Trump Prepares to Attack Eighth Country of His Second Term

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Weeks after a preliminary peace deal with Iran fell apart, Donald Trump has turned his attention toward his next military conquest.

The Trump administration is reportedly considering taking military action against an Al Qaeda-affiliated group in Mali known as JNIM, according to several current and former U.S. officials that spoke with The Washington Post Wednesday.

Doing so would add to the president’s warmongering tally, marking the eighth nation he has ordered strikes on since he began his second term as president.

The other affected countries are Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, and Venezuela. Trump has also ordered 66 strikes against small watercraft in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in an admittedly futile attempt to interrupt drug smuggling into the U.S., killing at least 221 people in the process.

One of the administration’s top proponents for using brute force in Mali is Sebastian Gorka, the National Security Council’s senior director for counterterrorism. The London-born Hungarian has been a fixture in Trump’s inner circle since 2017, though his appointment to Trump’s first administration came as a surprise to many in his field. Gorka had previously been known for his extremist, Islamophobic views, which relegated him to the fringes of Washington and his position as an editor at Breitbart. (Read more from “Trump Prepares to Attack Eighth Country of His Second Term” HERE)

Israeli Security Minister Joins Jewish Extremists as they Storm Temple Mount

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By The Guardian. Israel’s far-right minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, joined thousands of Jewish extremists who stormed Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site on Thursday.

Escorted by armed police, they prayed, waved the Israeli flag and sang the national anthem in a provocative display of political power.

Under a fragile, decades-old agreement known as the status quo, non-Muslim prayer is banned at the site, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif compound and to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Ben-Gvir has eroded the agreement in recent years through a series of inflammatory visits to the compound, and unilateral changes to rules for Jewish visitors, including allowing them to bring prayers and printed religious material to the site. . .

In a statement, the Palestinian ministry of religious endowments and affairs said: “These provocative practices, emanating from the highest political levels of the occupying government, seek to ignite a religious war throughout the entire region.” (Read more from “Israeli Security Minister Joins Jewish Extremists as they Storm Temple Mount” HERE)

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Israel’s Ben-Gvir visits flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound

By Reuters. Israeli far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Thursday, praising Jewish visitors he ​said had prayed at the site in breach of arrangements ‌that allow only Muslim prayer there.

His visit drew condemnation from Jordan and Palestinian officials. . .

Jordan’s foreign ministry and the Palestinian religious affairs ministry both condemned Ben-Gvir’s ​visit, which they said violated the status-quo agreements.

Jordan ​said Ben-Gvir’s ⁠visit was “a desecration of the sanctity of the mosque, an escalation, a barbaric act, and unacceptable provocation.”

There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office. ⁠Previous such ​visits and statements by Ben-Gvir have prompted ​announcements from Netanyahu saying that there is no change in Israel’s policy of keeping the ​status quo. (Read more from “Israel’s Ben-Gvir visits flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

MAGA Rages at Lindsey Graham’s Sister over $100 Check: ‘Neither honest nor self-aware’

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Lindsey Graham’s sister Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC) has already infuriated her late brother’s political base because of a $100 check, according to a new report.

Nordone, the appointed replacement approved by President Donald Trump, donated to state Sen. Katrina Shealy — is backtracking after reports revealed she donated money to a Republican who helped block a near-total abortion ban in South Carolina, the Daily Beast reported Thursday.

The newly sworn-in senator is now in full damage-control mode, taking to social media to explain herself, according to the Beast.

The response from the MAGA right was not overwhelmingly positive.

“You’re good friends with Katrina Shealy, the former South Carolina state senator who is PRO-ABORTION and OPPOSED the Heartbeat bill—AND you even donated to her campaign,” replied Kelly McCarty, a “Covid accountability” influencer.

“Lies,” added X user Teri. “Your BFF is disgraced former state senator Katrina Shealy who was famous for consistently blocking pro-life legislation during her tenure.” (Read more from “MAGA Rages at Lindsey Graham’s Sister over $100 Check: ‘Neither honest nor self-aware’” HERE)

US Beefs up Military Might in Middle East as Trump says He’s Weighing ‘Massive Attack’ on Iran

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President Trump said he is weighing a “massive attack” on Iran — as the Pentagon floods the Middle East with elite troops, fighter jets and combat medics, vowing to avenge the deaths of four US troops in less than a week.

“I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than anything we have ever had before. I am close to making a decision. We are fully prepared for it,” the president told Israel’s Channel 12 on Thursday.

He added that the Jewish state would join the US in the operation “in two minutes” if he asked, but clarified that “we don’t need anybody” to launch the potential escalation.

“Relations with [Israeli Prime Minister] Bibi [Netanyahu] are very good,” he said. “I will meet with him if he is in town [for Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral next week.]”

His remarks come as the US military has surged special operations forces into the Middle East and repositioned fighter squadrons across the region, according to flight tracking data, after four US troops were killed over the past week. (Read more from “US Beefs up Military Might in Middle East as Trump says He’s Weighing ‘Massive Attack’ on Iran” HERE)

Trump Admin Announces Between 10% and 12.5% Tariffs on 60 Countries Over Forced Labor Imports

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The Trump administration is ratcheting up tariffs on 60 countries that have failed to ban imports made from forced labor, as 10% global duties are set to expire Friday.

Senior administration officials said Thursday that countries that have begun implementing a forced labor prohibition will be hit with 10% duties, while those that haven’t will receive an import tax of 12.5% — with the levies taking effect at 12:01 a.m. on July 24.

“The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

“Today’s action will begin to correct what is both a human rights abuse and distortive trade practice to improve the welfare of workers everywhere,” Greer added.

The 10% rate will apply to Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and the UK, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative. (Read more from “Trump Admin Announces Between 10% and 12.5% Tariffs on 60 Countries Over Forced Labor Imports” HERE)

Russia Tells Rubio America Sending More Weapons to Europe, Attempts to ‘Inflict Strategic Defeat’ are ‘Unacceptable’

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Russia’s Foreign Minister had a brief meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the Philippines on Thursday morning, where Moscow said continued American arms sales to its European allies, who use them to arm Ukraine, are “unacceptable”.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is at the East Asia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Manila, the Philippines, on Thursday and overnight Eastern Time held a bilateral meeting on the side-lines with his Russian counterpart, the veteran diplomat Sergei Lavrov. One of the only senior Russian political figures whose long career pre-dates and has survived the Putin era, Lavrov has been Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004 and a Russian ambassador since the Soviet era.

Rubio said in a statement after the meeting ended that he’d discussed “the U.S.-Russia relationship and the need to end the Russia-Ukraine war”, the typical boilerplate from the Department of State for such meetings. Russia had its own, namechecking the 2025 Trump-Alaska summit — as they always do — but added further detail, including claiming they had delivered a protest to Rubio on U.S. weapons exports.

While the United States has long ago ceased to donate weapons directly to Ukraine, citing the enormous cost to taxpayers, it sells large quantities to its European allies at full price, which are then free to donate them in turn to Ukraine themselves. Foreign Minister Lavrov “emphasized that pumping Ukraine with more weapons is unacceptable”, Russian state media expressed, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself further laboured the point in a statement in which it accused European states of trying to inflict a defeat on the Russian Federation:

When discussing Ukraine-related issues, Lavrov briefed his American counterpart on the real situation along the line of contact and stressed that further flooding the Kiev regime with weapons was unacceptable, along with the overall destructive policy pursued by European countries, which continue seeking to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia.

(Read more from “Russia Tells Rubio America Sending More Weapons to Europe, Attempts to ‘Inflict Strategic Defeat’ are ‘Unacceptable’” HERE)

WATCH: Male Democrat Ashley Webb Gives Sick Details of Menstrual ‘Cycle’

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Tuesday on “The Alex Marlow Show,” Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow talked about Maine.

Marlow said, “Ashley Webb was out there talking about on Reddit that he has a monthly period through his rectum. This is not a joke. This is something that he had posted and he was talking a lot about his biology during some media that he was able to do in recent days.”

(Read more from “WATCH: Male Democrat Ashley Webb Gives Sick Details of Menstrual ‘Cycle’” HERE)

What A Key Witness Knew About Charlie Kirk’s Assassination

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Lance Twiggs, Tyler Robinson’s roommate and alleged transgender lover, testified that Robinson admitted to him that he killed Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk.

Twiggs’ recorded testimony was played in a Provo, Utah, courtroom Thursday. During an audio-only section of the interview, Twiggs is shown an exhibit in which Robinson texted Twiggs that he was the individual who killed the late conservative activist. Twiggs was asked about his first interaction with Robinson after receiving this text. “I asked him if what he said in the text was true, he said it was.”

The roommate and alleged lover added that Robinson stated, at the time, that “He wishes he hadn’t done it.”

Twiggs also testified that the photos from Utah Valley University (UVU) surveillance footage, which were published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), “do look like Tyler Robinson.”

“Especially the last two definitely do look like him,” he stated.

Twiggs’ testimony also appears to have confirmed the timeline of events leading up to Kirk’s death. He testified that Robinson left their Saint George, Utah apartment at approximately 4 a.m. The drive from Saint George to Utah Valley University is about 3 hours and 45 minutes, which aligns with surveillance video showing Robinson arriving at UVU around 8 a.m. (Read more from “What A Key Witness Knew About Charlie Kirk’s Assassination” HERE)

DOJ Has Been Hobbling New Mexico’s Epstein Ranch Investigation For Years, Former AG Says

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New Mexico’s former attorney general is taking the Justice Department to task for slowing down his state’s renewed probe into Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch, telling the Daily Caller News Foundation that the federal government “burned” his office in its investigation of the property.

Federal investigators made an informal deal with the New Mexico Department of Justice (NMDOJ) to provide evidence for New Mexico’s investigation into Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico, former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas told the DCNF. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) failed to follow through on its informal agreement made on July 23, 2019, with the NMDOJ to refer any state-related matters of the Epstein investigation back to the NMDOJ, Balderas told the DCNF in an exclusive interview.

Balderas, who left office as New Mexico attorney general on Jan. 1, 2023, corroborated his statement by citing a newly discovered handwritten note and an email from James Comey’s daughter released with other Epstein files earlier this year.

Balderas sent a letter on Monday to the current New Mexico Attorney General calling out the “SDNY, and by proxy the U.S. DOJ” for their role in what he alleged was a direct impediment to his office’s investigation of Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico.

It remains unclear exactly who wrote the July 2019 note, but Balderas believes it came from either a staff member or legal assistant in the New York office.

“Agreed NMDOJ will stop interviews + refer all matters to SDNY. SDNY will refer any state-related matters to NMAG @ [the] conclusion of SDNY case,” the handwritten note says. (Read more from “DOJ Has Been Hobbling New Mexico’s Epstein Ranch Investigation For Years, Former AG Says” HERE)

Supreme Court to Hear from Alaskan Bush Pilot Whose Plane was Confiscated over a Six-Pack of Beer

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The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear an appeal from an Alaskan bush pilot whose plane was seized by authorities after they discovered it was bound for a remote, dry village with beer on board.

The appeal from the 82-year-old pilot, Kenneth Jouppi, could have national implications if the 6-3 conservative court limits the ability of state and local governments to rely on asset forfeiture. Jouppi claims that the taking of his $95,000 Cessna for what amounted to a six-pack of beer violated the 8th Amendment’s bar on excessive fines.

The Supreme Court is likely to hear oral arguments in the case later this year or early next — and hand down a decision by next summer.

“The Excessive Fines Clause of the Constitution was built for cases like this,” said Sam Gedge, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, which is representing the pilot. “As government agencies increasingly exploit fines and forfeitures to pad their budgets, it’s vital that the Supreme Court make clear that the Excessive Fines Clause is a meaningful check on government overreach.” (Read more from “Supreme Court to Hear from Alaskan Bush Pilot Whose Plane was Confiscated over a Six-Pack of Beer” HERE)