are installing facilities that give them access to the Arctic under the cover of a Chinese company, but that in reality “serve a dual purpose, that in a moment of conflict, they could send naval vessels to that facility and operate from there.”
“And that is completely unacceptable to the security of the world and the national security of the United States,” he said.
“So the question becomes, if the Chinese begin to threaten Greenland, do we really trust that that is not a place where those deals are going to be made? Do we really trust that that is not a place where they would not intervene, maybe by force?”
Rubio noted that Denmark is unable to stop China because they are too weak and they already rely on the U.S. to do so.
“If the United States is on the hook to provide, as we are now, we have a defense agreement with them to protect Greenland if it becomes under assault,” he said. “If we’re already on the hook for having to do that, then what we might as well have more control over what happens there. And so I know it’s a delicate topic for Denmark, but it’s, again, a national interest item for the United States.”
A California man pleaded guilty to federal charges this week in connection with a drone that crashed into a firefighting aircraft in California earlier this month.
Peter Tripp Akemann, 56, pled guilty to one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft for “recklessly operating a drone that crashed into and damaged a Super Scooper firefighting aircraft fighting the Palisades Fire earlier this month,” the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.
“As a result of the drone collision, the firefighting aircraft was taken out of service for a period of time and was not able to continue its firefighting mission,” prosecutors said in a statement. “As part of the plea agreement, Akemann agreed to pay full restitution to the Government of Quebec, which supplied the plane, and an aircraft repair company that repaired the plane. Akemann also agreed to complete 150 hours of community service in support of the 2025 Southern California wildfire relief effort.”
The incident happened on January 9 when Akemann flew his drone over the Palisades fire – which burned tens of thousands of acres and caused billions of dollars in damage — after he drove to the area to gather footage.
The statement continued:
Akemann flew the drone at least 2,500 meters (more than 1.5 miles) toward the fire and lost sight of the drone. As Akemann was flying the drone, it collided with a Government of Quebec Super Scooper carrying two crewmembers attempting to fight the blaze. The impact caused an approximately 3-inch-by-6-inch hole in the left wing. After landing, maintenance personnel identified the damage and took the aircraft out of service for repairs.
At the time of the collision, the Federal Aviation Administration had issued temporary flight restrictions that prohibited drone operations near the Los Angeles County wildfires that erupted earlier this month.
As a result of the collision, the Government of Quebec and an aircraft repair company incurred costs of at least $65,169 to repair the plane.
Acting United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally said, “This defendant recklessly flew an aircraft into airspace where first responders were risking their lives in an attempt to protect lives and property.”
“This damage caused to the Super Scooper is a stark reminder that flying drones during times of emergency poses an extreme threat to personnel trying to help people and compromises the overall ability of police and fire to conduct operations,” he continued. “As this case demonstrates, we will track down drone operators who violate the law and interfere with the critical work of our first responders.”
FBI Los Angeles has finally identified the Drone Operator, who was flying a DJI Drone in “Restricted Airspace” over the Pacific Palisades on January 9th, when it was struck by a Canadair CL-415 “Super Scooper” Aerial-Firefighting Aircraft, as 56-Year-Old Peter Tripp Akemann from… pic.twitter.com/iRv36zW0um
A former senior adviser for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (FRB) was arrested on Friday for allegedly conspiring to steal trade secrets for communist China.
Federal prosecutors charged 63-year-old John Harold Rogers, a U.S. citizen with a Ph.D. in economics, with conspiracy to commit economic espionage and with making false statements.
Rogers worked in the Division of International Finance of the FRB from 2010 until 2021, “where he was entrusted with confidential FRB information,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. “The confidential information that Rogers allegedly shared with his Chinese co-conspirators, who worked for the intelligence and security apparatus of China and who posed as graduate students at a PRC university, is economically valuable when secret.”
Prosecutors explained that the data Rogers allegedly shared with his co-conspirators could allow China to manipulate the U.S. market in a manner that they described as “similar to insider trading.”
“Gaining advance knowledge of U.S. economic policy, including advance knowledge of changes to the federal funds rate, could provide China with an advantage when selling or buying U.S. bonds or securities,” the statement said.
Prosecutors said that under the guise of teaching classes in China, Rogers began stealing trade secrets and bringing them to the communist nation starting in at least 2018 in exchange for a $450,000 salary as “a part-time professor at a Chinese university.”
When he was questioned in 2020 by federal investigators, he allegedly lied to them, which they said “had a material impact” on the investigation.
“President Trump tasks us with protecting our fellow Americans from all enemies, foreign and domestic. As alleged in the indictment, this defendant leveraged his position within the Federal Reserve to pass sensitive financial information to the Chinese government, a designated adversary,” said U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia. “Let this indictment serve as a warning to all who seek to betray or exploit the United States: law enforcement will find you and hold you accountable.”
Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office said, “As alleged in the indictment, Rogers betrayed his country while employed at the Federal Reserve by providing restricted U.S. financial and economic information to Chinese government intelligence officers.”
“This information could allow adversaries to illegally gain a strategic economic advantage at the expense of the U.S.,” he said. “This indictment sends a clear message that the FBI and our partners will hold accountable those who threaten our national security.”
A plane crashed into a neighborhood in Philadelphia on Friday night, leaving multiple homes on fire.
ABC 6 Action News reported that the plane was a “small plane,” although no specifics were given about the number of people on board or the type of aircraft.
The crash happened in an area in the north-eastern part of the city just shortly after 6 p.m.
The report said that the plane appeared to hit “several buildings and cars in the area” and that multiple casualties have been reported.
The Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X shortly after news of the crash broke, providing details: “A Learjet 55 crashed around 6:30 p.m. after departing from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. There were reportedly 6 people on board. The plane was en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri.”
Those killed included two doctors, one patient, one family member, and two pilots.
Shortly after the crash, videos came in from social media showing the moment of impact, and the aftermath:
Vantage point from the ground near the Raising Canes on Cottman and Bradford of the moment a plane crashed in Northeast Philadelphia. 📱: octob3rd pic.twitter.com/m6SuKMMgWd
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) appeared to try to appeal to President Donald Trump for a potential pardon on Wednesday outside of a federal courthouse in Manhattan after he was sentenced to more than a decade behind bars after being convicted in a corruption case.
“This whole process has been nothing but a political witch hunt by the Justice Department, NSD, and prosecutors, who are more interested in political scalps, and preparing to run for public office, like Damian Williams,” he alleged. “Welcome to the Southern District of New York, the wild west of political prosecutions.”
“President Trump is right,” he continued. “This process is political, and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up this cesspool and restores the integrity to the system.”
Some stunning remarks from Menendez outside court: “President Trump was right. This process is political, and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system.” pic.twitter.com/woFgHgFGqM
Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in prison and was forced to forfeit more than $920,000 after he was convicted over the summer on 16 felony counts, including conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, two counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice, two counts of bribery, three counts of honest services wire fraud, three counts of extortion under color of official right, conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent, public official acting as foreign agent, and obstruction of justice.
Menendez accepted bribes from three businessmen in exchange for actions that he took as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. According to the Department of Justice, the alleged bribes were intended to protect the businessmen and to benefit Egypt.
Prosecutors later said in a revised indictment that Menendez also allegedly used his clout to help a friend secure a multi-million dollar investment deal from the Qatari government, in part by taking actions that benefited Qatar.
Two of the co-conspirators in the case who made the bribes, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were sentenced to more than eight years and seven years in prison, respectively.
Menendez’s wife Nadine was also charged in the case, but her trial has been repeatedly delayed as she battles breast cancer.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who is a former Marxist terrorist, reversed course on Sunday after he blocked two U.S. flights from landing in the country that were carrying criminal illegal aliens from the country.
“The Government of Colombia, under the direction of President Gustavo Petro, has arranged the presidential plane to facilitate the dignified return of the compatriots who were going to arrive in the country today in the morning, coming from deportation flights,” Petro’s office said in a statement. “This measure responds to the Government’s commitment to guarantee decent conditions. In no way have Colombians, as patriots and subjects of rights, have not been and will be banished from Colombian territory.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that under President Donald Trump’s leadership, the U.S. “will no longer be lied to nor taken advantage of.”
“It is the responsibility of each nation to take back their citizens who are illegally present in the United States in a serious and expeditious manner,” he said. “Colombian President Petro had authorized flights and provided all needed authorizations and then canceled his authorization when the planes were in the air. As demonstrated by today’s actions, we are unwavering in our commitment to end illegal immigration and bolster America’s border security.”
President Trump has made it clear that under his administration, America will no longer be lied to nor taken advantage of. It is the responsibility of each nation to take back their citizens who are illegally present in the United States in a serious and expeditious manner.…
The reversal by Petro came just several minutes after Trump announced a series of tough measures against the country for refusing the flights, including:
Emergency 25% tariffs on all goods coming into the United States. In one week, the 25% tariffs will be raised to 50%.
A Travel Ban and immediate Visa Revocations on the Colombian Government Officials, and all Allies and Supporters.
Visa Sanctions on all Party Members, Family Members, and Supporters of the Colombian Government.
Enhanced Customs and Border Protection Inspections of all Colombian Nationals and Cargo on national security grounds.
IEEPA Treasury, Banking and Financial Sanctions to be fully imposed.
Trump said that the measures were only “the beginning” and that the U.S. “will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!”
The announcement from the president came about an hour after an official with knowledge of the situation told The Daily Wire that Trump would be taking immediate action against Colombia.
There are approximately 200,000 illegal aliens from Colombia living in the U.S., according to the most recent data from the Pew Research Center from 2022.
President Donald Trump announced on Sunday retaliatory measures against Colombia after the Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who is a former Marxist terrorist, rejected allowing deportation flights from the U.S. to land in his country.
“I was just informed that two repatriation flights from the United States, with a large number of Illegal Criminals, were not allowed to land in Colombia,” Trump posted on social media. “This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people.”
Trump said that Petro’s denial of the flights has “jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States” and as result he has decided to take the following immediate actions against Colombia:
Emergency 25% tariffs on all goods coming into the United States. In one week, the 25% tariffs will be raised to 50%.
A Travel Ban and immediate Visa Revocations on the Colombian Government Officials, and all Allies and Supporters.
Visa Sanctions on all Party Members, Family Members, and Supporters of the Colombian Government.
Enhanced Customs and Border Protection Inspections of all Colombian Nationals and Cargo on national security grounds.
IEEPA Treasury, Banking and Financial Sanctions to be fully imposed.
Trump said that the measures were only “the beginning” and that the U.S. “will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!”
The announcement from the president came about an hour after an official with knowledge of the situation told The Daily Wire that Trump would be taking immediate action against Colombia.
There are approximately 200,000 illegal aliens from Colombia living in the U.S., according to the most recent data from the Pew Research Center from 2022.
The New York Times reported that it’s not clear whether Colombia is legally allowed to turn away its own citizens.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday evening that the Trump administration has learned that the Taliban is holding more American citizens hostage.
“Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported,” Rubio posted on X. “If this is true, we will have to immediately place a VERY BIG bounty on their top leaders, maybe even bigger than the one we had on Bin Laden.”
Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported. If this is true, we will have to immediately place a VERY BIG bounty on their top leaders, maybe even bigger than the one we had on Bin Laden.
Rubio did not release any other details about the hostages who are being held by the Taliban.
Fox News reported that the other American hostages being held were U.S. citizens George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi.
The news comes after American hostage Ryan Corbett’s family announced on Tuesday that he was freed by the Taliban, ending his 894-day captivity in Afghanistan.
Corbett was released just hours after President Donald Trump was sworn into office and after the Biden administration ramped up its negotiations with the Taliban in the past month. According to the Taliban, Corbett and one other hostage who wasn’t named were exchanged for terrorist Khan Muhammad, who was serving a life sentence in California.
“Today, our hearts are filled with overwhelming gratitude and praise to God for sustaining Ryan’s life and bringing him back home after what has been the most challenging and uncertain 894 days of our lives,” the Corbett family said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire.
The family thanked Trump, former President Joe Biden, incoming National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, incoming Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and former Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens for “their tireless work and steadfast dedication to bringing Ryan back to us.”
Muhammed, the terrorist exchanged for Corbett’s release, was convicted and sentenced on drug and narco-terrorism charges. The Department of Justice said that Muhammed “sought to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan using rockets” and attempted to send heroin to the U.S.
Corbett and his family first moved to Afghanistan in 2010 and started Bloom Afghanistan, an enterprise focused on improving the war-torn country’s private sector. The Corbett family safely evacuated from Afghanistan when the United States withdrew under Biden’s orders in August 2021, and then Ryan returned around five months later. He was captured by the Taliban a year after the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The CIA said on Saturday that it now assesses that a lab leak from communist China was responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic that upended the world several years ago.
The announcement came after CIA Director John Ratcliffe was overwhelmingly confirmed by the U.S. Senate this week.
“CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely than a neutral origin based on the available body of reporting,” the agency said in a statement. “CIA continues to assess that both research-related and natural origin scenarios of the COVID-19 pandemic remain plausible.”
“We have low confidence in this judgement and will continue to evaluate any available credible new intelligence reporting or open-source information that could change CIA’s assessment,” the statement added.
The New York Times reported that the decision to reassess the origins of the pandemic came after the Biden administration “ordered a new classified review of the pandemic’s origin” during the administration’s final weeks in office.
Ratcliffe simply declassified and released the results of the assessment, thus dispelling insinuations that he politicized intelligence.
The report said that the new analysis comes after the agency took a closer look at the conditions inside high security labs in Wuhan before the outbreak.
The Wall Street Journal reported late last year that the Biden administration suppressed information from U.S. intelligence agencies that indicated a lab leak in communist China was the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The FBI was the only government agency that assessed that a lab leak was the likely source of the pandemic, and had “moderate confidence” in their evaluation. Four other government departments said they believed the pandemic had a zoonotic origin — meaning that it came from animals — but they said they had “low confidence” in their assessment, according to The Wall Street Journal.
When National Intelligence Director Avril Haines briefed Biden in August 2021, three months after Biden ordered a 90-day review to determine where the pandemic came from, the FBI was not asked to attend the meeting.
Jason Bannan, who has a Ph.D. in microbiology, joined the FBI after the 9/11 attacks to bolster its expertise in matters related to biological weapons, chemical weapons, and more.
“Being the only agency that assessed that a laboratory origin was more likely, and the agency that expressed the highest level of confidence in its analysis of the source of the pandemic, we anticipated the FBI would be asked to attend the briefing,” Bannan told The Wall Street Journal. “I find it surprising that the White House didn’t ask.”
The Wall Street Journal investigation found that officials in the Biden administration sought to keep certain information from becoming public about the lab leak theory, and that the FBI was not the only agency that thought the pandemic originated in a Chinese lab.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced on Thursday that she would oppose the nomination of President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth.
Murkowski, who finds herself at odds with large portions of the Republican base on occasion, said she made her decision after she “met with him and carefully reviewed his writings, various reports, and other pertinent materials.”
“I closely followed his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee and gathered substantial feedback from organizations, veterans, and Alaskans,” she said. “After thorough evaluation, I must conclude that I cannot in good conscience support his nomination for Secretary of Defense. I did not make this decision lightly; I take my constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent with the utmost seriousness.”
She praised Hegseth’s service in the U.S. military, but said that it did not “alleviate” her “significant concerns regarding his nomination.”
Murkowski said she had concerns about his ability to navigate through “one of the most complex and powerful organizations in the world” due to its enormous size at more than 3 million employees.
She continued:
Although he has recently revised his statements on women in combat since being nominated, I remain concerned about the message that confirming Mr. Hegseth sends to women currently serving and those aspiring to join. Women have served our nation with distinction, overcoming immense obstacles to excel in combat and leadership roles, and they deserve to know that their leader honors and values their commitment to our nation.
While the allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking do nothing to quiet my concerns, the past behaviors Mr. Hegseth has admitted to, including infidelity on multiple occasions, demonstrate a lack of judgment that is unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces. These behaviors starkly contrast the values and discipline expected of servicemembers. Men and women in uniform are held accountable for such actions, and they deserve leaders who uphold these same standards.
She believes that Hegseth’s nomination “poses significant concerns that I cannot overlook” given the current threat environment that the U.S. faces.
Murkowski faced backlash online immediately following the announcement, including widespread calls to face a primary challenger.
While Hegseth has owned up to some of his past behavior, he has vigorously denied allegations from unnamed sources who have accused him of sexual misconduct and having drinking problems.
President Donald Trump slammed bankers to their faces during a virtual appearance at the World Economic Forum on Thursday for allegedly de-banking conservatives over the last four years.
Trump made the remarks to several individuals who sat on a panel and asked him questions, including Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan.
“And by the way, speaking of you and you’ve done a fantastic job, but I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives, because many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank,” Trump said.
“And that included a place called Bank of America, they don’t take conservative business,” Trump continued. “And I don’t know if the regulators mandated that because of Biden or what, but you and [Chase Bank CEO Jamie Dimon] and everybody, I hope you open your banks to conservatives, because what you’re doing is wrong.”
WATCH:
Debanking — when a bank decides it does not want you as a customer — has become a hot topic amid a flurry of accusations from people and companies who say they were kicked out of their banks over their politics.
The apparent targets of debanking tend to be prominent people on the Right and cryptocurrency companies, which tend to lean right and were under scrutiny from regulators during the Biden era.
Former first lady Melania Trump said in her recently published memoir that both she and her son, Barron, were refused bank accounts after the Capitol breach on January 6, 2021.
“I was shocked and dismayed to learn that my long-time bank decided to terminate my account and deny my son the opportunity to open a new one,” Ms. Trump wrote.
She blamed the “venom of cancel culture” and said she had “serious concerns about civil rights violations.”
In November, conservative author Dinesh D’Souza claimed he was kicked out of Chase Bank without explanation.
“Walked in one day to discover they had closed my account,” D’Souza posted on X. “The local branch couldn’t understand it since I was a good and known customer. They said the order came from the top with no explanation given or even available!”
When a person or company is debanked, they are blocked from having a bank account at one or multiple banks, often with little explanation. Sometimes, they are blocked from other financial services, such as making credit card transactions or using payroll platforms. If they cannot find another bank, they may be forced to rely on alternatives, like check cashing services with high fees and interest.
Meanwhile, debanking hurts their reputation.
Critics note that debanking resembles Big Tech’s censorship at the behest of the government during recent presidential elections.
Marc Andreessen, the tech billionaire founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz which invests in dozens of crypto companies, spoke in depth about debanking in November on Joe Rogan’s podcast. Andreessen accused the Biden administration of debunking, targeting its political opponents and crypto company founders.
“We’ve had like 30 founders debanked in the last four years,” he told Rogan. “It’s been a big recurring pattern. This is one of the reasons why we ended up supporting Trump. We just can’t live in this world. We can’t live in a world where somebody starts a company that’s a completely legal thing and then they literally get sanctioned and embargoed by the United States government.”
The Biden administration’s targeting is an expansion of the Obama administration’s debanking of certain legal businesses, including gambling, marijuana, prostitution, and gun shops, under a program called Operation Choke Point, Andreessen said.
“This administration extended that concept to apply it to tech founders, crypto founders, and just generally political opponents. So that’s been super pernicious,” Andreessen said.
Andreessen said that while the First Amendment protects speech, there is no constitutional amendment saying the government cannot debank you, so the government pressures private banks to do so. The banks comply because they rely on the government to exist, he said.
“The government gets to say, ‘we didn’t do it,’” he said, and this system “lets bureaucrats do to American citizens the same thing we do to Iran, just kick you out of the financial system.”
“It’s just raw administrative power,” Andreessen said.
After Andreessen’s interview, a string of crypto founders spoke out about their experiences of being debanked.
Elon Musk, who himself recently faced political discrimination against his SpaceX rocket launches by a California regulator, also spoke out and called for it to be a federal crime to debank political enemies. Musk said debanking shows “just how evil the government has been.”
As far as which regulators are involved, critics mainly point the finger at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), but they also take aim at the Department of Justice, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
In December, the crypto industry finally uncovered what it says is hard proof that federal regulators have been targeting them.
Documents obtained by the crypto platform Coinbase during a court fight showed that in 2022, crypto companies saw their banking activity blocked at a large number of banks by the FDIC.
“We respectfully ask that you pause all crypto asset-related activity,” the banking regulator wrote to banks in one message.
Advocates for cracking down on crypto say they aim to prevent risky businesses from doing business.
In 2023, the White House cited crypto as it encouraged banks to separate “risky digital assets from the banking system.” This is also a common cry from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who received backlash for vowing to mobilize an “anti-crypto army.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended Elon Musk on Thursday after far-Left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and others smeared him as a Nazi for a gesture that he made during President Donald Trump’s inaugural celebrations earlier this week.
Musk made the gesture at the end of his remarks inside Capitol One Arena when he told the crowd, “Thank you. My heart goes out to you.”
DO NOT BELIEVE THE MEDIA
The media is misleading you. Elon Musk never did a Nazi salute. Watch the full video: He simply gestured and said, “Thank you, my heart goes out to you.” pic.twitter.com/e3vBaLoVqx
Ocasio-Cortez made the accusation during remarks she made during an Instagram livestream.
“I don’t care what Elon Musk is doing behind a presidential seal,” she said. “In this country, we hate Nazis.”
“I like, you’re gonna do a Sieg Heil, you’re going to do a Heil Hitler … from behind the presidential seal of the United States of America?” she continued. “It’s on! It’s on!”
Netanyahu responded to accusations by saying that Musk was “being falsely smeared.”
“Elon is a great friend of Israel,” he said. “He visited Israel after the October 7 massacre in which Hamas terrorists committed the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
“He has since repeatedly and forcefully supported Israel’s right to defend itself against genocidal terrorists and regimes who seek to annihilate the one and only Jewish state,” he continued. “I thank him for this.”
Even the left-wing Anti-Defamation League (ADL) defended Musk over the accusations.
“It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge,” they said. “In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.”
AOC fumed at the ADL’s statement: “Just to be clear, you are defending a Heil Hitler salute that was performed and repeated for emphasis and clarity.”
“People can officially stop listening to you as any sort of reputable source of information now,” she said. “You work for them. Thank you for making that crystal clear to all.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly heading to Panama as early as next week for his first foreign trip as the head of the U.S. State Department.
The trip sends a clear message that President Donald Trump is serious about removing communist China’s influence from the canal and taking back the engineering marvel that the U.S. built more than a century ago.
Rubio is also planning on visiting Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica, Bloomberg News reported.
The former U.S. Senator from Florida became Trump’s first confirmed cabinet secretary during his second term in office when he received a 99-0 vote in the Senate this week.
Panamanian President Jose Mulino released a statement shortly after Trump took office rejecting his push to reassert sovereignty over the Panama Canal, which Trump mentioned in his inaugural speech.
“We will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs,” Trump said. “President McKinley made our country very rich, through tariffs and through talent.”
“He was a natural businessman and gave Teddy Roosevelt the money for many of the great things he did, including the Panama Canal, which has foolishly been given to the country of Panama after the United States — the United States — I mean, think of this — spent more money than ever spent on a project before and lost 38,000 lives in the building of the Panama Canal,” he continued. “We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made. And Panama’s promise to us has been broken. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated. American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape, or form. And that includes the United States Navy. And above all, China is operating the Panama Canal, and we didn’t give it to China; we gave it to Panama. And we’re taking it back.”
Mulino said in his statement: “I must reject in its entirety the words expressed by President Donald Trump regarding Panama and its Canal in his inaugural address.”
“I reiterate what I expressed in my message to the Nation on December 22: the Canal is and will continue to be Panama’s and its administration will continue to be under Panamanian control with respect to its permanent neutrality,” he said. “There is no presence of any nation in the world that interferes with our administration.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday re-designating the Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) after former President Joe Biden removed them from the list.
The move comes after the Iranian-backed Islamic terrorist group, which is based in Yemen, has launched well over a hundred attacks on international cargo ships, tankers, and naval vessels since Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack against Israel.
The White House said that under the new administration, it was now the policy of the United States “to cooperate with its regional partners to eliminate the Houthis’ capabilities and operations, deprive them of resources, and thereby end their attacks on U.S. personnel and civilians, U.S. partners, and maritime shipping in the Red Sea.”
Trump also directed the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Secretary of State to jointly review United Nations partners, nongovernmental organizations, and contractors operating in Yemen.
Any entities that have made payments to the Houthis, or which have opposed international efforts to counter the Houthis while turning a blind eye towards the Houthis’ terrorism and abuses, will be cut off from U.S. funding.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said that Trump’s actions were a reversal on the Biden administration’s “horrible decision to remove the Houthi designation as a foreign terrorist organization.”
“The Houthis are terrorists who have for months launched attacks against the U.S. Navy, international shipping, and Israel,” he posted on X. “Enough!”
Today, President Trump reversed the Biden Administration’s horrible decision to remove the Houthi designation as a foreign terrorist organization.
The Houthis are terrorists who have for months launched attacks against the U.S. Navy, international shipping, and Israel. Enough!
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