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Monday, April 14, 2025

Trump Authorizes Military to Take Command of Southern Border

Townhall: In a bold move to reassert control over America’s borders, President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. military to take operational control of key federal lands along the southern border, aiming to accelerate the construction of new barriers and crack down on illegal crossings. The directive authorizes troops to help construct the border wall, install surveillance and detection systems, and carry out any actions deemed “reasonably necessary and appropriate” to fulfill the mission. The White House says the action is necessary to “restore law and order” and protect national sovereignty, a stark contrast to what it calls years of “chaos and neglect” under the previous administration. According to a memorandum released by the White House, Secretaries of Defense, Interior, Agriculture, and Homeland Security will be directed to transfer the jurisdiction of federal land along the southern border to the Department of Defense. Trump said that the use of military action at the southern border is necessary because the U.S. is “under attack from a variety of threats.” The order calls for a “phased” implementation within 45 days, with potential expansion over time (Townhall).

Russian Missile Strike Against Ukrainian City of Suma Kills 34

Washington Post: A Russian missile strike on the center of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed at least 34 people, including two children, Ukrainian officials said, fueling further skepticism over any Russian intent to end the war as President Donald Trump pushes for a ceasefire. The attack on the city’s downtown area occurred on Palm Sunday, as families flocked to church to mark the beginning of Holy Week ahead of Easter. Volodymyr Artyukh, head of the Sumy regional military administration, said Russia launched two ballistic missiles at the city (Washington Post). Sky News: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has issued a strongly-worded condemnation of the deadly Russian missile strike on the city of Sumy (X).

President Trump Raises Tariff Pressure on China

PJ Media: For decades, foreign countries have ransacked American wealth through unfair trade practices while establishment politicians watched from the sidelines. Trump is going to end that. He’s shown he has every intention of making the global markets fair to the United States again, and trust me, he will succeed. This week, President Trump instituted a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs for the nations that are clearly interested in coming to the negotiating table to make deals more fair to the United States. The reality is brutally simple: America holds all the cards… Even our top competitor in the global market, China, needs us more than we need them. During a recent appearance on “The Ingraham Angle,” investor Chamath Palihapitiya laid out a stark picture of China’s economic fragility, arguing that the ongoing tariff standoff gives the United States far more leverage than Beijing wants to admit… He pointed to a series of structural problems dragging China down, including its rapidly aging population, tightening restrictions on foreign investment, and unreliable intellectual property protections. “Foreign investment in China has fallen off of a cliff,” Palihapitiya noted, painting a picture of a nation increasingly isolated and economically vulnerable. This tariff cliff is precisely what America needs to force real change (PJ Media). Townhall: Karoline Leavitt makes it clear, America is holding China over the tariff cliff, NOT the other way around: “If China continues to retaliate, it’s not good for China. The USA is the strongest, best economy in the world, as evidenced by the more that 75 countries who have called the administration immediately to cut good deals” (X). Townhall Media JG: Chairman Xi, see that? That’s the Tariff Cliff in 90 days. China can choose fair trade with the West or the abyss and isolation at the bottom. What’s it gonna be (X)?

Trump Announces Tech Sector Exemptions from Increased Chinese Tariffs

Townhall: In a strategic move to shield American consumers and key tech industries, the Trump administration has announced that smartphones and computers will be exempt from the latest round of tariffs targeting Chinese imports. The decision, part of President Donald Trump’s broader effort to hold China accountable for unfair trade practices without hampering U.S. innovation, reflects a calculated balance between economic pressure and protecting the American digital economy. While the tariffs will still impact a wide range of goods, the exemption for tech essentials signals the administration’s intent to keep American competitiveness at the forefront…This move offers relief to major tech companies like Nvidia and Microsoft. According to the White House, these exemptions gave companies time to shift production to the U.S. (Townhall). Ed Morrissey: Trump largely exempted this sector in the first term when he escalated tariffs on China, so it’s not necessarily inconsistent. However, if Trump had applied these exemptions on Liberation Day, Apple stock (to use one example) may not have fallen from $223.89 a share on April 1 to $172.42 on April 8. It rebounded on Friday to close the week at $198 and some change, but it’s still 10% down over the last two weeks. Likewise, Samsung lost a significant amount of value over the last fortnight, and tech in general got ravaged (HotAir).

Judge Allows DOGE to Access Treasury Data

Just the News: A New York judge ruled that a Department of Government Efficiency employee can access sensitive Treasury data after meeting certain requirements. Judge Jeannette A. Vargas wrote in an opinion on Friday that Ryan Wunderly, a DOGE worker, would be able to access sensitive payment and data systems after completing the same training for Treasury employees and submitting a financial disclosure report. The ruling is connected to a lawsuit that 19 Democratic attorneys general brought forth against DOGE over data privacy issues. The judge had previously blocked access (Just the News). Daily Wire: The ruling comes as DOGE continues its reviews of payments and systems across the federal government. DOGE announced on Thursday that an initial review of unemployment claims found $382 million in suspect payments. Nearly 80% of those payments came from three deep-blue states: California, New York, and Massachusetts (Daily Wire).

Judge Allows Trump to Deport Terrorist-Sympathizer Mahmoud Khalil

National Review: An immigration judge ruled on Friday that the Trump administration may deport Mahmoud Khalil, the legal alien who became a fixture in the pro-Hamas campus agitation at Columbia University. This is just the first step in the removal process, though an important one. There will now be an appeal in the immigration tribunal, and challenges in the judicial courts… It is permissible for the government to remove a legal alien on this basis — provided the secretary has reasonable grounds to believe the alien’s continued presence would be detrimental to American foreign policy interests (National Review). New York Post: Anti-Israel demonstrators marched in Times Square on Saturday night to protest the apprehension and imprisonment of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil (New York Post). Aviva Klompas: As a graduate student, Khalil led pro-Palestinian protests that saw buildings vandalized, custodians trapped inside, and Jewish students harassed (X).

U.S., Iran Envoys Meet for Initial Nuclear Deal Talks

CNN: Delegations from Iran and the United States will meet again next week after wrapping up “constructive” nuclear talks that included the first direct contact between a Trump administration and an Iranian official, according to Iran’s state news agency. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media that the next round of talks will be held in Oman on April 19, adding that Saturday’s meeting “got very close” to reaching a framework for negotiations. Both sides said they are seeking an agreement in the shortest time possible, he said. Saturday’s largely indirect talks, also held in Oman, involved US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Araghchi. During the talks, Witkoff and his team were based in a reception room to the right of the home’s grand entryway, while Araghchi and his team were in a room to the left, the source explained. The Omanis shuttled messages in English between the two sides. The meetings were held “in a constructive atmosphere based on mutual respect,” Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said (CNN). Daily Wire: The talks follow President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for a new nuclear deal and for Iran and its proxies, including the Houthis, to cease causing mayhem in the region (Daily Wire).

Hamas Asks UK to Remove Organization from Terror List

Townhall: Lawyers representing Hamas—a group designated as a terrorist organization by the UK, the U.S., and the EU—have launched a legal challenge against the British government, demanding that the group be reclassified as a “resistance movement” and removed from the UK’s terror list. The move has sparked outrage among national security experts and conservative lawmakers, who view the challenge as an attempt to legitimize a group responsible for decades of violence, including the brutal October 7 attacks on Israel. Two British lawyers representing Hamas have called on the United Kingdom government to remove the terrorist group from the nation’s list of proscribed organizations under the Terrorism Act 2000. In 2021, the UK government decided to ban Hamas in its entirety—both its political and military wings—after determining there was no meaningful distinction between the two. However, a new legal filing, dubbed “The Hamas Case,” led by Fahad Ansari of Riverway Law, claims this is a violation of the terrorist group’s fundamental rights. (Townhall). Times of Israel: Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk has submitted a lengthy witness statement to a British court, arguing that London should end its proscription of Hamas as a terror group… He accused Britain of complicity in the Israeli “genocide” against Palestinians by arming Israel, and claimed the group poses no threat to the United Kingdom (Times of Israel).

Maine Asserts Title IX Does Not Prohibit Men Competing in Women’s Sports

PJ Media: The Department of Education’s decision to refer Maine to the Department of Justice marks a decisive moment in the fight to preserve five decades of hard-won women’s rights under Title IX. This isn’t just another culture war skirmish—it’s a fundamental battle over whether biological reality will continue to inform our laws and protections for women and girls in sports. In a recent decision, U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock ordered the Trump administration to release federal education funds to Maine, which had been frozen due to the state’s noncompliance with an executive order aimed at protecting women’s sports. Maine’s stubborn refusal to protect women’s athletics speaks volumes about how deeply leftists have surrendered to radical ideology. Despite polls showing that nearly 80% of Americans believe women’s sports should be reserved for biological females, a fringe minority on the left is determined to impose their delusions—not just on their own states, but across the entire country (PJ Media). Riley Gaines: Maine’s Attorney General says “nothing in Title IX” prohibits boys and men from joining women’s sports teams. That’s ironic—because preventing exactly that was the whole point of Title IX in the first place (X).

10.

New Jersey Restaurant Owner Convicted of Spying for China

Townhall: The owner of a New Jersey sushi restaurant, who was previously convicted of spying for China, has once again found himself in trouble, this time in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Despite his conviction, the individual was released back onto the streets, raising serious questions about the effectiveness of the immigration enforcement system and the dangers posed by individuals with ties to foreign adversaries. Ming Xi Zhang, known as “Sushi John,” was taken into custody by ICE on March 24— nearly one year after he was convicted of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government and sentenced to three years probation. In May 2021, Zhang pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of China in 2016 without notifying the U.S. Attorney General. Despite the serious national security risks his actions posed to the United States and its citizens, the Biden Administration allowed him to remain in the country with a remarkably lenient sentence. ICE said that Zhang legally entered the U.S. in 2000 but later “violated the terms of his lawful admission” (Townhall).

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