If you are Trump or anyone in his administration the answer is a resounding YES.
Late yesterday, SCOTUS released an opinion that ended DC Circuit Judge James Boasberg’s lawfare regarding the Enemy Aliens Act and the use of that law by the Trump admin.
Trump was using the 1789 law to deport illegal aliens from Venezuela. Boasberg issued a TRO preventing the admin from using that law as a basis for deportations. He also tried to force the administration to turn a flight around. It is clear, at least to this observer, that Boasberg was looking to set a contempt trap for the administration.
The 5-4 decision removed the case in question from Boasberg’s jurisdiction and placed it in a district court in Texas where most of the TdA detainees are being held.
Prior to that decision being handed down, Chief Justice Roberts issued a one page order vacating the order to return an El Salvadorian MS 13 member who had been deported to El Salvador. The individual in question had an active deportation order but also had an order preventing his removal to El Salvador. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland issued the return order Friday.
In yet more winning, the Court handed down an order regarding the firing of 16,000 probationary federal employees. In an unsigned order, the 7-2 Court ruled that the plaintiffs in the case, 9 non-profits, did not have standing to sue.
At the direction of the President, US forces have begun large scale strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen today. The strikes have targeted radar sites, missile launchers and drone facilities.
It is being reported that the airport at Sana’a and the ports at Hodeida and Ras Issa have been rendered out of order by the strikes.
The Houthi, also known as Ansar Allah, are a Shia rebel group that control parts of Yemen. They have been in a long running civil war in that country with Iran backing their co-religionists and the House of Saud backing the Yemeni government.
President Trump issued a statement on Truth social shortly after the strikes began.
Today, I have ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful Military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen. They have waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones.
He concluded his statement with a warning to Iran, the primary backer of the Houthi.
To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY! Do NOT threaten the American People, their President, who has received one of the largest mandates in Presidential History, or Worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!
In somewhat of a surprise move, President Trump ‘accepted the resignation’ of former Chair of the Joint Chiefs General CQ Brown last night. Also on the chopping block were former CNO Lisa Franchetti and the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Lieutenant General James Slife.
All three were Biden appointees and all three were big on DEI.
Brown’s removal was announced in a post on Truth Social.
I want to thank General Charles “CQ” Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family. . .
The post went on to announce Brown’s replacement, Air Force LTG Dan ‘Razin’ Caine.
Today, I am honored to announce that I am nominating Air Force Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a “warfighter” with significant interagency and special operations experience.
During my first term, Razin was instrumental in the complete annihilation of the ISIS caliphate. It was done in record setting time, a matter of weeks. Many so-called military “geniuses” said it would take years to defeat ISIS. General Caine, on the other hand, said it could be done quickly, and he delivered.
Despite being highly qualified and respected to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the previous administration, General Caine was passed over for promotion by Sleepy Joe Biden. But not anymore! Alongside Secretary Pete Hegseth, General Caine and our military will restore peace through strength, put America First, and rebuild our military. Finally, I have also directed Secretary Hegseth to solicit nominations for five additional high level positions, which will be announced soon. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Caine is a bit of an unusual choice. He has been on the retired list since 2024. He is a qualified F-15 pilot and spent the large part of his career in the National Guard.
The permanent replacement for the CNO has not been announced yet. Admiral James W. Kilby, the current Vice CNO will be filling the position until someone has been confirmed by the Senate.
The same situation holds for the Vice chief of staff for the Air Force. There has not been a permanent replacement named yet.
In addition, the Inspectors General of the Army, Navy and Air Force, Army Lieutenant General Joseph B. Berger III, Navy Rear Admiral Lia M. Reynolds, and Air Force Lieutenant General Charles L. Plummer were fired. Berger was caught trying to hide Army DEI initiatives in his command by renaming them and moving the personnel into a different office.
In a move reminiscent of the baptism scene in the Godfather, where Michael Corleone knocks off all of his enemies, President Trump has revoked the security clearances for a number of his foes today. This order also bans the named individuals from any federally owned or leased building or property. This comes after he revoked the clearance of Joe Biden recently.
Federal officials on the list are former SecState Antony Blinken, Former NSA and Hillary advisor Jake Sullivan, former #2 DOJ official Lisa Monaco, former federal prosecutor and lead on the Russiagate hoax Andrew Weissman.
What effect this will have on any of them is up in the air for now. They are barred from entering any federal facility as well as having their clearances revoked, so it is not going to be good for their careers.
But wait, there’s more. Trump also yanked the clearances of NY Attorney General Leticia James, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and lawyer Mark Zaid. The clearance revocation isn’t going to affect James or Bragg all that much. They don’t need a clearance for most of their work, the bar to entry may be a bigger deal, at least for Bragg. Zaid on the other hand is likely screwed. He purports to be a national security lawyer and works almost exclusively on federal cases. The lack of clearance and the lack of ability to even enter a federal courthouse is going to devastate his business.
Featured image: President Trump and Cyril Ramaphosa
In the wake of some newly passed legislation in South Africa, President Trump has imposed a set of sanctions on that country. The legislation in question, The Expropriation Act, makes it easier for the government to expropriate land in the public interest. The African National Congress, the country’s biggest political party, proposed these changes that make it easier for the state to take land without paying for it and address racially skewed land-ownership patterns dating back to the initial settlement of South Africa.
Before we go any further a bit of history is in order. When the first white settlers – who happened to be the Dutch – created a colony in the southern part of Africa there were only scattered settlements of bushmen and Hottentots. The bantu people that now comprise the majority of South Africa’s population did not arrive until the late 1800’s, having moved south from the area that is now Kenya and Tanzania during the Zulu wars. Many, if not most, of the Afrikaner (white) families of South Africa have lived in the region far longer than the black Africans. What’s more, the Afrikaner farmers produce most of the food in South Africa.
The sanctions regime ends all US support to the ANC led government of South Africa. It also ends any US foreign aid regardless of source to South Africa.
Sec. 3. Assistance. (a) All executive departments and agencies (agencies), including the United States Agency for International Development, shall, to the maximum extent allowed by law, halt foreign aid or assistance delivered or provided to South Africa, and shall promptly exercise all available authorities and discretion to halt such aid or assistance.
The Sanctions also include a provision expediting resettlement of any Afrikaners who have their land stolen by the SA government.
Sec. 4. Refugee Resettlement and Other Humanitarian Considerations. The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take appropriate steps, consistent with law, to prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination. Such plan shall be submitted to the President through the Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor.
It’s important to remember that South Africa is a nearly failed state already. They can’t keep the electricity on as it stands, the civil infrastructure is crumbling, roads and bridges are third world quality where they exist at all. And if it weren’t for white farmers, they wouldn’t be able to feed themselves either.
Joseph Mathunjwa, a mining union official spelled it out in a speech at a commemoration of a massacre of miners by SA police. The miners were demanding their pay for work done in a platinum mine. “Love or hate white people who were in power before 1994, they gave us a functional country. In as much as the Nationalist Party was cruel, they left us with a functioning state, and then the ANC, the corrupt ANC, took over,” said Mathunjwa
Cyril Ramaphosa, the SA president and head of the ANC is one small step from turning into Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe, or as I prefer to remember it, Rhodesia.
Prior to Mugabe stealing the farms from all the white Rhodesians, Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of southern Africa. The annual maize production went from 40m bushels in 2001, the year land expropriations started to less than 10m bushels a year later. Wheat production suffered similar declines in that time frame, going from 10m bushels to slightly less than 3m bushels.
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump announced he was revoking Joe Biden’s security clearances.
This move is somewhat out of the norm, as previous presidents have been afforded the courtesy of keeping their clearances. That ended with Biden’s administration when they yanked Trump’s clearances in 2021.
To be fair, Biden is such a cognitive mess he wouldn’t know what he was reading anyway. This move prevents Joe from leaving any classified documents he might get next to the Corvette in the garage of his Delaware home.
President Trump signed an executive order reinstating sanctions on certain members and entities within the International Criminal Courts today. This movie is in reaction to the ICC’s investigations into U.S. personnel and those of allied countries, particularly Israel. The sanctions regime includes asset freezing and visa restrictions for anyone involved in sanctionable conduct.
The sanctions will be applied to ICC officials, employees, and any person or entity materially assisting in these investigations, including providing financial, material, or technological support. The EO does not only target individuals directly involved but also those aiding, sponsoring, or providing services in support of these activities.
This movie is part of a larger Trump effort to reclaim US sovereignty from various international organizations. Besides this EO, Trump has withdrawn the US from the WHO, UNESCO, UNRWA and the Paris Climate accords.
It should be noted that of all the signatory countries to the Paris accords, only the US had met the goals set out in the agreement.
That is the apparent cause of action Rep. Al Green (D-TX) cites in his articles of Impeachment. Green filed the articles against Trump this morning. He also gave a floor speech. Watch:
This isn’t the first time Green has filed articles of impeachment against Trump. He did it several times during Trumps last term as President.
While Green, who represents the southwestern portion of Houston, isn’t the dumbest rep on the Dem side, he’s damned close.
Having read the US Constitution from the Preamble to the closing clause, I can assure you that dastardly deeds appear nowhere in that august text. And while I cannot be 100% sure, I am reasonably confident that those two words do not appear together in any part of the US criminal code.
I have to wonder if dastardly deeds rise to the High Crimes and Misdemeanors requirement for impeachment. Not that this is going anywhere. At least not without a couple of Vichy Republicans helping out that is.
The phrase does bring to mind a song. That song was the inspiration behind the prompt that generated the featured image for this post; Trump dressed like Angus Young playing a guitar.
Well, that didn’t take long. Earlier today I wrote about Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum caving in the face of US tariff pressures. Word has come out that outgoing Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau has bent the knee as well.
There were indications that Turdeau wanted to open negotiations after Mexico folded earlier today. Around noon on the east coast several outlets noted that a call between the two leaders was in the offing.
Turdeau released a statement about the proposed agreement.
I just had a good call with President Trump. Canada is implementing our $1.3 billion border plan — reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl. Nearly 10,000 frontline personnel are and will be working on protecting the border.
In addition, Canada is making new commitments to appoint a Fentanyl Czar, we will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering. I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million.
Proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days while we work together.
Similar to the agreement with Mexico, there is a pause of 30 days before the tariffs go into effect so a more permanent deal can be reached.
That was the title of an official White House press release. That release detailed much of the Trump administration’s actions for the first few days. Here are some of the highlights from that release:
President Trump is securing historic investments just days after being sworn in.
President Trump secured $500 billion in private sector investment for the largest AI infrastructure project in history, with Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman all stating that it would not have been possible if not for President Trump’s election victory and leadership.
President Trump is already securing the border and arresting criminal illegal immigrants.
The Border Patrol is reporting a significant drop already in attempted illegal crossings.
ICE is at work rounding up criminal aliens.
The Trump Administration immediately shut down the CBP One app, which “paroled” over 1 million illegal immigrants.
Deportation flights have already started and the military is assisting with the effort.
The Department of Homeland Security reinstated official use of the term “illegal alien” over “undocumented noncitizen,” and the DOJ announced it would be taking action against lawless sanctuary city policies.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order to designate the cartels as terrorist organizations.
President Trump signed a series of executive orders ensuring the elimination of discriminatory DEI practices and ensuring merit-based hiring.
The Federal Aviation Administration must now return to merit-based hiring.
President Trump ended an affirmative action mandate in federal government hiring.
President Trump signed an executive order affirming the reality that there are only two sexes.
The State Department issued guidance that embassies should only be flying the American flag, and not any activist flags.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order telling agencies to stop remote work practices and directing workers to return to the office.
The State Department subsequently ordered workers to return to working in the office.
President Donald Trump is unleashing American energy.
President Trump declared a National Energy Emergency to unlock America’s full energy potential and bring down costs for American families.
President Trump rescinded every one of Joe Biden’s industry-killing, pro-China, and anti-American energy regulations, empowering consumer choice in vehicles, showerheads, toilets, washing machines, lightbulbs, and dishwashers.
President Trump withdrew the United States from the disastrous Paris Climate Agreement that unfairly ripped off our country.
President Trump paused all new federal leasing and permitting for massive wind farms that degrade our natural landscapes and fail to serve American energy consumers.
President Trump reversed the burdensome regulations that impeded Alaska’s ability to develop its vast natural resources.
And that doesn’t include the Cabinet appointments. Marco Rubio has been sworn in as Secretary of State, Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security and John Ratcliffe as CIA director.
All in all, it’s a good start. The President and his staff have hit the ground running and show no signs of slacking off.
