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Wednesday, August 6, 2025

“It’s going to be amazing!” Trump Issues Executive Order for 2028 Olympics

Will chair the taskforce Himself. From the Executive Order: There is hereby established the White House Task Force on the 2028 Summer Olympics (Task Force). (b) The President shall serve as Chair of the Task Force, and the Vice President shall serve as Vice Chair. (c) The Chair shall designate an Executive Director, who shall administer and execute the day-to-day operations of the Task Force, and who shall report to the Chair through the Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Implementation (White House). ABC News: “On the 2028 summer Olympics, mobilizing the entire federal government to ensure the games are safe, seamless and historically successful. It’s going to be amazing. It’s going to be amazing,” Trump said. “America is a nation of champions, and in July 2028, we’ll show the world what America does best, and that’s win. We’re winning like we have never won before….” At the event, Trump praised Gene Sykes, chair of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee board of directors, for the USOPC’s move to effectively bar transgender women from competing in women’s sports. “The United States will not let men steal trophies from women at the 2028 Olympics,” Trump said…. The 2028 Games will be the first Olympics to be hosted by the U.S. since the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah (ABC). Trump: “It’s going to be amazing!” (Truth).

DOJ Launches Grand Jury Investigation on Russia Collusion Hoax

Fox News: Attorney General Pam Bondi directed her staff Monday to act on the criminal referral from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard related to the alleged conspiracy to tie President Donald Trump to Russia, and the Department of Justice is now opening a grand jury investigation into the matter, Fox News Digital has learned. Bondi personally ordered an unnamed federal prosecutor to initiate legal proceedings and the prosecutor is expected to present department evidence to a grand jury, which would allow the department to secure a potential indictment, according to a letter from Bondi reviewed by Fox News Digital and a source familiar with the investigation. A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment on the report of an investigation but said Bondi is taking the referral from Gabbard “very seriously.” The spokesperson said Bondi believed there is “clear cause for deep concern” and a need for next steps (Fox News). Trump was pleased: President Trump on Tuesday said he was “happy to hear” Attorney General Pam Bondi directed federal prosecutors to launch a grand jury probe into the Obama administration’s handling of the investigation into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election. Asked Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” about reports that the DOJ was tapping a grand jury on the matter, Trump said he had “nothing to do with it” but added, “they deserve it.” He then claimed the 2020 election was rigged, saying, “What they did in the 2020 election is grotesque.” A grand jury investigation will enable prosecutors to subpoena documents and present evidence to secure a potential indictment (Axios).

Special Envoy Witkoff to Russia as Trump Readies Sanctions

The president has wearied from Putin’s diplomatic gamesmanship. CNN: President Donald Trump’s trusted foreign envoy Steve Witkoff is due in Moscow on Wednesday after the Kremlin requested a meeting with him in a last-ditch effort to avoid the punishing new sanctions Trump has threatened to impose this week, people familiar with the matter said. He’s set to meet Russian officials — including potential talks with President Vladimir Putin — amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Whether Putin can convince Witkoff — and, by extension, Trump — that he is interested in ending the war is an open question. Trump has cast doubt on Putin’s willingness to stop the fighting and appears wary of being strung along by a leader he now openly distrusts (CNN). Financial Times: Donald Trump’s administration is considering additional sanctions on Russia’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers if President Vladimir Putin does not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine by Friday. Blacklisting vessels in the fleet would mark the first time the US has imposed sanctions aimed at Moscow since Trump returned to the White House in January. Russia has used a shadow fleet of largely ageing tankers to ship oil around the world in an attempt to evade western restrictions imposed in the wake of Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Proceeds from these crude exports have helped to finance the conflict. The term “shadow fleet” refers to vessels whose ownership is hidden and which avoid using services from western companies. Enforcing sanctions against their owners is difficult, although measures targeting the ships themselves have recently proven effective (Financial Times).

Trump Tariffs Yield $29 Billion in July

A record. Fox Business: The U.S. collected more than $29 billion in tariff revenues in July, the highest monthly total to date so far this year. That figure pushes the total tariff revenue for the year to more than $152 billion, according to the latest “Customs and Certain Excise Taxes” data released by the Treasury Department. Tariff revenues rose steadily from $17.4 billion in April to $23.9 billion in May, before climbing to $28 billion in June (Fox). The administration’s tariff strategy has taken shape. Initial assessment, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies: The administration has announced framework agreements over the past few weeks with the United Kingdom, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, and the European Union. The shape of these agreements provides insight into administration objectives and distinguishes this approach from previous trade policy frameworks. The policy structure includes four primary components: (1) uniform and significant tariff rates across most products for each partner—with China as a notable exception and details still emerging for the European Union; (2) retention of higher tariffs on smaller set of strategic industries—including steel and aluminum; (3) acceptance of investment and purchase commitments rather than requiring reciprocal tariff reductions; and perhaps most importantly (4) achieving this significant restructuring of U.S. tariff rates without triggering widespread retaliation from trading partners This success in avoiding retaliation likely stems from credible signaling of “escalation dominance”—essentially convincing partners that entering a cycle of economic retaliation would be more costly for them than for the United States …. The administration has so far been successful in raising U.S. tariff rates significantly while avoiding partner retaliation, and with the frameworks agreed to in the last few weeks, they have also moved closer to an optimal tariff regime for extracting gains from partners (CSIS).

Trump to Issue Executive Order Pressuring Banks to Dismantle Obama-Era Standards That Led to Debanking

Obama and Biden-era debanking was particularly chilling as it was a strike at the core ability to engage in whatever given endeavor. Wall Street Journal: The White House is preparing to step up pressure against big banks over perceived discrimination against conservatives and crypto companies with an executive order that threatens to fine lenders that drop customers for political reasons. A draft of the executive order, which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, directs bank regulators to investigate whether any financial institutions might have violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, antitrust laws or consumer financial-protection laws. Violators could be subject to monetary penalties, consent decrees or other disciplinary measures, according to the draft (Wall Street Journal). The order is expected to protect crypto companies as well. Decrypt: Trump has personal experience with banking discrimination, telling Decrypt in June that “big banks were very nasty to us” during Biden’s presidency. “The regulators control the banks,” the U.S. President said, noting that federal agencies, not bank executives, are the true decision-makers behind debanking. Bo Hines, Executive Director of the White House’s Presidential Working Group on Digital Assets, confirmed administrative action was forthcoming, previously telling Decrypt that “the industry can expect something in short order.” If signed, the executive order would direct federal agencies to dismantle internal policies that enabled debanking, refer violations to the Justice Department, and review how the Federal Reserve handles access to critical banking infrastructure for crypto firms (Decrypt). Trump describes his own episode with debanking: Speaking on CNBC on Tuesday and seemingly referring to the period after he first left the White House in 2021, Trump said he was informed by JPMorgan that it was closing his accounts. “I was loaded up with cash and they told me, ‘I’m sorry, sir, we can’t have you. You have 20 days to get out’. I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding. I’ve been with you for 35, 40 years’,” said the US president. Trump said he then tried to open an account with Bank of America, and spoke directly to chief executive Brian Moynihan, but they refused his business. “Brian was kissing my a** when I was president,” Trump said. “And he said, ‘We can’t do it. No, we can’t do it’ (Financial Times)

US May Take Control of Gaza Aid Distribution

It may be the least worst option. Axios Special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump discussed plans for the U.S. to significantly increase its role in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza in a meeting Monday evening at the White House, according to two U.S. officials and an Israeli official with knowledge of the issue…. Trump is “not thrilled” about the idea of the U.S. taking charge, “but it kind of has to happen,” the official said. “There doesn’t seem to be another way.” “The starvation problem in Gaza is getting worse. Donald Trump does not like that. He does not want babies to starve. He wants mothers to be able to nurse their children. He’s becoming fixated on that,” the official continued (Axios). Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on how the US can help: The UN may be failing, but there is no one better to fix it than President Trump. Here’s how: First, call out the UN’s failure clearly and publicly. Every time a UN truck is looted, every time aid goes missing, every time a convoy vanishes into Hamas hands, the international community turns a blind eye. That ends with President Trump. The UN’s reliance on the so-called “blue police,” a Hamas front group, isn’t neutral. It’s enabling terror. Second, use our leverage. The United States is the UN’s biggest funder. We don’t need to ask, we need to demand. Not one more dollar without conditions. Require full cooperation with groups like GHF who are actually delivering aid and demand independently verified results. If the UN won’t work with the only group getting food into Gaza at scale, then they’ve forfeited their credibility and the American taxpayers shouldn’t fund failure. Third, reward results. GHF isn’t part of the old, bloated system and that’s why it’s working. It bypasses Hamas, it delivers at scale, it’s lean, disciplined, and driven by mission, not politics. That’s what effectiveness looks like in a war zone. We should be scaling this model so it can actually succeed, not allowing the UN and Hamas to gang up on it just as it is yielding results (Fox News).

Truth the Casualty for Media Reports From Within Gaza

Matti Friedman—an Israeli-Canadian journalist was a reporter for the AP from 2006 to 2011. He explains what he saw: We had a detail in a story. The detail was a crucial one. It was that Hamas fighters were dressed as civilians and were being counted as civilians in the death toll that went out in an AP story. The reporter called me a few hours later and he said, Matti, you have to take that detail out of the story. And it was clear that someone had threatened him. I took the detail out of the story. I suggested to our editors that we note in an editor’s note that we were now complying with Hamas censorship. I was overruled. And from that point in time, the ap, like all of its sister organizations, collaborates with Hamas censorship in Gaza. What does that mean? You’ll see a lot of dead civilians and you won’t see dead militants. You won’t have a clear idea of what Hamas military strategy is. And this is the kicker. The center of the coverage will be a number, a casualty number that is provided to the press by something called the Gaza Health Ministry, which is Hamas (X).

Sen. Tom Cotton Pressing for Revocation of CAIR’s Tax-Exempt Status

CAIR is the Council for American Islamic relations—and has served as little more than a front group from the Muslim Brotherhood. Free Beacon: Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) is petitioning the IRS to formally investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for violations of its tax-exempt status, citing “ties to terrorist organizations, including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood,” according to a formal letter sent Tuesday and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. CAIR, one of the nation’s foremost anti-Israel advocacy organizations, has long been dogged by accusations that its funding streams are entangled with Hamas. It was named as a co-conspirator in a 2009 federal court case related to terrorism financing and has since become a leading force in the pro-Hamas campus movement that erupted after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks (Free Beacon). Cotton’s effort is complementary to efforts in the House and the Senate to formally designation the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. In the Senate, Ted Cruz introduced a bill in July: “The Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization, and it provides support to Muslim Brotherhood branches that are terrorist organizations. One of those branches is Hamas, which on October 7 committed the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, which included the murder and kidnapping of at least 53 Americans. They are committed to the overthrow and destruction of America and other non-Islamist governments across the world, and pose an acute threat to American national security interests. American allies in the Middle East and Europe have already labeled the Brotherhood a terrorist organization, and the United States should do the same, and do so expeditiously” (Cruz).

Disturbing New Legislation in California Would Undermine Parental Rights

And provide an easily foreseeable gateway to sex traffickers. The bill is AB495, deceptively titled the “Family Preparedness Plan Act of 2025,” introduced by new Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez (Legiscan). Southern California Pastor Jack Hibbs is issuing a loud warning: “I have to tell you, if this bill passes, I am going to ask you to leave the state of California,” Pastor Hibbs declared from the pulpit. “You got to get out. You got to run with your kids. You got to go.” The bill is the first piece of legislation authored by newly elected Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez (D–San Fernando). She sold AB 495 as a “compassionate” solution for children of detained immigrant parents. But opponents warn the measure does far more, and far worse, than what its title suggests. The “Family Preparedness Plan Act of 2025” would allow unrelated adults, broadly defined as an “adult caregiver” with a “mentoring relationship with the child” to assume custody-like control over a child through a one-page Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit. No court appearance. No notarization. No parental consent or notification. No background check. No verification of identity required (California Family). The legislation would be a sex trafficker’s dream: Erin Friday, an attorney and president of Our Duty-USA, a parent-led advocacy group, called AB 495 “a child trafficker’s and kidnapper’s dream bill. There is no background check, no welfare check, no court oversight, and no verification. All you need is a piece of paper and some form of identification, with no obligation for the adult handing the child over to verify the identification, and presto, someone walks away with your child,” Friday warned. “California wants to let someone that is not related to your child remove her from school, enroll her in any other school in the state, authorize any medical treatment of her, including mental health services and drugs, without the parents’ notice and knowledge or consent,” said attorney Nicole Pearson. “This is not fear-mongering. I’m not being hyperbolic… . These unintended consequences are terrifying, and they are unavoidable.” The ease with which child sex trafficking could occur under the bill brings to mind Britain’s Muslim rape gangs, which would often pick up girls from orphanages and foster homes, schools, and even police stations, and the people in charge of those establishments would meekly allow it to happen (Fulcrum).

10.

Douglas Murray Wins Defamation Lawsuit in UK

The case was against Murray and the Spectator, who write: [The case was] brought by Mohammed Hegab, who ‘lied on significant issues’ in court and gave evidence that ‘overall, is worthless’. The judge rejected Hegab’s claim because the videos he publishes are ‘at least as reputationally damaging to him as the article’…. Mohammed Hijab was a picture of arrogance in Courtroom 73 at the Royal Courts of Justice. Over the three days he gave evidence last month, Hijab – whose real name is Mohammed Hegab – smirked, laughed and slouched in his chair…. Mohammed Hijab was a picture of arrogance in Courtroom 73 at the Royal Courts of Justice. Over the three days he gave evidence last month, Hijab – whose real name is Mohammed Hegab – smirked, laughed and slouched in his chair…. This case was about more than just what happened in Leicester. Hijab sought to show that The Spectator had published something untrue. He failed. But he also wanted to intimidate Douglas and the magazine. He sought damages of tens of thousands of pounds, and tried to recuperate his legal costs of hundreds of thousands of pounds. He attempted to use Britain’s legal system to silence journalists, and to paint himself as an upstanding citizen turned victim. This has backfired…. For a long time, Mohammed Hijab has bullied the British press, threatening publications and outlets who cross him with crushing lawsuits. The Spectator, rightly, did not bow to his pressure (Spectator).

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