Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old dual citizen who had been fighting as part of the Israeli war effort, met with President Donald Trump today in the oval office after being released by Hamas from a 584-day-long captivity.
He <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/03/us-news/freed-hostage-edan-alexander-welcomed-at-white-house-reveals-his-treatment-in-captivity-improved-after-trumps-election/">credited the president</a> for his release, saying: “I came to thank the person responsible for saving my life. It was deeply moving to be in the White House, the same place where my parents had fought for my release so many times, but this time together with them.”
He also told the president that his captors started treating him better as soon as he came into office.
“They weren’t too afraid of Biden,” Trump replied.
He also asked for Trump’s help in securing the release of the remaining hostages: “I told the most powerful man in the world what I went through, what my friends are enduring, and asked him to continue doing everything in his power.”
“I shared with the president my fear that continued fighting endangers the hostages. I hope he can achieve another historic breakthrough—a comprehensive deal to free all 50 hostages. I told him I am confident he is the person who can make it happen.”
Hamas released Alexander unconditionally in May, in what was seen as a “goodwill gesture” to Trump to get his help in reviving ceasefire talks with Israel.
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Trump is scheduled to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next Monday and said he will be &#8220;<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-says-he-hopes-gaza-ceasefire-will-be-reached-sometime-next-week/">very firm</a>&#8221; with him on the need to end the war. He said that Netanyahu “wants it, too” and predicts that a ceasefire deal can be reached next week.
On Wednesday, Hamas announced it was considering the latest hostage-ceasefire deal proposed by Steve Witkoff, Middle East envoy for the Trump administration. Inner sources said that Hamas’ attitude toward it was “<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-says-he-hopes-gaza-ceasefire-will-be-reached-sometime-next-week/">generally positive</a>.”
Israel’s foreign minister likewise made a statement that Israel wants to resume talks “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-cease-fire-trump.html">as soon as possible.</a>”
Witkoff’s proposal is for Hamas to release 10 living Israeli hostages and return the bodies of 18 deceased hostages in return for a 60 day ceasefire. All hostages would be released if a permanent ceasefire was agreed upon during that time.

Donald Trump

Freed American Hostage Visits White House, Urges Trump To Free Remaining Hamas Captives

Executive

Gaza

Hamas

Hostages

Israel

Terrorism

World

The Department of Justice <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/national-health-care-fraud-takedown-results-324-defendants-charged-connection-over-146" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the results of its annual healthcare fraud “takedown” this week, in which they charged 324 defendants with $14.6 billion of medical fraud.
Defendants include 96 licensed medical professionals “in 50 federal districts and 12 State Attorneys General’s Offices across the United States.”
“With more than $13 billion in fraud uncovered, this is the largest takedown for this initiative to date,” said FBI director Kash Patel. The <a href="https://www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">initiative</a> identified $2.75 billion in fraud in 2024 and $2.5 billion in 2023.
“The government seized over $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency, and other assets,” the Justice Department stated.
In addition, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “prevented over $4 billion from being paid in response to false and fraudulent claims and that it suspended or revoked the billing privileges of 205 providers in the months leading up to the Takedown.” Civil charges and settlements amount to another $48.5 million.
The busted fraud schemes involve identity theft, fraudulent wound care, prescription opioid trafficking, and fake telemedicine claims.
One transnational criminal organization alone was responsible for $10.6 billion of the $14.6 billion in total fraud identified.
A network of foreign individuals “strategically bought dozens of medical supply companies located across the United States,” then used the stolen identities of over a million Americans to submit fraudulent Medicare claims for “urinary catheters and other durable medical equipment.”
In another case, foreign individuals relied on artificial intelligence to carry out identity theft.
“The defendants allegedly used artificial intelligence to create fake recordings of Medicare beneficiaries purportedly consenting to receive certain products,” the Justice Department says. The recordings were then “sold to laboratories and durable medical equipment companies, which used this unlawfully obtained and fraudulently generated data to submit false claims to Medicare.”
So far, the government has recovered $44.7 million of the $418 million paid on these claims.
Other defendants allegedly submitted fraudulent claims for unnecessary amniotic wound grafts, targeting elderly patients and receiving “millions in illegal kickbacks from the fraudulent billing scheme.”
Agency and department heads affirmed their commitment to rooting out health care fraud schemes, emphasizing how they harm patients and Americans.
The schemes “often result in physical patient harm through medically unnecessary treatments or failure to provide the correct treatments,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, adding that medical fraudsters steal “ money hardworking Americans contribute to pay for the care of their elders and other vulnerable citizens.”
“This record-setting Health Care Fraud Takedown delivers justice to criminal actors who prey upon our most vulnerable citizens and steal from hardworking American taxpayers,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
“Make no mistake — this administration will not tolerate criminals who line their pockets with taxpayer dollars while endangering the health and safety of our communities.”

President Trump Swears In Steve Witkoff As Special Envoy

Trump Justice Department Exposes $14 Billion In Medicare and Medicaid Fraud

Department of Justice

Fraud

Medicaid

Medicare

Pam Bondi

A Canadian-American dual citizen was arrested this week for his role in a smuggling ring that left a family of four, including two children, dead.
Timothy Oakes, 34, was part of a group that would smuggle migrants across the St. Lawrence River into New York, the Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/canadian-man-arrested-and-detained-role-deadly-alien-smuggling-conspiracy-uss-northern#:~:text=Timothy%20Oakes%2C%2034%2C%20from%20the,today%20and%20will%20remain%20detained." target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a>. He routinely hosted migrants in his home on the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation, which borders the river, before ferrying them across on his boat.
In May 2023, he hosted a young Romanian family with a one-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter. Oakes’ brother attempted to ferry them across the border, despite weather reports of dangerous conditions including “high winds, freezing temperatures, and limited visibility”. Their boat capsized, killing all five of them.
“He profited from a human smuggling operation with a singular, cold-hearted aim: making money by bringing illegal aliens into the United States, regardless of the danger to human life involved,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
“Their greed resulted in the deaths of a mother, a father, and two small children, as well as one of the defendants’ own brothers. The Criminal Division will continue to disrupt and dismantle these organizations and bring justice to smugglers whose actions result in senseless deaths.”
Oakes, who made $1,000 for every immigrant he shuttled,  was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations in June when he tried to cross into New York. He had previously been arraigned numerous times for human smuggling offenses by a New York District Court.
He has been indicted for “conspiring with others to engage in alien smuggling, four counts of alien smuggling for profit, and four counts of alien smuggling resulting in death.”
Oakes’ three United States-based co-conspirators — Dakota Montour, 31, Kawisiiostha Celecia Sharrow, 43, and Janet Terrance, 45 — have all pleaded guilty.
“Oakes’ arrest comes as part of our nearly two-year long investigation into a transnational criminal organization responsible for the large-scale smuggling of aliens from Canada into the United States,” said ICE agent Erin Keegan.
The investigation is ongoing and involves cooperation between multiple American and Canadian agencies. It is part of “Operation Take Back America,” a Trump Department of Justice initiative that “marshals the full resources of the DOJ” to combat illegal immigration and transnational crime.

Border Patrol

Canadian Arrested For Role In ‘Deadly Alien Smuggling Conspiracy’ That Killed A Family Of Four

Canada

Illegal Immigration

Smuggling

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday shared a disturbing tale of an illegal immigrant, which she said underscored the importance of the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.
“The other day I was talking to some marshals who had been partnering with ICE,” Noem <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/01/us-news/us-captured-cannibal-illegal-migrant-who-tried-to-eat-his-own-arms-during-deportation-flight-kristi-noem-reveals-in-wild-press-conference/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “They said they had detained a cannibal and put him on a plane to take him home and while they had him in his seat he started to eat himself, and they had to get him off and get him medical attention.”
“You know, what bothered me the most is that this U.S. Marshal just said it like it was normal,” Noem <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/kristi-noem-shares-jaw-dropping-story-at-trump-presser-about-detained-cannibal-migrant-trying-to-eat-himself/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in an interview with FOX News. “He said he was literally eating his own arms. That is what he did. He called himself a cannibal and ate other people and ate himself that day.”
“These are the kind of deranged individuals that are on our streets in America that we’re trying to target,” Noem added.” We’re trying to get them out of our country because they are so deranged they don’t belong here.”
The secretary then slammed news outlets that “lie every single day about what these operations are.”
“We are going after murderers and rapists and traffickers and drug dealers and getting them off the streets, and getting them out of this country because Joe Biden let the worst of the worst come in here.”
“They shouldn’t be walking the streets with our children. And they shouldn’t be living in communities with our families who just want to raise their children to grow up and get a job and to live the American dream,” she added.
The press briefing comes after a visit to Florida’s latest ICE detention facility, dubbed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-plans-visit-to-floridas-alligator-alcatraz-amid-protests-lawsuit?author=Sam+Korkus&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Plans+Visit+To+Florida%E2%80%99s+%E2%80%98Alligator+Alcatraz%E2%80%99+Amid+Protests%2C+Lawsuit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alligator Alcatraz</a>, alongside President Donald Trump.
Noem praised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis “for stepping up and being an example to other governors.”
“I hope my phone rings off the hook from governors calling and saying how can we do what Florida just did?”
Trump <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-alligator-alcatraz-detention-center-florida/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">echoed</a> her sentiment, saying he’d like to see Alligator Alcatraz repeated in “many states.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Tours Notorious Prison During Trip To El Salvador

Illegal Immigrant Cannibal Tried To Eat Himself On Deportation Flight, DHS Secretary Says

Department of Homeland Security

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Kristi Noem

This year, several local governments are switching up their 4th of July celebrations, conducting drone shows in lieu of fireworks.
Lincoln City, Oregon; Redwood City, California; Waynesboro, Virginia; and Pasadena, California, are all jumping on the drone show bandwagon.
Lincoln City provided an explanation for the change alongside the schedule for their 4th of July celebrations: “We are making this change in response to growing community concerns about the environmental and wildlife impacts, public safety issues, and wildfire risk that can be caused by traditional fireworks shows.”
Redwood City stated that their new tradition of drone shows will provide “all the &#8216;wow&#8217; without the worry.”
<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-19/no-fireworks-but-drones-how-pasadena">Pasadena</a> announced that they would replace the annual fireworks at the Rose Bowl &#8212; known for being one of the largest and longest running shows in the nation &#8212; with a drone show.
The debate of fireworks versus drones is a hot one.
Proponents of drone shows point to the pollution caused by fireworks.
On Monday, Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) published a <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/egle/newsroom/mi-environment/2025/06/30/are-fireworks-bad-for-air-quality">report</a> warning residents that “EGLE’s air monitoring network often shows high levels of particulate pollution over the 4th of July.”
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Additionally, it&#8217;s claimed that drone shows are more inclusive and respectful of wildlife and pets.
“Drones produce almost no noise, allowing pets and veterans that may have PTSD to enjoy aerial entertainment, unlike fireworks,” says <a href="https://parade.com/living/why-drone-shows-may-replace-fireworks">Tyler Kubicz</a>, production manager for Sky Elements Drones, the largest drone show company in the United States.
“Drones also do not produce debris or smoke, allowing for those with compromised immune systems to enjoy the show too.&#8221;
“Fireworks frighten birds out of their nests, send terrified dogs and cats running away from their homes, and start fires that can quickly turn devastating,” PETA’s executive vice president commented in <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-19/no-fireworks-but-drones-how-pasadena">response</a> to Pasadena’s announcement in April.
Viewers say they appreciate the futuristic effects and storytelling capabilities of drones. &#8220;Reactions to the show in 2023 were overwhelmingly <a href="https://parade.com/living/why-drone-shows-may-replace-fireworks">positive</a>,” said Amber Thrill, operations manager for the city.
&#8220;The primary request through the 2023 event survey was for the drone show to be longer.”
On the flip side, drone shows are significantly more expensive, being approximately <a href="https://www.droneshowsoftware.com/news/the-growing-trend-of-integrated-drones-and-fireworks-shows">10 times</a> the cost of fireworks.
Fourth of July fireworks are also a <a href="https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-virginia-gazette-a-grand-exhibition/80529037/">centuries long</a> American tradition, and many Americans love the explosiveness and nostalgia of fireworks. This has led some cities to walk back on their changes.
“Redondo Beach and Laguna Beach switched back to fireworks after trying out drone shows, and some promoters of fireworks shows have voiced criticism over efforts to transition to drone shows,” writes the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-19/no-fireworks-but-drones-how-pasadena">LA Times</a>.

Fireworks and audience

More Cities Replacing July 4th Fireworks With Drone Shows

Fires

Fourth of July

General

Holiday

U.S.

North Korea announced Wednesday that it would open a new beach resort on July 1, part of Kim Jong Un’s effort to revive the country’s suffering economy with tourism.
The Korean Central News Agency <a href="https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1750935738-331924234/tourist-attraction-on-east-coast%E2%80%93new-scenic-beauty-of-socialist-cultural-efflorescence-inaugural-ceremony-of-wonsan-kalma-coastal-tourist-area-held-with-splendour/">claims</a> the resort spans four kilometers of coastline in the city of Wosan, and can accommodate 20,000 people. Amenities include “sea-bathing service facilities and various sports, amusement, commercial and public catering facilities.”
“Kim Jong Un, the great artist of creation and construction and the dear father … is ushering in a new era of prosperity and development,&#8221; KCNA said.
The state-run news service reports Kim Jong Un took an active role in the construction of the resort, stating that it was “what he most wanted to do for the people,” and that it was “a prelude to a new era of our country’s tourism.” He reportedly expressed his desire that the resort be “without an equal in the world.”
Attendees of the inaugural ceremony included top North Korean officials, as well as the Russian ambassador Alexander Matsegora and his staff, BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0w59r54w9o">reported</a>.
It’s unlikely that the resort will actually live up to Pyongyang’s description. The state media consistently praises Kim’s new pet building projects in the highest terms, when in reality, they lack basic functions or are unable to perform basic operations.
In April, Kim announced the completion of a 10,000-unit apartment complex in Pyongyang, calling it a “beautiful and modern urban quarter” heralding “a new era of prosperity.” However, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/19/style/north-korea-hwasong-pyongyang-housing-intl-hnk/index.html">noted</a> during a visit that the elevators were inoperable due to electricity shortages.
In 2014, a new Pyongyang apartment building <a href="https://nypost.com/2014/05/17/kim-jong-un-sat-up-all-night-after-serious-construction-accident/">collapsed</a> due to structural defects.
In May, Kim’s new 5,000-ton naval destroyer, which was supposed to be “North Korea’s most ambitious naval modernization effort in decades,” <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/22/asia/north-korea-destroyer-accident-intl-hnk-ml">capsized</a> during its launch.
It is unclear whether the resort will be open to Westerners. North Korea shut down its borders in 2020, reopening them to Russians in 2023 and Westerners in February 2025 for a short period before closing them again in March.
Currently, the United States prohibits citizens from travelling to North Korea due to the lack of diplomatic relations and “the continuing serious risk of arrest, long-term detention, and the threat of wrongful detention of U.S. nationals.”
This tragically played out in 2016 when Otto Warmbier, a student at Virginia University, travelled to North Korea for a Christmas break trip. North Korea alleges he stole a propaganda poster, and sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor. Though U.S. diplomats tried to get him released, he was returned brain-dead a year and a half into his sentence.
The resort is “unlikely to be a major draw for most Western tourists,” <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0w59r54w9o">says</a> Rowan Beard, co-founder of exotic tour company Young Pioneer Tours.
&#8220;Key sites like Pyongyang, the DMZ, and other brutalist or communist landmarks will continue to be the main highlights for international visitors once broader tourism resumes.&#8221;

Kim Jong Un

North Korea Praises ‘Great Artist Of Creation’ Kim Jong Un As Beach Resort Opens

Global Politics

North Korea

Propaganda

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights ruled Wednesday that California violated Title IX by allowing men to compete in women’s sports and use women’s locker rooms.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-finds-california-department-of-education-and-california-interscholastic-federation-violation-of-title-ix">announced</a> the results of the office’s investigation on Wednesday.
“Although Governor Gavin Newsom admitted months ago it was ‘deeply unfair’ to allow men to compete in women’s sports, both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation continued as recently as a few weeks ago to allow men to steal female athletes’ well-deserved accolades and to subject them to the indignity of unfair and unsafe competitions.”
“The Trump administration will relentlessly enforce Title IX protections for women and girls, and our findings today make clear that California has failed to adhere to its obligations under federal law,” McMahon said. “The state must swiftly come into compliance with Title IX or face the consequences that follow,” she added.
<a href="https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/civil-rights-laws/title-ix-and-sex-discrimination">Title IX</a> “prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.”
President Donald Trump signed an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/">executive order</a> in January to formally recognize only two genders, based on a “fundamental and incontrovertible” reality. Under this framework, male participation in women’s sports counts as sex discrimination under Title IX. 
The following month, Trump signed another executive order to remove funding from states that violate Title IX. 
The California Interscholastic Federation responded in February by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/california-plans-continue-allowing-trans-athletes-compete-girls-sports-despite-trump-executive-order">declaring</a> it would continue to allow trans athletes to compete alongside women in accordance with state law.
 &#8220;The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete in education-based experiences…consistent with the student’s gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records.”
California has 10 days to comply with Title IX and Trump’s executive order, or it will face “imminent enforcement action, including referral to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for proceedings,” and removal of federal education funds, the Education Department says.
The Office fo Civil Rights has also instructed California to “restore to female athletes all individual records, titles, and awards misappropriated by male athletes competing in female competitions,” and sent a personalized letter of apology to each female athlete affected, “for allowing her educational experience to be marred by sex discrimination.”
The state must also propose a monitoring plan to ensure that it continues to abide by Title IX.
California receives a tremendous amount of federal funding. In 2022, the state <a href="https://usafacts.org/answers/how-much-money-does-the-federal-government-provide-state-and-local-governments/state/california/">received</a> over $161 billion. Residents say they won’t look kindly on Newsom if he puts these funds at risk.
“Without these federal funds, California’s budget crisis would dramatically worsen, and California’s most vulnerable students would stand to lose crucial programs and support,” writes the <a href="https://californiapolicycenter.org/california-accepts-billions-in-federal-funds-for-education-while-defying-federal-law/">California Policy Center</a>. 
“Newsom and the California Department of Education should reassess their priorities and consider what California families want most: a quality education for the next generation.”

Linda McMahon

Department of Education Says California Violated Title IX, Threatens Legal Action

California

Department of Education

Gavin Newsom

Title IX

Women's sports

Oil prices fell Monday after Iran’s casualty-free attack on a United States military base in Qatar, with investors hoping the attack signals the limits of Tehran’s retaliatory ability.
Prices spiked 6% after Iran <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-threatens-retaliation-us-strikes-expert-breaks-down-tehran-possible-targets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to President Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States had bombed an Iranian nuclear facility. Some 20% of the world’s daily oil supply passes through the strait, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/stock-market-oil-iran-attack-2d05b0a9e52320e822b649b8e29d28aa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AP.</a>
On Monday, Iran fired missiles at the Al Udeid Air Base, all of which were intercepted. There were no casualties. In response, “the price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. oil had dropped 7.2% to settle at $68.51 after briefly topping $78,” according to the AP.
Trump noted the de-escalatory nature of the attack in a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114734424268466099" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on Truth Social, emphasizing that there were no casualties, all missiles were successfully intercepted, and Iran warned the United States of the attack beforehand.
“Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered.”
“Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their “system,” and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE.”
Hours later, Trump announced that Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire. Markets will likely stabilize in the coming days.

New York Stock Exchange

Oil Prices Fall As Iran’s ‘Weak’ Retaliation Gives Way To Ceasefire

Iran

The New York Times is under fire for what many are calling a bizarre hit piece on Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
The piece, by reporter Caroline Kitchener, calls Duffy the “MTV Reality Star in Trump’s Cabinet Who Wants You to Have More Kids.” Duffy appeared on “The Real World: Boston” in 1997, and “Road Rules: Allstars” the following year, where he met his future wife, Rachel Campos.
Duffy and Campos wed in 1999 and went on to have nine children. Duffy’s political career began in 2002, when he was named District Attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin. He served in the House of Representatives from 2011-2019. During his first campaign, he told Politico that his time as a reality TV star was “a lifetime ago,” calling it “Six months, 15 years ago.”
Still, to Kitchener, Duffy is still the “sex-hungry 25-year-old on MTV’s “The Real World,” now using his family for clout, and letting his personal convictions about family influence his policy.
Kitchener, who chronicles family issues in the “Trump era” for the Times, is a former abortion reporter for the Washington Post and received the Pulitzer Prize in 2023 for work on the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
She <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/us/politics/sean-duffy-reality-television.html">claims</a> the Duffys “positioned themselves as the poster family for the administration’s agenda to raise the birthrate and promote a conservative view of traditional family values.”
Her greatest accusation is that Duffy’s “policies and perspectives are shaped by the conviction that women should be having more children.”
“Early in his tenure at the Transportation Department, Mr. Duffy signed a controversial memo pledging to prioritize transportation funding for regions with higher birthrates and marriage rates — an approach that Democratic senators have called &#8216;deeply frightening&#8217; and &#8216;disturbingly dystopian.&#8217;”
Duffy dismissed Kitchener’s characterization, saying, “With all the serious issues facing our country, the New York Times decided to dispatch a former abortion correspondent (cosplaying now as a “family” expert) for a hit piece on me and the Trump administration.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
With all the serious issues facing our country, the New York Times decided to dispatch a former abortion correspondent (cosplaying now as a “family” expert) for a hit piece on me and the Trump administration.
NYT reporter <a href="https://twitter.com/CAKitchener?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@CAKitchener</a> is genuinely disturbed that I’m happily… <a href="https://t.co/wrNTMFoK42" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/wrNTMFoK42</a>
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDuffy/status/1937124269374292211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">June 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
Kitchener “ is genuinely disturbed that I’m happily married, have nine kids, and—brace yourself—didn’t abort any of them,” Duffy added.
“Among the hard-hitting questions she harassed my team with: did I consider aborting one of my daughters, what color plaid my siblings and I wore as children, whether I drive a minivan, and bizarre fact-checks on an old reality show. Pulitzer stuff, truly.”
“I’m laser focused on making transportation great again,” Duffy added. “While they obsess over my beautiful family, I’m working for yours.”
Others were quick to criticize Kitchener and her piece.
“The former abortion reporter for the Washington Post is VERY mad that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has a big family,&#8221; Federalist CEO Sean Davis wrote on X. &#8220;Apparently she sent a deranged list of questions to the family demanding to know why they didn’t abort their oldest daughter. What a psycho!”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The former abortion reporter for the Washington Post is VERY mad that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has a big family. Apparently she sent a deranged list of questions to the family demanding to know why they didn’t abort their oldest daughter. What a psycho! <a href="https://t.co/LfrTL9x0Vo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/LfrTL9x0Vo</a>
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) <a href="https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1937140020030116227?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">June 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
“Nothing demonstrates the plight of unhappy liberal women quite like this article trying to scandalize Sean Duffy for… *checks notes* settling down and having a big family,&#8221; White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Nothing demonstrates the plight of unhappy liberal women quite like this article trying to scandalize Sean Duffy for… *checks notes* settling down and having a big family <a href="https://t.co/ag7q7sbJAZ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/ag7q7sbJAZ</a>
— Abigail Jackson (@ATJackson47) <a href="https://twitter.com/ATJackson47/status/1937144235368874407?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">June 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Duffy’s daughter, Evita Alonso-Duffy, said &#8220;it’s clear&#8221; that Kitchener &#8220;hates family, given how much the size of ours disturbs her.&#8221;
&#8220;The truth is simple,&#8221; Alonso-Duffy added. &#8220;We’re not a prop, a brand, or some act. We’re a real, loving, faithful, joyful family — and<a href="https://x.com/CAKitchener" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> @CAKitchener</a> is bitter and a creep.”
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The NYT just published a hit piece on my family, accusing my dad of using us as political props for his career. The writer, Caroline Kitchener, is an abortion reporter who now claims to be a “family” journalist. But it’s clear she hates family, given how much the size of ours… <a href="https://t.co/AkiicQXodp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/AkiicQXodp</a>
— Evita Duffy-Alfonso (@evitaduffy_1) <a href="https://twitter.com/evitaduffy_1/status/1937119749269311827?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">June 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Lila Rose, a prominent pro-life advocate, said, “The Duffys represent everything the pro-abort side despises: faith, marriage, &amp; openness to life. The NYT is attacking them not because they’re wrong, but because they’re winning.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Duffys represent everything the pro-abort side despises: faith, marriage, &amp; openness to life
Married 26 years, <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanDuffyWI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@SeanDuffyWI</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/RCamposDuffy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@RCamposDuffy</a> are raising nine beautiful children with love &amp; joy
The NYT is attacking them not because they’re wrong, but because they’re winning <a href="https://t.co/l4I6ZexMoh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://t.co/l4I6ZexMoh</a>
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) <a href="https://twitter.com/LilaGraceRose/status/1937184162219467052?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">June 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Announces Plan To Boost Air Traffic Controller Workforce

New York Times Abortion Reporter Slammed For ‘Deranged’ Piece On Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy

Abortion

Family Values

New York Times

Sean Duffy

The new United States dietary guidelines, which are expected to be released this month, will remove the daily recommended limit for alcohol consumption.
The new guidelines, drafted by the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services,  “are expected to include a brief statement encouraging Americans to drink in moderation or limit alcohol intake due to associated health risks,” sources told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-drop-guidance-limit-alcohol-one-or-two-drinks-per-day-sources-say-2025-06-18/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a>.
This marks a shift for the guidelines. Since 1990, the daily recommended limits have been no more than one drink for women and up to two drinks for men. It also signals a rebuke of the Biden administration, which took steps to drastically limit the amount of alcohol Americans consume.
In the last month of his term, Biden’s surgeon general expressed a desire to place cancer risk warnings on all alcohol products. Biden had also tapped a secretive board called the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking to revise the alcohol portion of the dietary guidelines.
Sources close to the committee — which contained multiple Canadian citizens —warned it was “close to adopting the World Health Organization’s 2023 <a href="https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declaration</a>: &#8216;No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health,&#8217;” as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/no-donald-trump-isnt-coming-for-your-tequila-but-kamala-might-be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously reported</a> by The Daily Wire.
Dietary guidelines are published every five years. The current revision is being led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The intention behind making the change is “to ensure the guidelines reflect only the most robust evidence.”
“The scientific basis for recommending specific daily limits is limited,” one source commented.
The debate surrounding the potential benefits and harms of alcohol is still unsettled. Though some studies indicate an increased risk of <a href="https://ysph.yale.edu/news-article/the-link-between-alcohol-and-cancer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cancer</a>, others show that those who consume alcohol in moderation may have a <a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2024/12/new-report-reviews-evidence-on-moderate-alcohol-consumption-and-health-impacts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lower mortality rate</a>, and possess a lower risk of heart attack and stroke.
Authors of a Harvard <a href="https://harvardpublichealth.org/policy-practice/is-alcohol-bad-for-you-or-is-alcohol-good-for-you-yes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meta-study</a> concluded that “the data do not justify sweeping statements about the [negative] effects of moderate alcohol consumption on human health.”
&#8220;The hospitality industry has consistently maintained the view that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans should be determined based on a preponderance of sound scientific evidence, free from bias and conflicts of interest,&#8221; Science Over Bias, a coalition of groups involved in the alcohol industry, said in a statement. &#8220;Information on responsible alcohol consumption has been part of the Dietary Guidelines for decades and has provided useful guidance for consumers who choose to consume alcohol and their health care providers.&#8221;

Full Frame Shot Of Alcohol Bottles In Shelf

U.S. Dietary Guidelines Will Scrap Daily Alcohol Limit

Alcohol

Biden Administration

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Surgeon General

USDA

The United States partnered with European authorities to shut down one of the world’s largest darknet drug trafficking websites, which is also one of the few online marketplaces for fentanyl.
American officials partnered with Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, to shut down Archetyp Market, which authorities say had trafficked at least $290 million worth of drugs to more than 600,000 users over five years.
A law enforcement coalition that included the national police forces of several European nations and multiple American agencies conducted a three-day operation across five countries. Officers seized Archetyp Market infrastructure in the Netherlands and arrested a 30-year-old German administrator in Barcelona.
One Archetyp Market moderator and six of the market’s highest vendors were also apprehended, along with around $9 million in assets.
“With over 17,000 listings, it is one of the few darknet markets that allowed the sale of fentanyl and other highly potent synthetic opioids,” <a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/europe-wide-takedown-hits-longest-standing-dark-web-drug-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Europol</a> wrote on its website.
The operation required “years of intensive investigative work” to “map the platform’s technical architecture and identify the individuals behind it.” Law enforcement achieved this by “tracing financial flows, analysing digital forensic evidence, and working closely with partners on the ground.”
&#8220;With this takedown, law enforcement has taken out one of the dark web&#8217;s longest-running drug markets, cutting off a major supply line for some of the world&#8217;s most dangerous substances.&#8221; Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, deputy executive director of operations at Europol, stated, per Reuters.
&#8220;By dismantling its infrastructure and arresting its key players, we are sending a clear message: there is no safe haven for those who profit from harm.”
All that’s left of the site is a seizure banner and a link to “Operation Deep Sentinel,” a <a href="https://operation-deepsentinel.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> warning any remaining users that “Everything comes to an end.”

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman Announces Large Heroin Bust

United States, Europe Shut Down Major Dark Web Fentanyl Market

Drugs

European Union

Fentanyl

United States

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten resigned from the board of the Democratic National Committee after more than 23 years, citing disagreements with new leadership.
“I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging, and I do not want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent and actively trying to engage more of our communities,” Weingarten wrote in her June 5 <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000197-75eb-da2a-a9bf-7feba2f90000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resignation letter</a>.
Weingarten, who leads the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union, opposed DNC Chairman Ken Martin in February’s election. Upon becoming chair, Martin removed Weingarten from her longstanding position on the Rules and Bylaws Committee.
Weeks before Weingarten resigned, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees President Lee Saunders also stepped down from the DNC. On May 27, Saunders wrote that “public service workers are facing unprecedented attacks,” a challenge which “demands unwavering focus.”
“In that spirit, and with deep respect, I must decline your nomination to the DNC,” Saunders wrote, according to The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/15/randi-weingarten-democratic-national-committee/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington Post.</a>
Saunders further <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/15/us/politics/randi-weingarten-dnc-ken-martin.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explained</a> his decision to resign in a statement to The New York Times, saying, “We must evolve to meet the urgency of this moment. This is not a time to close ranks or turn inward.”
“This amounts to the exit of two of the highest-profile union leaders aligned with the Democratic Party,” The New York Times’ Shane Goldmacher <a href="https://x.com/ShaneGoldmacher/status/1934441042016645243" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X.
The two resignations are the latest signs of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dei-claims-another-scalp-dnc-diversity-rules-oust-david-hogg?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=DEI+Claims+Another+Scalp%3A+DNC+Diversity+Rules+Oust+David+Hogg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">internal conflict</a> at the DNC. Two vice chairs were voted out last week, including 25-year-old activist David Hogg, whose controversial $20 million project to back younger Democratic candidates over their “out-of-touch, ineffective” incumbent seniors was supported by Weingarten.
This caused tension between Hogg and the chairman, who told the Gen Z activist he would have to leave if he wanted to continue with the project.
“If you want to challenge incumbents, you’re more than free to do that, but just not as an officer of the DNC, because our job is to be neutral arbiters,” Martin said. “We can’t be both the referee and also the player at the same time. You have to make a decision.”
In leaked video footage of a Zoom meeting, Martin told Hogg, &#8220;The other night I said to myself for the first time, ‘I don’t know if I want to do this anymore&#8217;&#8230;you essentially destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to.”
This feud led to Hogg’s removal, though the DNC claimed the vote was occasioned by a failure to adhere to gender diversity protocols in the previous election.
“I ran to be DNC Vice Chair to help make the Democratic Party better, not to defend an indefensible status quo that has caused voters in almost every demographic group to move away from us,” Hogg said.
Saunders and Weingarten aren’t the only ones souring on the Democratic Party. According to a recent <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/16/politics/cnn-poll-democrats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN poll</a>, more than half of “Democratic-aligned adults” say the party is heading “in the wrong direction.” When asked which Democratic leader best represents the values of the party, “More than 30% didn’t offer a name in response.&#8221;
“No one,” one respondent answered. “That’s the problem.”

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Isabel Garcia