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Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Trump Changes His Tone on Putin

The president is clearly frustrated with the Russian autocrat. Axios: This is a seismic policy shift from Trump, who originally refused to side with Ukraine and until very recently insisted he would only supply defensive weapons so as not to escalate the war…. Speaking at the White House alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump said the U.S. would send “billions” of dollars worth of “the best” military equipment in the world to NATO allies, with those countries footing the bill (Axios). Ed Morrissey: Putin has 50 days to end the war, or else or else it’s going to get personal as well as financial. Donald Trump has shifted on his approach to the Russian invasion of Ukraine after six months of attempting to incentivize Vladimir Putin into honest talks to end the war. Over the last couple of weeks, Trump has reinstated weapons shipments previously held up to Ukraine and spoken in clearly unhappy terms with Putin’s refusal to work toward an end to hostilities, and he’s been getting more vocal about it of late. Today, he made his personal displeasure known…. President @realDonaldTrump: “We are very, very unhappy with (Russia), and we’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100%” (Hot Air). More details from the Daily Wire: The “secondary tariffs” would penalize countries that do business with Russia, such as those purchasing Russian oil and gas. Trump’s 100% tariff rate on Russia is lower than what some GOP lawmakers are pushing for. A bill introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) proposes 500% tariffs on nations that deal with Russia…. Trump praised Ukraine and other European nations for their “spirit” during the war, a major change in tune from just a few months ago, when the president blasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for requesting more U.S. assistance in the fight against Russia (Daily Wire).

Supreme Court Win Allows Trump to Move Forward in Downsizing the Department of Education

SCOTUS Blog: The Supreme Court on Monday granted the Trump administration’s request to temporarily pause an order by a federal judge in Massachusetts that would require the Department of Education to reinstate nearly 1,400 employees who were fired earlier this year as part of the department’s efforts to reduce the size of its workforce. In a brief unsigned ruling, the justices blocked the order issued in May by U.S. District Judge Myong Joun, who had concluded that the Trump administration’s “true intention is to effectively dismantle the Department” even though in his view it lacked the power to do so (SCOTUS Blog). Ed Morrissey: The majority did not provide any explanation of their reasoning on this issue. However, considering the balance of potential harms, the six justices who imposed the stay must think that the Trump administration is likely to win on the merits when the case makes it to their court. And why not? As chief executive, Trump does have the authority to resize inferior agencies, as long as he complies with their enabling statutes and any other statutory requirements Congress has passed regarding their function… This is an interim ruling, but it’s a very clear signal that six justices on the Supreme Court are getting very tired of having 677 supervisors on presidential policy. Finally (Hot Air). The order: (Supreme Court). Wall Street Journal: The ruling is the latest Supreme Court victory for the administration in its efforts to cull the federal workforce. Last week the court said Trump could move forward with layoffs at a number of other agencies. In March, Trump issued an executive order aimed at eliminating the Education Department, which he promised to do during the presidential campaign. McMahon already had begun cutting the department’s head count by roughly half, through a combination of buyouts and planned layoffs (Wall Street Journal).

Senator Ted Cruz Introduces Legislation to Designate Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist Organization

Commonsense legislation. Let’s see how many Democrats get on board with it. Adam Kredo: The Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025 adopts “a new modernized strategy” for designating the organization, which preaches terrorism against Israel, the United States, and Western governments, a fact sheet the Cruz team has distributed to Senate offices states. While past legislative efforts focused on the organization’s nebulous global operation, the new bill employs a “bottom-up” approach that systematically sanctions the Muslim Brotherhood’s violent branches around the world. The bill centers on active terrorist organizations, creating a legal framework to designate the Muslim Brotherhood writ large as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Previous efforts failed, the Cruz fact sheet reads, “because not all Muslim Brotherhood branches are currently violent and wouldn’t therefore meet the criteria for designation….” One source familiar with Cruz’s thinking on the bill said the senator “deliberately and extensively workshopped [the bill] so that it could become law.” “Cruz got it to a place where it was both in line with President Trump’s priorities while still being bipartisan,” the source explained. “The goal is to get it passed and implemented.” Cruz’s legislation outlines three primarily vehicles to designate the Muslim Brotherhood’s global operation, as well as those of its violent offshoots. These include congressional action under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 (ATA), a State Department designation as an FTO, and another designation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). The bill effectively “does all three,” according to the fact sheet and legislative text (Free Beacon).

Cuomo to Run as Independent for NY Mayor’s Race

Does it make a Mamdani win all the more likely? New York Times: Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has decided to run in the general election for mayor, urged on by supporters anxious that his withdrawal would nearly guarantee Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s victory and put New York City in the hands of the far left. The decision by Mr. Cuomo … was announced Monday afternoon in a 90-second video. “I am truly sorry that I let you down. But as my grandfather used to say, when you get knocked down, learn the lesson and pick yourself back up and get in the game. And that is what I’m going to do,” Mr. Cuomo said. “The fight to save our city isn’t over.” If the polls show that he is not the highest-ranked challenger to Mr. Mamdani by early September, he will pledge to drop out of the race, according to three people familiar with the governor’s thinking (New York Times). Wall Street Journal: Cuomo’s rivals panned his announcement. “Andrew Cuomo lost his primary and hides in the Hamptons,” Silwa said in a statement. “I’m the only candidate with a major party nomination, a 50-year record of serving New Yorkers, and a real path to victory.” The campaigns of Adams and Mamdani didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment (Wall Street Journal).

Sen. Rand Paul Issues Criminal Referral for Anthony Fauci

In light of the revelation that his pre-emptive pardon was issued not by Biden himself, but by the autopen. New York Post: Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul announced a long-shot bid to get the Justice Department to launch a criminal probe of Dr. Anthony Fauci over accusations that he lied to Congress, despite former President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardon. Paul (R-Ky.) alleged that Fauci lied to lawmakers when he denied knowledge of US-funded coronavirus research in Wuhan, China. The re-upped criminal referral comes amid new details about how Biden’s team used autopen on a swath of clemency. “Today I will reissue my criminal referral of Anthony Fauci to Trump DOJ!” Paul declared on X Monday. “Perjury is a crime. And Fauci must be held accountable.” Presidential pardons cannot be revoked once issued; however, Paul is banking on the seemingly unlikely chance that the courts may nullify Biden’s clemency because of autopen potentially being used to sign it (New York Post). President Biden’s defense on the use of the autopen for the pardons: “Because there were a lot of them” (New York Times).

Abandoning Aspen: Defense Department Leaders Pull Out of Event Dominated by Liberal Elites

Just the News: The Pentagon has pulled roughly a dozen high-ranking U.S. military officials who had been slated to participate in this week’s annual Aspen Security Forum, Just the News has learned. The Defense Department cited the left-wing nature of the Aspen Institute and the participation of such critics of President Trump as Biden administration National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. The annual forum put on by the Aspen Institute – which has been dubbed “the mountain retreat for the liberal elite” – describes the event as “the premier national security and foreign policy conference in the United States.” Roughly a dozen top Defense Department officials – including the secretary of the Navy and the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command – are still listed as speakers on the Aspen Security Forum agenda this week, but a source told Just the News over the weekend that that will no longer happen (Just the News). Eric Daugherty, quoting Sean Parnell: “Senior Department of Defense officials will no longer be participating at the Aspen Security Forum because their values do not align with the values of the DoD,” @SeanParnellATSD said (Daugherty).

Federal Court Ruling Could Dismantle the Fallacious Understanding of “Separation of Church and State”

Mahomet Daily: A federal court in the Eastern District of Texas has approved a landmark consent judgment that restricts the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from enforcing the so-called Johnson Amendment against certain churches for speech delivered during religious services…. The court recognized that when a house of worship speaks to its congregation through customary channels during religious services about electoral politics from a faith-based perspective, it does not constitute “participation” or “intervention” in a political campaign as defined by the amendment (Mahomet). Speaker Mike Johnson: Amid all the other big news this week, a landmark development in a federal court in Texas drew less attention than expected. On Monday, the IRS agreed to a consent judgment that will restore the First Amendment rights of churches and religious non-profit organizations to speak freely without losing their tax-exempt status. The court should quickly approve that proposed settlement of a lawsuit filed by the National Religious Broadcasters and Texas churches, which was brought to overturn a 1950s-era provision in the tax code known as “the Johnson Amendment….” A free society and a healthy republic depend upon religious and moral virtue- not only because they help prevent political corruption and the abuse of power – but also because those convictions in the minds and hearts of the people make it possible to preserve their essential freedoms by emphasizing and inspiring individual responsibility, self-sacrifice, the dignity of hard work, the rule of law, civility, patriotism, the value of family and community, and the sanctity of every human life. Without those virtues, “indispensably supported” by religion and morality, every nation will ultimately fall (Johnson).

Trump May Shift Approach to Epstein Files

Financial Times: Donald Trump is struggling to contain a spiralling crisis over his administration’s handling of files relating to late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein that has exposed a rare fissure in his Maga movement. During his election campaign, Trump promised to release the so-called Epstein files, which have been at the centre of a long-running conspiracy since the disgraced financier died by suicide in 2019. But the Trump administration’s handling of the case has provoked an uproar in the president’s Maga base, with theories about Epstein’s death and so-called “client list” now threatening to cast a long shadow over the White House (Financial Times). Benny Johnson: Just got off the phone with top federal law enforcement contact. The change in approach to Epstein has been dramatic. Expect more disclosures. Some very powerful people inside Admin are now pushing for a Special Counsel and a full press briefing on Epstein findings. Important to note, this drastic change happened after @charliekirk11 and a number of other powerful MAGA Voices pushed back on the handling of the Epstein case this weekend at the Turning Point conference. They were met with massive roars and applause from the 7000 gathered that could not be ignored. In short: Our voices are being heard, power to the people (Johnson).

UN: It’s Actually Capitalism That’s to Blame for the Israel-Hamas War

David Strom: You might be forgiven for believing that Hamas did nothing to provoke Israel’s war on it if your only source of information about the conflict were the United Nations. After a comprehensive investigation spanning a year and a half, the NGO has concluded that the culprit for all the death and destruction is…capitalism and settler colonialism (Hot Air). Quoting the UN report: far too many corporate entities have profited from the Israeli economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now genocide. The complicity exposed by the report is just the tip of the iceberg; ending it will not happen without holding the private sector accountable, including its executives (OHCHR). The report is authored by Francessa Albanese, a woman with a long history of animosity towards Israel. Reason: Albanese and her staff elide any events during October 2023 that might have precipitated a change in policy by Israel towards Gaza, and they wave away any possible hostility towards Jews. Of course, Albanese herself was the subject of a 2024 report from Geneva-based watchdog group UN Watch that found she is ill-disposed towards Israel and most of its inhabitants… Based on her conduct, statements, and connections, the UN Watch report found that “Francesca Albanese knowingly supports Hamas and other terrorist groups” (Reason).

10.

When Elite Media Started to Lie

Matti Friedman looks at the last decade of the Israel-Hamas story and how it’s paradigmatic of a much broader history. One effect of what I saw as a reporter was the creation of a news story that happens to press one of the deepest buttons in Western civilization—the idea that the evils of a given time are personified by Jews, and thus doing something about Jews isn’t bigotry but virtue. Early Christians employed this narrative technique, as did late-medieval kings, Enlightenment philosophers, Karl Marx, Henry Ford, Arab dictators, Soviet propagandists, and many others. It’s a common phenomenon that usually signals a regression from rational problem-solving into mythical thinking. What I saw, to my surprise, was this mental virus catching on again, among educated people who viewed themselves as liberal, as if history had never happened. In keeping with the spirit of the era, this time the charges against the Jews were presented as a matter not of religion, race theory, or economics, but of human rights. Ten years later, as we’ve seen, these ideas have conclusively caught on. The presentation of this story as factual has allowed it to be embraced by people who consider themselves scholars and experts, who teach it to students, who now see it on TikTok and in the classroom and in the press, with effects clear to anyone paying attention—from rallies for Hamas on college campuses, to frequent graffiti and firebombs at synagogues, to the appearance of “anti-Zionist” blacklists in educated professions. Reporters are crippled in reporting these phenomena because doing so would help the wrong people (Free Press).

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