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Friday, May 2, 2025

President Trump Launches Religious Liberty Commission

From the Executive Order: It shall be the policy of the executive branch to vigorously enforce the historic and robust protections for religious liberty enshrined in Federal law. The Founders envisioned a Nation in which religious voices and views are integral to a vibrant public square and human flourishing and in which religious people and institutions are free to practice their faith without fear of discrimination or hostility from the Government (White House). It was announced at the National Day of Prayer event: Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who will lead the commission, spoke briefly, describing the initiative as one of Trump’s most influential to date….. “We were a nation birthed by prayer….There’s a saying that no one should get between a doctor and a patient. I think we would say no one should get between God and a believer” (World). Members of the commission: Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, Chair, Dr. Ben Carson, Vice Chair, Ryan Anderson, Bishop Robert Barron, Carrie Boller, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, Rev. Franklin Graham, Allyson Ho, Dr. Phil McGraw, Eric Metaxas, Kelly Shackelford, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, Pastor Paula White (Dan Patrick).

Mike Waltz: Out as National Security Advisor; Nominated to Serve as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.

Fallout from the Signalgate episode. Townhall: In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced Waltz’s new job. “From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first,” the president wrote. Trump further stated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as National Security Advisor. It has been about three weeks since the Signalgate story hit the presses. Since then, Democrats and members of the press have kept the issue in the spotlight, hammering the Trump administration for using an app believed to lack the proper security protocols. Earlier in the day, reports suggested that Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, had been fired. But, apparently, the president had other plans (Townhall). Marco Rubio will replace Waltz: Secretary of State Marco Rubio will become the first person other than Henry Kissinger to lead the State Department and serve as national security adviser at the same time. Multiple people have held both roles during their career, but at different times, including Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice… Kissinger, who died in December at the age of 100, served as secretary of State and national security adviser under former President Nixon from September 1973 to November 1975. No one has held both roles since (The Hill).

A Pivotal Moment for Trump’s High-Pressure Campaign on Iran

Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies: Iran nuclear and sanctions expert @rich_goldberg predicted this moment during the transition: “This is one of the most fundamental decision points President-elect Trump will face, which will determine whether maximum pressure succeeds or fails: He must be willing to tell President Xi that Iran sanctions policy is in a category of its own diplomatically; the U.S. will fully enforce its sanctions no matter where the breadcrumbs of evasion lead inside China. A major enforcement action will likely be necessary to prove to Xi that the American hall pass on Iranian oil imports has come to an end” (X). Hugh Hewitt: If President Trump wants to secure a national security legacy that will never be other than history-changing, the time to do so is fast approaching. President Trump has drawn a ‘red line’ for Iran, the question is whether or not he’ll now enforce it. The Institute for the Study of War recently published a summary of the moment: “Senior Iranian officials are continuing to threaten nuclear weaponization, likely to try to deter a potential US or Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities amid new US threats to strike these facilities….” Trump knows what a disaster it will be if Iran gets nukes (Townhall Review).

Close Associate to Khamenei Issues Threat to Trump

Hossein Shariatmadari is the editor of an outlet ‘Kayhan’ and a close associate of Supreme Leader Khamenei: “He said: What is happening to this Donald? Who is he that he threatens other countries every day?! Threatening military attack, imposing sanctions, increasing tariffs… He even drew his sword in front of the allies of America, like Canada, European countries, Japan, and so on! “I said: He has crossed every line! The day is not far off when a few bullets will be fired into his hollow head to avenge the blood of the martyr Qassem Soleimani, and he will drink his cursed cup of death! (MEMRI).

“Blockbuster” Report From HHS Exposes Radical Gender Ideology in Medicine

Roger Severino: Blockbuster report from @HHSGov on exposing gender ideology in medicine. The report shatters the medical house of mirrors that resulted in thousands of kids being knowingly maimed and sterilized without cause. It’s a devastating takedown of the two pillars of gender ideology—that a child’s sex is whatever they say it is, and that failure to socially or medically “transition” a child leads to suicide. Both claims are thoroughly discredited as the junk science that it is (X). From the report: The risks of pediatric medical transition include infertility/sterility, sexual dysfunction, impaired bone density accrual, adverse cognitive impacts, cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders, psychiatric disorders, surgical complications, and regret…. The evidence for benefit of pediatric medical transition is very uncertain, while the evidence for harm is less uncertain. When medical interventions pose unnecessary, disproportionate risks of harm, healthcare providers should refuse to offer them even when they are preferred, requested, or demanded by patients. Failure to do so increases the risk of iatrogenic harm and reduces medicine to consumerism, threatening the integrity of the profession and undermining trust in medical authority (HHS).

What Comes After Christian America?

Neopaganism. John Daniel Davidson: Christendom is gone. Whether we realize it or not, the West has entered a new, post-Christian era…. This new, post-Christian era in the West is best understood as a re-paganization—that is, paganism returning in a modern form. You might call it neopaganism for a technological and digital age. Why paganism? Because once we reach the end of secular materialism, which we have indeed reached, some form of paganism, or at least of the pagan ethos, is the only alternative to Christianity…. Put plainly, we are either going to be a nation based on Christian claims about what man is and how society should be ordered in light of that, or we are going to revert to a societal state that existed before Christianity, one based on pagan claims about man that posit a very different vision of how a nation should be ordered…. Cut off from our Christian faith, our civilization is dying. That is the plain truth, which, deep down, all men of faith and goodwill know to be true. So be it. As G. K. Chesterton wrote in The Everlasting Man, “Christendom has had a series of revolutions and in each one of them Christianity has died. Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave” (Touchstone).

House Judiciary Committee Advances Legislation Pushing Trump Immigration Policies

The Hill: House Republicans advanced legislation Wednesday to back a series of President Trump’s immigration priorities, raising fees on those seeking refuge in the United States and boosting resources to detain and deport a record number of migrants. The measure advanced by the House Judiciary Committee includes funding to support the removal of 1 million migrants per year — a lofty goal that would well outpace the number of deportations carried out by any prior administration (The Hill).

Trump—Pushing for a New Air Force One—Is Contracting to Get One Refurbished Himself

Wall Street Journal: President Trump is done waiting for Boeing. Frustrated by delays on Boeing’s work to deliver a new Air Force One, Trump has commissioned a smaller defense contractor to ready an interim presidential plane by year’s end, said people with knowledge of the situation. Boeing will continue plugging away on a pair of Air Force One replacement jets, which have fallen so far behind that Trump might not get to fly on them while in office. The U.S. government has commissioned L3Harris LHX -0.05%decrease; red down pointing triangle to overhaul a Boeing 747 formerly used by the Qatari government. The Melbourne, Fla.-based company is tasked with retrofitting the plane with certain specialized systems to transform the luxury aircraft into a presidential jet, some of the people said (Wall Street Journal).

Will Elon Musk Have His Own City?

KUT News: Elon Musk wants to create his own city. His wish could soon be granted. On Saturday, those who live around SpaceX’s rocket launch site in South Texas will vote on whether to incorporate the area as the City of Starbase. The election is likely to go Musk’s way. That’s because most of the voters work for him. The Texas Newsroom obtained a list of the 283 voters eligible to cast a ballot in the Starbase special election. More than three in five work for SpaceX, according to an analysis of LinkedIn profiles and social media posts documenting their employment. An additional 20 were among the dozens of people who signed a petition calling for the incorporation vote. In total, that means at least two-thirds of the eligible voters either work for SpaceX or have already indicated their support for the new City of Starbase. The number could be much higher (KUT).

10.

Trump Delivers Commencement at University of Alabama

Getting a very warm greeting: (X). NewsNation: President Trump, marking the first 100 days of his second term this week, encouraged the University of Alabama’s Class of 2025 to enjoy the “golden age” he’s setting up for them through his administration’s policies. “I think you have a chance to be the greatest generation in the history of our country because we’re turning it around and you happen to be available,” Trump told an appreciative crowd Thursday evening at the Coleman Coliseum. Trump, in an hourlong commencement address laced with politics, encouraged the thousands of graduates to excel in their respective fields. He touted his administration’s immigration crackdown, controls on transgender athletes and the controversial tariffs he has imposed on foreign imports (NewsNation). Full video: (White House).

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