President Donald Trump reignited his campaign to claim Greenland for America, telling NATO allies gathered in Turkey on Wednesday that the frozen island matters far more to Washington than it does to Copenhagen.
Trump argued that the U.S. essentially inherited responsibility for Greenland during World War II, after Nazi Germany overran Denmark in a single day and the Danes turned to America for protection of the territory. He said Washington&#8217;s decision to hand it back after the war was a mistake — one he suggested should be corrected, framing American control of the island as a matter of global security rather than just U.S. interest.
Trump’s remarks came just after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen <a href="https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/07/08/greenland-is-not-for-sale-denmarks-frederiksen-reminds-trump">made clear</a> her government has no intention of letting Greenland go. Speaking at the same summit, she insisted Greenland remains off the table entirely and said Copenhagen expects its NATO allies to honor Greenlanders&#8217; right to choose their own future and to respect Denmark&#8217;s sovereignty. Pressed on whether Denmark would fight to protect the island if attacked, Frederiksen said her country stands ready to defend every part of NATO territory, including its own.
Trump&#8217;s interest in Greenland isn&#8217;t new, and the reasons behind it are hard to dismiss. The Arctic territory sits atop what may be the largest reserves of rare earth minerals outside China — materials critical to everything from fighter jets to smartphones. With Beijing controlling the overwhelming share of global rare earth mining and refining, and holding a massive lead in related patents, Western nations have spent years searching for alternative sources.
Greenland&#8217;s military value is just as significant. In 2018, the Trump administration warned Denmark not to allow China, which wanted to build three airports in Greenland, to do so. China could potentially use the airports for warplanes.
Pituffik Space Base, formerly Thule Air Base, the northernmost U.S. installation, houses a radar system tied to America&#8217;s missile early-warning network and supports Space Command and NORAD operations — all made possible under a decades-old defense pact between Washington and Copenhagen. Its location, just hours by air from major American cities, makes it a critical piece of homeland defense, especially as melting Arctic ice opens new shipping lanes and draws growing interest from both China and Russia.
Washington has flirted with the idea of owning Greenland before — the Truman administration reportedly floated a $100 million offer in 1946, only to be rebuffed by Denmark.
Nearly eight decades later, the question is back on the table, this time with far higher stakes.

2026 NATO Leaders Summit In Ankara

Trump Renews Push To Own Greenland In Front Of NATO Leader

China

Denmark

Donald Trump

Greenland

A Christian pastor imprisoned for months reunited with his family after the Chinese Communist Party released him following pressure from President Donald Trump. 
Pastor Mingri “Ezra” Jin, the leader of one of the largest underground church networks in China, landed in the United States on the Fourth of July and was greeted by his family. Trump pushed Chinese President Xi Jinping to release Jin during his trip to China in May. 
&#8220;We truly witnessed a miracle and we are feeling so overwhelmed with joy. We thank God for this tremendous miracle,” Jin’s family said in a statement. “We also thank President Trump and his administration for their tremendous leadership.”
Jin and a number of other church leaders connected to Zion Church, an independent Protestant church, were rounded up and thrown into a detention center in southern China in October 2025. In January 2026, more Christians associated with Early Rain Covenant Church, an evangelical Presbyterian church, were targeted by the CCP. 
Jin was accused of disseminating illegal information online. 
Grace Jin Drexel, who has fought for months to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daughter-of-imprisoned-chinese-pastor-releases-tearful-christmas-message-to-father?utm_source=chatgpt.com">raise awareness</a> about her father’s case, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daughter-of-detained-pastor-warns-of-a-coming-wave-of-christian-persecution-in-communist-china">previously told</a> The Daily Wire her father became a Christian after the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.
“When the country betrayed them in such a brutal way, it really was shocking, and they lost a sense of direction for my dad,” Grace said. “He then found the sense of purpose and direction in Christianity, and he turned to Christ, and he realized that was the firm foundation that he needed in order to build his life upon.”
In 2007, Jin started Zion after years of theological training in the United States. By 2018, the government had cracked down on Zion by closing its physical location and freezing the church’s assets. 
During his trip to China, Trump pressed Xi on the imprisonment of Jin and Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai. 
“I think he’s giving very serious consideration to the pastor,” Trump said after the trip. “He said he’s giving very serious consideration to that.” 
Lawmakers praised Trump for advocating for Jin’s release. 
“I am profoundly grateful that Pastor Ezra Jin has been released and reunited with his family. I especially thank President Trump for personally raising Pastor Jin’s case with CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping and for ensuring that U.S. diplomats remained committed in pressing for his freedom,” said Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the co-chair of Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

CHINA-RELIGION-RIGHTS

China Releases Influential Christian Prisoner In ‘Miracle’ Move After Trump Pressured Xi

Christian Persecution

Christianity

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration is ramping up its crackdown on birth tourism in the United States.
Colin McDonald, who leads the newly formed Fraud Division at the Department of Justice, informed employees on Tuesday that the DOJ will target those who &#8220;exploit our immigration system and violate criminal law,&#8221; according to a memorandum on &#8220;fraudulent birth tourism schemes&#8221; obtained by The Daily Wire.
&#8220;I am directing all United States Attorneys and the Criminal Division to work with the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of birth tourism schemes,&#8221; McDonald ordered.
The memo comes on the heels of a momentous Supreme Court decision that protects the practice of “birth tourism,” often used by wealthy Chinese nationals to travel to the United States to give birth to their children.
The DOJ memo lays out how the American citizenship system is exploited every year by &#8220;thousands of foreigners&#8221; who come to the United States under &#8220;false pretenses to give birth and secure citizenship for their child.&#8221;
McDonald cites an example from 2024, in which Michael Wei Yueh Liu and Jing Dong, a husband and wife, were sentenced to 41 months in prison for operating a birth tourism scheme using a business called &#8220;USA Happy Baby Inc.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1126285" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-plans-assault-on-birth-tourism-after-letdown-at-scotus/us-politics-health-fraud-blanche" rel="attachment wp-att-1126285"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1126285" class="wp-image-1126285 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2282421409.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Photo by Ken Cedeno / AFP via Getty Images)</div>
That business charged Chinese clients &#8220;tens of thousands of dollars&#8221; for helping women give birth in the United States.
&#8220;Liu and Dong assisted customers with obtaining fraudulent visas to enter the United States, and provided customs entry guidance, housing, and transportation in the United States,&#8221; McDonald explained. &#8220;As part of the scheme, Liu and Dong coached their customers on how to hide their pregnancies from immigration authorities.&#8221;
Another 2022 scheme involved Ibrahim Aksakal, who was sentenced to 27 months in prison for &#8220;conspiring to commit health care and wire fraud&#8221; related to a birth tourism scheme that he operated in New York. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,039,723.63, and forfeiture in the amount of $397,500.
&#8220;Aksakal and his co-conspirators advertised a birth tourism scheme on two Turkish-language social media pages,&#8221; the memo states. &#8220;As part of the scheme, Aksakal and his co-conspirators instructed the women to conceal their pregnancies from immigration authorities.&#8221;
A third scheme, this one in 2020, involved a fugitive named Chao &#8220;Edwin&#8221; Chen who was sentenced to 37 months in prison for his role in a &#8220;large-scale birth tourism scheme.&#8221;
This business went under the name &#8220;You Win USA&#8221; and advertised that it had a 100-person team in China and the United States and had served more than 500 Chinese birth-tourism customers, the memo stated.
&#8220;Chen, who helped coach his customers to misrepresent the true 
intentions of their visits to United States at ports of entry, charged each customer between $40,000 to $80,000,&#8221; McDonald&#8217;s memo explained. &#8220;Chen received $3 million in international wire transfers from China in just two years.&#8221;
DOJ prosecutes many of these cases as visa fraud under 18 USC § 1546, but McDonald&#8217;s memo encourages prosecutors to consider whether other federal statutes have been violated.
That could include &#8220;Wire Fraud and Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud,&#8221; &#8220;Money Laundering and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering,&#8221; &#8220;Unlawful Use of Means of Identification,&#8221; &#8220;Aggravated Identity Theft,&#8221; and &#8220;Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud.&#8221;
President Trump called on Congress to take legislative action on Tuesday in light of the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision on birthright citizenship.
“The Supreme Court upheld Birthright Citizenship, which is too bad for our Country, but we can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President, that has now been determined during this process,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary! Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship. They will have my Complete and Total Support!”
He added in a post later on Tuesday: “I would like to congratulate President Xi, and the Great Country of China, on their massive Birthright Citizenship WIN!”

Trump Directs EPA To Clarify Rules On Individual Car Repairs

Trump Plans Assault On Birth Tourism After Letdown At SCOTUS

birth tourism

birthright citizenship

Executive

Fraud

Politics

SCOTUS

Supreme Court

Chinese businessman, right-wing media mogul, and real estate tycoon Miles Guo has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for defrauding his followers of more than $1 billion. 
Guo, who also used the names “Ho Wan Kwok,” “Guo Wengui,” “Brother Seven,” “The Principal,” and “Boss,” was convicted of racketeering, securities fraud, money laundering, and defrauding donors and investors.
Guo’s federal judge, Analisa Torres, said on Monday that Guo had “preyed on people seeking to bring democracy to China,” causing them “substantial financial and emotional harm.”
His fraud schemes began when he lured donors into his Rule of Law Foundation and Rule of Law Society by falsely claiming he was contributing the first $100 million himself. He also released stock in his media venture, GTV, which gained scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission. 
Guo was also involved in a scheme in which victims were told they could lend money to networks of Guo’s supporters and receive GTV stock and interest, a venture that allegedly netted him $100 million. He also sold $250 million in memberships to G|CLUBS, which also promised GTV stock but provided few tangible benefits.
Another fraud scheme Guo was convicted of was launching a cryptocurrency ecosystem called “Himalaya Exchange,” where people could trade “H Coin” and “H Dollar.” The court proceedings revealed that the cryptocurrencies were not based on a blockchain at all but merely numbers manipulated on an internal spreadsheet.
With the money he took from Americans and foreign investors, Guo reportedly bought estates in New Jersey and Connecticut, a $4.4 million Bugatti supercar, a $1 million Lamborghini, and a $37 million yacht, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/guo-wengui-chinese-businessman-fraud-9b8329c7ab8012f2dfa7c48c55fc5620">reported</a>.
“After immigrating to this country, rather than being satisfied with the many legitimate opportunities afforded to him, Guo exploited the trust that thousands had placed in him for his own greed,” U.S. Attorney Sean S. Buckley <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/miles-guo-sentenced-30-years-prison-leading-billion-dollar-fraud">said</a> in a statement. “This sentence shows that fame and wealth do not place you above the law, and that fraudsters who victimize families to enrich themselves will be met with significant consequences.”
Federal prosecutors likened the scale of Guo’s schemes to that of the famous fraudster Bernie Madoff.
Guo went from poverty to an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion by investing in real estate during the construction boom leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was ranked as China’s 74th richest man and owned a sprawling $230 million lakeside courtyard in Beijing, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/us/guo-wengui-china.html">according</a> to The New York Times.
Guo secured majority control of a securities business by buying a stake in a state-owned company through Chinese senior intelligence official Ma Jian. However, when a Chinese campaign aimed at stamping out waste, fraud, and abuse jailed Ma, Guo realized he was at risk and fled China in 2015.
During his time in the United States, Guo made friends and connections in the American Right. He joined President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf club. He also partnered with Trump supporter Steve Bannon to launch anti-CCP ventures such as GTV Media and declared the New Federal State of China to be the self-proclaimed sovereign government of China. Guo also promoted Bannon’s podcast on his Chinese-language media network.
Guo’s network was the first to expose the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/29/us/guo-wengui-sentencing.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uFA.adnJ.ZGsOD1LAX7dG&amp;amp;smid=url-share">reported</a>. He also released a No. 1 iTunes hit song, “Take Down the CCP.”
Beijing welcomed the conviction of Guo.
&#8220;Guo Wengui is a fugitive wanted under an Interpol Red Notice issued at the request of the Chinese government,&#8221; Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/guo-wengui-beijing-jailing-ccp-critic-trump-links-12140888">said</a> in a press briefing Tuesday.
Throughout the case, Guo has maintained his innocence, stating that he fled to the United States not to escape a fraud conviction but to “destroy the CCP,” according to an AP news <a href="https://apnews.com/article/guo-wengui-chinese-businessman-fraud-3deb06c17c5640a5d63f0e2c72286ac8">report</a>. 
Guo has insisted that his business dealings have harmed no one. His attorneys have stated that the conviction is part of the CCP’s “grand, pervasive, and life-threatening” pursuit of him and stated that Guo’s conviction would merely “embolden further efforts to eliminate Chinese dissidents from public life.”
Judge Torres said Guo’s assets will be liquidated, with the proceeds used to reimburse hundreds of his victims.

Screenshot 2026-06-30 at 2.21.35 PM

Chinese Billionaire Who Infiltrated American Politics Sentenced For Fraud

Courts

U.S.

The Department of Justice has confirmed to The Daily Wire that it has launched a grand jury investigation into leftist megadonor Neville Roy Singham, who has been accused of promoting Chinese Communist Party interests.
A federal grand jury in Manhattan issued subpoenas on behalf of an investigation led by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton and authorized by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-launches-grand-jury-probe-marxist-mogul-neville-roy-singhams-funding-leftist-groups">reported</a> on Monday. The subpoenas reportedly seek financial records tied to Singham and his network. Singham recently funneled $285 million from his accounts in China to Left-wing organizations in the United States through the Goldman Sachs&#8217; philanthropic entity, the GS Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management.
Prosecutors are reportedly examining whether Singham engaged in wire fraud, money laundering, or any other financial crimes, or acted as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of China. The investigation is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on fraud in nonprofits, political organizations, and government-backed entities. 
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also met with Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon to discuss Singham and the recent investigation, according to the outlet. Bessent allegedly warned the bank that they could also be investigated for their past connections with the CCP and their account with Singham.
Singham is connected to organizations such as the People’s Forum, Party for Socialism and Liberation, and Code Pink. His wife, Jodie Evans, is a leftist activist who co-founded the radical anti-war organization Code Pink. Lawmakers have also alleged that Singham was affiliated with the Maku Group, a CCP-backed propaganda organization.
Singham has been a Communist ever since his youth, when he took membership in the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, a Mao-influenced group based in Detroit, Michigan, the New Lines Magazine <a href="https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/the-big-business-of-uyghur-genocide-denial/">reported</a>.
Singham used America’s capitalist system to gain his wealth. After college at Howard University, Singham founded Thoughtworks, a consulting and software firm, which he sold to a private equity firm in 2017 for $785 million.
In a viral clip <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6391402983112">posted</a> by Fox News Digital, Singham argued to Chinese officials that America and Britain were not the heroes in World War II.
“This fascist lie that the West says that there is a battle between fascism, democracy and communism. They make a fake argument that there are three systems,” Singham stated. “In fact, fascism is actually a face of capitalism and imperialism, as is colonialism. These are three faces of a system that quite now is getting very, very dangerous for us.”
Singham also argued that the Soviet Union and China were the real heroes of WWII.
OpenSecrets has <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/search?q=neville+singham&amp;type=donors">tracked</a> $70,000 of direct funding from Singham, including $18,000 to Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, $8,400 to then-Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, and $7,500 to the Green Party, along with funding to the campaigns of former President Barack Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Neville Roy Singham

American Socialists’ Billionaire Sugar Daddy Is Under DOJ Investigation

Anna Paulina Luna

Code Pink

Funding

Investigation

Jodie Evans

Scott Bessent

Todd Blanche

A small plane slammed into the tallest skyscraper in Beijing on Friday, hitting the building before falling to the street below.
The plane, which was described by one <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3358555/small-aircraft-hits-beijings-tallest-skyscraper-prompting-evacuations">report</a> as a &#8220;light sport aircraft,&#8221; crashed into CITC Tower and caused evacuations in the business district of China&#8217;s capital.
Video posted on social media shows debris from the plane falling onto the street after the crash. A large hole in the building was also visible.
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Credit: @visegrad24 via X
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It remains unclear if the pilot purposely flew into the skyscraper. It&#8217;s also unclear if anyone in the building was injured. The plane took off from an airfield in the eastern part of Beijing and circled the area before it flew into the building, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/26/world/asia/china-plane-crash-beijing.html">reported</a>, citing FlightRadar, a flight tracking website.
“This aircraft is normally used for pilot training east of Beijing,” Ian Petchenik, a spokesman for FlightRadar, told the Times.
The CITC Tower is 108 stories tall and serves as the headquarters for the state-owned CITC Group, which holds one of the largest collections of foreign assets in the world.
Police rushed to the scene and tried to prevent people from taking photos and videos, Reuters reported. As authorities moved people away from the building, they told them to delete any photos they had taken on their phones.
More information on the plane crash could be difficult to obtain as China&#8217;s government controls nearly every aspect of the media and often censors news that could be viewed as negative for the communist regime.
This is a developing story.

plane building

Plane Crashes Into Beijing’s Tallest Skyscraper

Airplane crash

As artificial intelligence transforms the global economy, America faces a choice that will shape our economic and national security future for decades to come. Will we build the infrastructure needed to lead the AI age here in the United States, or will we allow regulatory barriers, political opposition, and short-sighted policymaking to push investment elsewhere?
The resistance we’re seeing to data center development in some states is concerning from both national security and economic perspectives. Data centers are the physical infrastructure that powers everything from cloud computing and financial transactions to military operations and artificial intelligence.
This fact makes data centers critical national security infrastructure. Furthermore, states that embrace data center investment will be rewarded with jobs, tax revenue, and long-term economic growth, while states that reject it risk being left behind. The bottom line is that we must keep data centers on U.S. soil.
Data centers house and process some of the most valuable information in the world. They support government operations, financial institutions, healthcare systems, defense contractors, communications networks, and the growing AI ecosystem that is becoming increasingly important to America&#8217;s economic and military strength. Allowing critical computing infrastructure to be hosted overseas would create strategic vulnerabilities precisely at the moment when technological competition with China is accelerating.
If America fails to expand domestic data center capacity, we risk becoming dependent on infrastructure located beyond our borders and potentially subject to foreign influence, disruption, or control. Every breakthrough in artificial intelligence depends on massive computing power. Every AI model requires enormous amounts of data storage and processing capacity. That capacity comes from data centers.
National security in the 21st century requires military strength, energy security, and digital infrastructure. Data centers are now part of that equation.
States that welcome data centers will win in the next economic boom. Yet, we’re seeing a tale of two states when it comes to data center policy: those that are putting out the welcome mat — and those pushing bans. In fact, <a href="https://columbusunderground.com/ohios-data-center-committee-will-hold-first-meeting-this-month-ocj1/">11 states</a> are considering bills to pause the construction of data centers. Such resistance is foolish. Data centers represent one of the greatest economic development opportunities available to states today. The evidence is already visible. 
Virginia, which hosts the largest concentration of data centers in the world, has become a model for how states can benefit from embracing digital infrastructure. According to a 2024 <a href="https://jlarc.virginia.gov/pdfs/reports/Rpt598-2.pdf">report</a> by Virginia&#8217;s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the state&#8217;s data center industry supports approximately 74,000 jobs annually, generates $5.5 billion in labor income, and contributes $9.1 billion to Virginia&#8217;s economy each year. Last year alone, data center investment accounted for roughly 84% of all announced capital investment projects in the Commonwealth.
Those numbers are not an accident. Virginia built a policy environment that welcomed investment. State leaders recognized early that data centers would become essential infrastructure for the digital economy and worked to create a competitive environment for development.
Other states face a similar choice. Some are pursuing policies that encourage investment by streamlining permitting, supporting workforce development, modernizing infrastructure, and maintaining competitive tax policies. Others are considering moratoriums, burdensome regulations, and restrictions, erroneously blaming data centers for rising energy costs and other community concerns.
Companies building AI infrastructure have options. They can invest in Virginia, Texas, Ohio, Georgia, and other states that welcome growth — or they can move projects to competing states or even competing countries. States that make it easier to build data centers will attract billions of dollars in private investment, create thousands of high-paying jobs, expand their tax base, and position themselves at the center of the AI economy. States that choose obstruction instead of opportunity will watch those benefits flow elsewhere.
China recognizes that America&#8217;s ability to build large-scale data centers is essential to maintaining leadership in AI, cloud computing, and advanced technologies, which is why it has been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-china-data-centers-influence-campaign-2026-6?utm_source=chatgpt.com">aggressively pushing misinformation</a> on social media about environmental impacts, power consumption, and water usage of data centers. The most effective lies fueling the <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/709772/americans-oppose-data-centers-area.aspx">Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) movement</a> are that data centers drive up energy prices and are transferring their costs onto Americans. Both are <a href="https://netchoice.org/policies-poles-and-wires-how-renewables-mandates-and-an-aging-grid-have-increased-electricity-prices/">false</a> but are, nevertheless, taking hold among the American public.
The reality is that data centers are already regulated at the local, state, and federal levels. There is no data center exemption to environmental and nuisance laws.
Beijing has spent years investing heavily in artificial intelligence, advanced computing, semiconductors, and related technologies, and views technological leadership as a core national objective. America cannot maintain leadership in AI without the infrastructure to support it. The states that choose to lead will help secure America&#8217;s technological future, with the added benefit of attracting jobs, investment, and economic growth.
***
<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/netchoice.org/team/patrick-hedger/__;!!NUnUjx3wvH5xgA!ZwS_fZTkE9OSAeKqpW8wm6ij8Ppb19Inn0BQLcRvICESUMn6mhfnG8aXNXTf4kju5mUCS7mcUQkkFmGIAOia8v6WO9Yts90$"> Patrick Hedger is Director of Policy at NetChoice</a>

Rise of Dig Data

The Battle Over AI Dominance Starts With The States

Artificial Intelligence

Data Centers

DW Opinion

Information Technology

NIMBY

President Trump&#8217;s America First is about America being strong at home and abroad.
President Trump remains America First. He spent his weekend warning Iran not to screw with the United States or our allies, or there would be consequences. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent his weekend working the phones to help destroy the Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance spent the weekend looking weak in front of the Qataris, the Pakistanis, and most of all, the Iranians. I&#8217;ve never seen a weaker look from a Republican politician. It is not peace through strength. It is war through weakness.
Get the amateurs back on the bench and the professionals back in the game.
President Trump spent the weekend trying to reestablish U.S. deterrence: &#8220;Peace through strength,&#8221; which he&#8217;s been pushing for literally decades. Rubio spent the weekend trying to end the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah over in Lebanon, because that&#8217;s part of peace through strength. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/the-ben-shapiro-show-episode-2450?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-981859" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-768x128.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
I want the war in Iran to end. I&#8217;ve said for months that it is not worth waging war if you don&#8217;t win it. The ends were spelled out by the administration from the outset: No nuclear enrichment, no ballistic missiles, no support of terrorism, and the Strait of Hormuz open.
Those were the goals. Those are still the goals. Even if we pretend those are not the goals, those are still the goals.
The administration wants oil prices to go down because of the economic impact of high prices heading into the midterms. The only way to keep the Strait of Hormuz durably open is through strength, because otherwise the Iranians will jerk us around, as they have been doing for 50 years.
Over the weekend, President Trump appeared to know that.
Vance, not so much.
For America’s sake, I would love for the vice president to do well abroad. I would love the whole administration to do well. I would love every administration and every politician in every administration to do well by representing American power with peace through strength.
But the lack of American strength in the room in Switzerland over the weekend was devastating. When America has the most dominant military on the entire globe, there is simply no excuse for American weakness.
Over the weekend, the president became highly annoyed with the Iranians. Why? Because they keep threatening to shut the Strait of Hormuz, and because they keep activating their friends in the terrorist group Hezbollah to attack Israeli troops.
As I have said, the goal for Iran — sensing weakness in the United States — is to ratchet up conflict in Lebanon by activating its terror group, Hezbollah, to attack the Israelis in the hope that the Israelis would then retaliate. And then Iran would say they&#8217;re shutting the Strait of Hormuz, and it&#8217;s all the Israelis&#8217; fault. They would hope that President Trump would then yell at the Israelis.
That&#8217;s a win-win for the Iranians, because either they end up with Israel taking casualties in Lebanon and in Israel, or they end up with the administration pressuring the Israelis, the Israelis refusing, and then alienation between the United States and Israel, which is what Iran wants. That is the entire game for them.
It&#8217;s not a complex game. It&#8217;s a very simple game. But the president had had enough of it over the weekend. On Sunday, according to Fox News, President Trump said in an interview that he had spoken with Iranian officials on Saturday night and warned them not to close the strait. “You close it and you won&#8217;t have a country,” he warned. “You won&#8217;t even make it back to your f*cking country if you close the Strait.”
The president wrote on Truth Social, “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid proxies in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don&#8217;t, we&#8217;ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder.”
This is a Trumpian foreign policy. If you screw with us, if you screw with our allies, you get hit. If you interfere with American interests in the Strait of Hormuz, you get hit. We&#8217;re not going to just hand you things.
Marco Rubio has been very quiet. I think he&#8217;s been quiet about the memorandum of understanding because it is poorly written and because the vice president did a bad job of negotiating it. Rubio is actively managing the situation in Lebanon, attempting to put together a coalition against Hezbollah between Israel and the Lebanese, while not including Syria. Rubio is a pro.
But there is one member of the administration who did something that was pretty humiliating for the United States over the weekend. And that was the vice president.
Quick hypothetical coming up in a moment.
Let me be clear: I don&#8217;t care about the names in these situations. I just care about the policy. I want America to be strong. I want America to show greater interest in the Middle East. I want an open Strait of Hormuz. I want Iran defenestrated as an actual military threat to the United States.
So I don&#8217;t care who the person is who&#8217;s doing the dumb thing. If they&#8217;re doing a dumb thing, they should be called out for doing a dumb and weak thing.
Here&#8217;s the hypothetical: I&#8217;m just going to switch the names. Vice President Kamala Harris heads over to Switzerland for negotiations with Iran. There, she says that she loves Pakistan.
She then takes a picture, being given orders by an Iranian cutout. Then she emerges from negotiations with a deconfliction agreement that actually doesn&#8217;t de-escalate anything and doesn&#8217;t include any of the parties to the actual conflict.
But hey, at least she also got stiffed on camera by a bunch of foreign politicians.
Okay, so that didn&#8217;t happen to Kamala Harris. (Although it wouldn&#8217;t be surprising if it did.)
It did happen, but to Vice President JD Vance, which makes it like a thousand times worse. Why? Because it would not be surprising if Kamala Harris were weak. It would not be surprising if Kamala Harris looked as though she were being given the runaround by America&#8217;s enemies.
But I would not expect this from Donald Trump&#8217;s vice president.
You would also expect this kind of weakness from Democrats desperate to avoid any sort of conflict with the Iranians. But we just spent months destroying Iran&#8217;s air force, navy, ballistic missile facilities, nuclear facilities, and army.
This is like going to a meeting with the Japanese and bowing before them between Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We already clocked the hell out of them. What are we doing here?
Vance spent the weekend getting dunked on.
First of all, the Iranian delegation refused a joint photo with the United States team. We should have refused a joint photo with them. They are murderers. But it was the United States that apparently wanted a joint photo.
Normally, when it comes to protocol, the people who want it more show up early. The people who are the big dogs show up late. The United States was there waiting around. The vice president was waiting around for the Iranians to show up, and they stiffed him on a photo op.
And then they showed up late.
The negotiators from Qatar walked right by Vance, but they greeted their Pakistani friends.
It got worse. Qatar is a cutout for Iran and works hand-in-glove with it; they share oil fields with Iran. Thus, they feel indebted to the Iranians and are constantly doing their work. That is the reason why Hamas was stationed in Qatar for literally a decade.
Qatar is one party. Pakistan is another party, an Islamist state with nuclear weapons, allied with the Chinese government. You had a Chinese cutout, an Iranian cutout, and the Iranians there, and the vice president holding a press conference in which he bragged about how Pakistan was awesome.
If the Democrats had done this, there would be screaming. Not a single word Vance said for the entire weekend would have been foreign coming out of the mouth of Barack Obama.
Peace through strength is what President Trump stands for.
And he didn’t get it.

The Inauguration Of Donald J. Trump As The 47th President

Replace Vance With Kamala And Read It Again

Ben Shapiro

Iran

Iran Nuclear Deal

JD Vance

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Opinion

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A zoo in eastern China is facing ridicule online after visitors discovered that one of its &#8220;zebras&#8221; was actually a donkey painted with black stripes.
Footage from Qingyun Mountain Folk Custom Amusement Park in Anqiu, located in China&#8217;s Shandong Province, shows the animal sporting crudely painted stripes intended to resemble a zebra. The disguise quickly fell apart, however, as visitors pointed to the animal&#8217;s long ears, distinctive coloring, and the presence of other donkeys in the same enclosure.
<a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/19/world-news/zoo-paints-donkey-with-stripes-to-look-like-zebra-and-visitors-arent-wild-about-it/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost">Images and videos</a> of the striped donkey spread rapidly across Chinese social media, where users mocked the zoo&#8217;s attempt to transform the animal into something more exotic.
Zoo staff later defended the stunt, insisting they never actually claimed the animal was a zebra. &#8220;We&#8217;re doing cosplay. We never said it was a zebra,&#8221; one staff member reportedly wrote online. &#8220;We didn&#8217;t even put up a sign saying it was a zebra! It&#8217;s just a joke, an abstract kind of thing meant to entertain visitors.&#8221;
According to local reports, park employees said they have carried out similar animal &#8220;makeovers&#8221; in the past as a way to amuse guests. The incident is the latest in a string of viral controversies involving Chinese zoos disguising animals as different species.
In 2025, <a href="https://people.com/zoo-in-china-accused-of-painting-donkeys-black-and-white-to-look-like-zebras-11680561">another zoo</a> in Shandong Province admitted to painting donkeys with zebra stripes after social media users exposed the deception. At the time, zoo officials defended the move as a harmless marketing gimmick and said the paint used on the animals was non-toxic.
Chinese zoos have also gained international attention in recent years for dyeing dogs to resemble other animals. In 2024, several zoos <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/01/world/asia/china-zoo-painted-dogs-pandas.html">painted Chow Chow</a> dogs black and white to resemble giant pandas. The animals became a major attraction after videos circulated online showing visitors posing beside the so-called &#8220;panda dogs.&#8221; Zoo officials defended the practice, arguing that the dyed dogs were clearly identified and that the process was no different than people coloring their hair.
A year later, another Chinese zoo drew criticism after painting Chow Chows orange and black in an attempt to make them <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/01/30/lifestyle/zoogoers-appalled-as-dogs-painted-to-look-like-tigers-in-ridiculous-gimmick/">resemble tigers</a>. The zoo later acknowledged that the animals were dogs and described the display as a promotional stunt.
The practice is not limited to China. In 2018, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44968509">a zoo in Egypt</a> faced international scrutiny after visitors alleged that donkeys had been painted to look like zebras. Similar incidents have occurred elsewhere, including <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/04/gaza-zoology">in Gaza</a>, where zoo operators painted donkeys with stripes after struggling to acquire exotic animals due to import restrictions.
Animal welfare groups have criticized the practice, arguing that painting animals for entertainment can cause unnecessary stress and potential health risks.
<a href="https://www.peta.org/news/zoo-paints-donkeys-as-zebras-no-respect-for-animals/">PETA</a> previously warned that &#8220;no reputable animal-care facility would subject skittish animals like donkeys to the stress of being restrained and sprayed with chemicals like paint.&#8221;
Despite the criticism, the latest striped donkey has already become an online sensation, with many social media users focusing less on animal welfare concerns and more on the quality of the disguise itself.
&#8220;The zebra costume isn&#8217;t even convincing,&#8221; one commenter wrote online, while another joked that the donkey appeared to be wearing &#8220;half-finished pajamas.&#8221;

HONDURAS-ENVIRONMENT-ANIMALS-ZOO-CRISIS

Zoo Can’t Get A Zebra, Tries Cosplay Instead

Animals

Momcozy is a top choice for mothers when they purchase a breast pump, but a potential connection with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has raised concerns about customers&#8217; personal information being harvested by the Chinese.
Since Momcozy is a Chinese-based company, it could be required to share information with the group under China’s laws. U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) — who chairs the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee — expressed his unease with Momcozy possibly sharing customers&#8217; information with the CCP.
“We have already seen cases where foreign adversaries such as China have sought to exploit U.S. laws to acquire information that could be used against individuals and our national interests,” he explained in a letter sent to Momcozy on Wednesday that was obtained by The Daily Wire.
The HELP Committee, led by Cassidy, recently launched an investigation following the U.S. Department of Education’s report revealing that foreign entities aligned with the CCP were trying to “influence American universities.&#8221; He also has looked into numerous cybersecurity lapses that put private American data at risk.
The private information that is shared with Momcozy not only puts the parents at a potential risk, but their newborns as well, according to Cassidy.
“As we consider steps to protect families from having their information misused, we must pay particular attention to protecting the safety of our children,” Cassidy wrote.
The HELP Committee sent a letter to the chief executive officer of Momcozy, Athena Pan, Wednesday afternoon to better understand how Momcozy protects the privacy of these families.
In the letter, the HELP Committee addressed three specific protocols that Momcozy follows, requesting answers to numerous questions regarding how privacy is protected. The three protocols targeted are “detailed person information” that is collected, Momcozy’s headquarters in China, where the information is “transferred” and “processed,&#8221; and products connecting to Momcozy’s app via bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
The Senate committee also raised questions regarding Momcozy&#8217;s use of information, what personal information is actually being stored, and any sharing of information with the Chinese Communist Party. 
&#8220;In the last five years, has Momcozy shared any information of individuals who reside in the United States with the Chinese Communist Party or the Chinese government?&#8221; the letter asks, adding, &#8220;What privacy and security protocols does Momcozy have in place to ensure this information is not improperly accessed?&#8221;
The HELP Committee requests answers to their questions by July 6, 2026.
Momcozy did not respond to The Daily Wire&#8217;s request to comment.

MomCozy Sunrise Echo

Leading Baby Product Company Questioned Over Potential CCP Ties

babies

Chinese Communist Party

Mothers

Federal authorities said they were forced to fire at a boat packed with 25 illegal migrants from China who were hoping to reach the shores of Florida, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The Coast Guard caught the group about a mile south of Key Biscayne, Florida on June 10, DHS said. The migrants initially failed to comply with federal authorities&#8217; orders to stop, forcing the Coast Guard to deploy warning shots, which were ineffective.
The Coast Guardsmen then fired a &#8220;disabling&#8221; shot that stopped the boat without any reported injuries, according to DHS.
&#8220;By land or sea, our borders are CLOSED,&#8221; DHS said in an<a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2067314866671493123"> X post</a> regarding the interception. &#8220;This sends a clear message to ANY illegal alien attempting to enter the United States: don’t even think about it.&#8221;
The Coast Guard crew transported the group of Chinese nationals for further processing. Authorities also seized their boat and transported it to the Coast Guard station in Miami Beach.
“Our Coast Guard crews, working closely with our local, state, and federal maritime law enforcement partners, remain vigilant in detecting and deterring unlawful maritime migration ventures,” Lieutenant Matthew Ross, commanding officer, Coast Guard Station Miami Beach, said.
“Anyone considering one of these dangerous voyages should understand that they are risking their lives at sea and can expect to be interdicted and repatriated,&#8221; Ross said.
The encounter follows an <a href="https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/4516342/correction-coast-guard-interdicts-17-aliens-near-sunset-cliffs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">incident</a> off the coast of San Diego, where the Coast Guard caught a group of 17 suspected illegal immigrant trying to reach the United States by boat. Coast Guard airmen spotted the vessel at around 1:18 a.m. on Sunday southwest of Point Loma.
A boat crew then responded and boarded the boat, where they found 10 claiming Mexican nationals, four claiming Guatemalan nationals, and two claiming Salvadoran nationals, along with one unaccompanied minor claiming Guatemalan.
The Coast Guard brought the migrants aboard one of their boats before handing them over to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
On June 7, the Coast Guard <a href="https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/4514532/coast-guard-interdicts-9-aliens-near-coronado-island-calif/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interdicted</a> nine Mexican illegal immigrants near Coronado Island, California. The group was transferred to the custody of Border Patrol.
Coast Guard Capt. Jason Hagen, who is the southwest district chief of enforcement, told <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-cartels-are-forced-to-shift-tactics-after-trump-crushed-their-human-smuggling-empire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> in November that authorities were observing an uptick in smuggling interdictions.
“As you lock down the land border, the cartels will need to make their money, so they push to the maritime, to the water side. And, unfortunately, there is no border wall in the ocean; we’re challenged with the tyranny of distance,” Hagen said at the time.

Untitled design – 2026-06-17T150706.407

Feds Fire Warning Shots At Boat Packed With Chinese Illegal Migrants

Border Patrol

Coast Guard

Illegal Immigration

Elon Musk lost the race to market, with a Shanghai-based startup launching its brain chip technology to the public ahead of Neuralink. 
China’s drug regulator, the National Medical Products Administration, recently approved Neuracle Technology’s brain implant beyond clinical trials, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/07/tech/china-beats-elon-musk-to-launch-worlds-first-commercial-brain-chip/">according</a> to multiple reports. Like Musk’s Neuralink, the coin-size brain implant — called NEO — is designed to help patients who are paralyzed due to spinal cord injuries. 
One of Neuracle Technology’s patients, Dong Hui, was recently <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/06/01/1138133/china-world-first-brain-chip/">profiled</a> by MIT Technology Review. After 11 months of using the device, Dong is now able to write his name despite suffering a spinal cord injury in a car accident six years ago. Before receiving the implant, Dong could barely move his arms and was unable to use his fingers at all.
NEO sensors are placed on the outside membrane of Dong’s brain, where the signals are transmitted by a connected computer implant that rests on Dong’s skull. Those signals then move a robotic glove on Dong&#8217;s hand, which helps his hand relearn how to accept signals from his brain. 
“On the ninth day of my training, my right hand successfully grabbed a ball without the glove,” Dong told MIT. “That was a miraculous moment.” Dong was one of 36 subjects who had clinical trials conducted with NEO, with 32 of them occurring in the past year. 
A revolutionary technology in its own right, Neuracle Technology has also broken new ground in its rollout under China’s national health insurance system. China is doubling down on its ambition to become the global leader in brain-computer interfaces with the government identifying the technology as one of six strategic sectors critical to the country’s future alongside quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen and nuclear fusion power, artificial intelligence, and 6G mobile communications. The global brain-computer interface market is projected to reach $1.7 billion by 2035.
According to an Australian researcher, one reason Neuracle Technology may have outpaced competing brain-computer interfaces is its less invasive design. While Neuralink’s implant penetrates the brain’s protective membrane, NEO sits on top of it. Both approaches have advantages and drawbacks. Avoiding penetration of the brain reduces surgical risk, but Neuralink’s approach allows the device to interface directly with individual neurons, potentially enabling a deeper biological connection and more precise signal collection.
While NEO reached the market first, Musk has said that 2026 will be a major year for Neuralink. Currently, Neuralink procedures require opening the brain’s dura mater, the protective outer membrane surrounding the brain. Musk plans to introduce a less invasive technique that would allow electrodes to pass through the dura without removing it — similar to drilling a small hole through a wall to run a wire rather than cutting out an entire section.
He has also announced that Neuralink will significantly expand its clinical trials as the company moves toward large-scale production. 
Other brain chip companies are also attempting to race to the commercial market. Synchron, which is backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, was founded in Australia before moving to the United States. In late 2025, Synchron raised <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-06/neuralink-rival-synchron-raises-200-million-for-brain-implant">$200 million</a> to advance its implant. 
While Neuracle Technology is the most advanced brain-computer interface company in China, it is one of a new wave of startups backed by the Chinese communist government. China announced <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/22/chinas-brain-computer-interface-industry-is-racing-ahead/">$165</a> million to fund startups through research to commercialization, as well as quickly adopting the technology into its national health service.

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