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Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Trump Meets With Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Or MBS. The president touted a verbal commitment of nearly a trillion dollar investment in the US from the Saudi kingdom. More strategically, however, for the changing map of the Middle East was the progress on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords: President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman have “reached an agreement” for Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords, bringing the region’s central power broker closer to normalizing relations with Israel. Tuesday marked the first time both leaders confirmed that Saudi Arabia seeks to join the Abraham Accords, which initially included Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. Kazakhstan became the latest Muslim-majority country to join the pact earlier this month. “We want to be part of the Abraham Accords,” bin Salman said during a joint press conference with Trump at the White House. “But we want to be sure we secure a clear path towards a two-state solution. We had a good discussion about moving forward” (Free Beacon).

House Passes Bill to Release Epstein Files

In a 427-1 vote. The story has lingered from the early days of the Trump administration. Trump seems intent on getting this out—and getting on to matters at hand today. There has not yet been any material that is damning to Trump. Bob Hoge at RedState: The Epstein Files saga has dominated much of the news coverage for months now, but on Tuesday, the House of Representatives held a key vote to finally release them. The vote wasn’t close, with only one “nay” tallied: “The House on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill directing the Department of Justice to release the files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a move that came after months of intense opposition from President Trump and GOP leaders.” The vote was a lopsided 427-1, with Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) casting the lone “no” vote. But that tally belied the months of fierce fighting — both between the parties and within the GOP — that preceded it. Trump had been against the release of the files, but recently changed his mind and advocated for full disclosure. The Democrats, who have been pushing the “Trump is a pedophile” storyline hard, so far have come out badly as information has dripped out. Former Harvard Professor Larry Summers stepped away from public life Monday evening after it was revealed he had carried on a years-long friendship with the convicted pedophile, even after the late financier’s proclivities had become public. Meanwhile, news broke that Democrat Delegate Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands appeared to be texting Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing (RedState).

Senate Unanimously Passes Bill to Force Release of Epstein Files

The upper chamber moved quickly after the House’s overwhelming passage. The Hill: The Senate agreed by unanimous consent Tuesday to approve a House-passed bill to require the Justice Department to release all unclassified records and documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, sending the bill to President Trump’s desk for a signature…. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said the resounding vote in the House undercut calls to amend the legislation, something that could have delayed it for weeks or months. “When a bill comes out of the House 427 to 1 and the president has said he’s going to sign it, I’m not sure that amending it is in the cards,” Thune told reporters (Hill).

The Takeaway on Trump and Epstein Files Thus Far: ‘Trump was living rent-free in Epstein's head’

That’s from Byron York, who’s been covering the story closely. From York’s latest: It would be an understatement to note that Trump was living rent-free in Epstein’s head. “The emails suggest that Trump remained a fixation for Epstein,” CNN wrote, “as he’s frequently mentioned numerous times over a span of nearly a decade — including long after their friendship ended.” By the way, remember when Elon Musk, breaking with Trump, breathlessly announced that Trump was “in the Epstein files”? Of course Trump is in the Epstein files; he’s all over this set of Epstein files because he was so deeply in Epstein’s head. Trump will be in other Epstein files, too, because Epstein apparently could not stop thinking and talking about him. Finally, one problem with reading the Epstein emails today is that Epstein was, in the words of one recent assessment in The Atlantic, a “notorious liar.” It is reasonable to take Epstein’s statements of opinion at face value – he appeared to really think Trump was dumb – but not his statements of fact…. So what to make of it? First, even though he was a friend of Epstein’s for several years up to around 2004, there is still no evidence linking Donald Trump to any wrongdoing. And second, Trump is nevertheless everywhere in the Epstein files because Jeffrey Epstein was out of his mind with resentment toward a former friend who not only succeeded in business but became president of the United States, even as Epstein raced toward ruin (Townhall).

Governor Abbott Designates Both CAIR and Muslim Brotherhood Foreign Terrorist Organizations

The fact that he included CAIR is significant—the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The Texas governor seems to be nudging the federal government to follow through on its own verbal willingness to do the same. Free Beacon: Texas governor Greg Abbott (R.) on Tuesday designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations, barring the groups from owning land and permitting the state attorney general to shut them down. “The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,'” Abbott said in a press release. “This designation authorizes heightened enforcement against both organizations and their affiliates and prohibits them from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas.” … “The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable,” Abbott said. “These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas.” (Free Beacon).

Border Czar Homan to Step Up ICE Raids in NY Ahead of Mamdani Mayoralty

The relationship between the soon-to-be mayor and the Trump administration is going to be interesting to watch. New York Post reports: President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan warned New Yorkers will see increased federal immigration enforcement ahead of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani taking office. Homan, during an interview on Fox News Tuesday morning, also said he plans to hold Mayor Eric Adams’ administration accountable for its commitment to reopen ICE’s office on Rikers Island…. “we will increase the enforcement presence in New York City,” Homan added. “Again, because they’re a sanctuary city and there are public safety threats hitting the streets every day.” The vows come just weeks before Democratic socialist Mamdani is set to be sworn in as mayor, replacing Adams, who had been an ally of Homan and the Trump administration. The border czar had famously promised Adams to be “up his butt” if Hizzoner didn’t cooperate on immigration. Adams did try to reopen ICE’s long-dormant office on the troubled jail complex, albeit in a roundabout way through his first Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro. (New York Post).

Mamdani Makes Revealing Early Decision: Endorses 9/11 Apologist for His Assembly Seat

The assembly seat he’ll be vacating to take on mayoral responsibilities on January 1. New York Post: Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is reportedly supporting a candidate for state Assembly linked to the Council on American-Islamic Relations — and who once described 9/11 as a terror attack that a “couple of people did.” Mamdani’s backing of Aber Kawas, a longtime Palestinian-American activist, was relayed by a member of his mayoral transition team during a closed-door Democratic Socialists of America meeting in Manhattan last week, according to a Daily News report. “[Mamdani] told me that while he has tremendous respect for everyone in this race, he has said that he will support Aber in whatever she pursues,” top political adviser to the Mamdani transition Sam McCann said during the meeting, according to the News (New York Post).

A Closer Look at Aber Kawas

Disturbing stuff. Marina Medvin: Aber Kawas blamed America for 9/11 and said Muslims shouldn’t apologize for it because Americans don’t pay them reparations. Zohran Mamdani just endorsed her for a New York State Assembly seat in Queens, over a gay socialist candidate. Kawas moved to NYC last year after earning a master’s degree in “Islamic Liberation Theology” from a university in South Africa. Her background is in pro-Islamism, pro-Arabization, and anti-Israel politics. Her platform is entirely unrelated to issues facing Queens (Medvin). Drew Pavlou took a look at her old social media posts: I found Aber Kawas’s old Tumblr account. I found these posts defending convicted Al Qaeda financier Fahad Hashmi and synagogue bomb plotter Ahmad Farhani…. Ahmad Farhani meanwhile was sentenced to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to plotting to blow up a synagogue in Manhattan. He told the court: “I intended to create chaos and send a message of intimidation and coercion to the Jewish population of New York City, warning them to stop mistreating Muslims.” Kawas wrote of Farhani as a “brother … whose family I know’’ (Pavlou).

Watching Trump in South America: ‘The Donroe Doctrine’

Watching what Trump is doing—most recently—with the drug cartels and pressuring Maduro in Venezuela, the New York Times articulates what we’ve seen unfolding geo-strategically: In 1823, President James Monroe aspired to stop European powers from meddling in the hemisphere. In 2025, the competing power is China, which has built up enormous political and economic power in Latin America over the past several decades. Some foreign policy analysts believe that Mr. Trump would like to divide the world with China and Russia into spheres of influence. In recent months, top U.S. officials have explained their strategy in those terms. “The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood — and we will protect it,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote Thursday, in the latest example…. In one sign of Mr. Trump’s impact, the premier diplomatic forum for the hemisphere, the Summit of the Americas, was abruptly canceled this month for the first time in its 31-year history. Organizers cited “deep divisions that currently hamper productive dialogue” (New York Times).

10.

In the Face of a Potentially Divided Right: Could This Be JD Vance’s Moment?

The splintering of American media and the proliferation of social media platforms has created emergent fault lines on the right. Who can help? Christopher Rufo argues it could be J.D. Vance’s moment: For several years, the man who successfully managed these disputes and brought the various groups into a single coalition was Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. After Kirk’s assassination in September, it became clear how much he mattered and how much he had held the Right together. It is no surprise, therefore, that after his death the movement’s fractures started to become more visible. Conservative institutions have thus far been unable to produce a leader who can fill Kirk’s role, but one figure already has the authority, familiarity, and political skill to manage these divisions: J. D. Vance. …. If Vance can stake out popular positions, maintain strategic distance from unpopular figures, and bring together the Right’s legitimate factions, he will have laid the foundation for a strong campaign. It would also be wise to remember, as Nixon did, that addition through subtraction works. Putting together a majority requires not only mobilizing groups that can deliver votes but also disaffiliating with or sidelining groups that could hurt the coalition. Fringe racialists and paranoid conspiracists are precisely the kinds of factions that should be managed out of the coalition. The fight will not be easy. There will be conflict and controversy. But Vance has already demonstrated the skill necessary to bring new elements into the coalition, such as the so-called Tech Right. And he has refused to take the bait from figures like Fuentes, who have tried to provoke him. The challenge ahead will be even greater. I hope he is up to it (City Journal).

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