What does European censorship look like, and why should Americans care? I answered that question before the <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/europes-threat-american-speech-and-innovation-part-ii">U.S. House Judiciary Committee</a> this week.
The last time I <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/europes-threat-american-speech-and-innovation">testified</a> before the Committee in September, I highlighted the censorship potential of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which at the time still seemed theoretical. My message then was that this EU law controlling online speech was poised to censor lawful expression beyond Europe, including in the United States.
Many were not convinced.
But now we have moved from theory to practice. There can be no doubt now that the DSA is the tip of a massive censorship industrial complex with global implications.
I testified yesterday before the Committee that the enormous fines recently levied on X by the European Commission prove beyond all doubt that the EU means to strangle free speech by a systematic assault on US companies. This is corroborated by the Committee’s incendiary new <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/new-report-exposes-european-commission-decade-long-campaign-censor-american" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>, which shows that American companies are already having to adopt EU content moderation policies.
The EU has a multi-pronged strategy to open a slew of investigations, to add more and more regulations, to impose crippling fines, and, ultimately, to either break up or ban companies such as X, which are pro-free-speech.
Free speech is such a threat to European elites that they intend to either cripple X with fines and investigations or force them to bend the knee at the altar of censorship. I hope X stands strong because we need free speech in Europe more than ever.
But it goes deeper; this censorship campaign is not just aimed at destroying free speech in Europe, it’s about imposing European Union speech laws globally.
Make no mistake, Europe’s draconian speech laws are being imposed across the world via global content moderation rules.
The EU’s obsession with eliminating free speech means that they are deploying a global campaign to ensure that all speech online bans “illegal content” and “prevents systemic risk” to the “discourse”.
And the costs are borne by real people, like my client Päivi Räsänen, a longtime Finnish parliamentarian, who has spent more than six years criminally prosecuted for peacefully expressing her Christian beliefs in a 2019 Bible verse tweet. Räsänen also testified alongside me before the Committee on her ordeal, as she awaits a verdict from Finland’s Supreme Court for “hate speech” charges under the national law for “war crimes and crimes against humanity”. Of course, “hate speech” has no meaning except speech that European elites hate.
This is what European censorship looks like in practice: the process itself becomes the punishment, designed to chill speech, exhaust dissenters, and warn others to stay silent. And if this is what happens to a sitting parliamentarian in a Western democracy, Americans should have no illusion that either American companies or their citizens will be spared if these censorship regimes are allowed to normalize globally.
* * *
Lorcán Price is an Irish barrister and legal counsel for ADF International.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Uncle Sam

How Europe Plans To Strangle American Free Speech

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

Elon Musk

Europe

European Union

Opinion

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Republican lawmakers will consider legislation that would allow American citizens to sue foreign entities that censor and violate their First Amendment rights.
House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) said Thursday that lawmakers were looking into proposals that would protect Americans from foreign censorship. The legislation would mirror proposals introduced in states like Wyoming that would protect Americans from being penalized for their opinions. 
“We are definitely looking at that,” Jordan responded when asked by journalist Michael Shellenberger if Congress would consider proposals similar to the Guaranteeing Rights Against Novel International Tyranny and Extortion (GRANITE) Act <a href="https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2026/HB0070">introduced</a> on February 5 in Wyoming. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BREAKING: Congress is considering stripping sovereign immunity of EU censorship officials, prohibiting social media from enforcing censorship orders, and enabling private lawsuits against foreign entities, says <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Jim_Jordan</a> echoing remarks made by <a href="https://twitter.com/UnderSecPD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UnderSecPD</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/DarrellIssa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DarrellIssa</a> <a href="https://t.co/AKjfbBJql9">pic.twitter.com/AKjfbBJql9</a>
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/shellenberger/status/2019456842997338152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Jordan added that lawmakers were trying to find a “remedy” for foreign censorship, saying that “we&#8217;re taking a good look at that and seeing if there&#8217;s something we can do” regarding the GRANITE Act. 
The GRANITE Act would create a cause of action against foreign states and international organizations that implement censorship laws that violate the free speech rights of Americans, according to a summary of the bill. It would also prevent the state from working with entities that implement foreign censorship. 
Both Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) have already suggested that the United States should take action to protect Americans from being prosecuted under foreign censorship laws. 
Jordan’s comments come after the House Judiciary Committee <a href="https://x.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/2018683758006665352">released</a> documents showing that tech companies were restricting the speech of Americans under Europe’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/for-thursday-exclusive-free-speech-advocates-challenge-eu-over-pan-european-censorship-regime">Digital Services Act</a> and other measures. 
The act empowers the European Commission to impose significant financial penalties on tech companies, which it says are not doing enough to combat so-called disinformation. In certain circumstances, American tech companies may be fined up to 6% of their global revenue if they violate specific conditions of the act.
According to the House Judiciary Committee, the European Union pressured tech companies to create guidelines on what was acceptable speech on topics from mass migration to men participating in women’s sports on the basis of their transgender identity. 
Americans&#8217; speech online has not just been censored by foreign bureaucrats, but also by the State Department. 
In February 2024, The Daily Wire, along with The Federalist and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wire-texas-ag-ask-court-to-block-state-departments-domestic-misinformation-efforts">sued the State Department</a> over its Global Engagement Center’s relationship with anti-“misinformation” outfits like NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index (GDI). The suit alleges that those outfits were focused on suppressing American conservative media, and the Global Engagement Center’s support of these groups violated the First Amendment.

Former US Special Counsel Jack Smith Testifies Before House Judiciary Committee

Bill Would Give American Victims Of Foreign Censorship Power To Sue

House May Empower Americans To Sue Foreign Entities That Censor Them

Censorship

First Amendment

Free Speech

House Judiciary Committee

Jim Jordan

Belgian authorities have opened an investigation into the 2025 arrest of Lois McLatchie Miller and &#8220;Billboard&#8221; Chris Elston, one year after the activists were detained while conducting interviews on the street.
Miller, a British citizen, and Elston, a Canadian, were in Brussels interviewing passersby about radical gender ideology in June. Miller was holding a sign that read “Children are never born in the wrong body” and Elston — known for debating people on the streets while wearing sandwich boards — held one reading “Children cannot consent to puberty blockers.”
When a threatening crowd began to form, Miller called the police. Four police vans and fourteen officers arrived on the scene, only to arrest and strip-search Miller and Elston, who were held in custody for four hours.
“Opening up a criminal investigation into what happened is a major development,” Miller said. “It’s clear by any measure that our right to free speech was violated when we were put in jail cells for speaking about puberty blockers.&#8221;
Belgian authorities have not yet disclosed the scope of the criminal investigation, leaving open the key question of whether the inquiry is focused on potential misconduct by the police officers involved in the arrests or the conduct of the campaigners themselves. Miller and Elston have spent the past year petitioning the government to offer an apology and financial settlement for what they call an unlawful detention.
The scope of Brussels’s criminal investigation could signal a shift in Europe’s approach to free speech, which American officials warn is under attack on the continent.
“Free speech, I fear, is in retreat,” Vice President JD Vance said last year. “I look to Brussels, where EU Commission commissars warned citizens that they intend to shut down social media during times of civil unrest: the moment they spot what they’ve judged to be ‘hateful content’. Or to this very country where police have carried out raids against citizens suspected of posting anti-feminist comments online as part of ‘combating misogyny’ on the internet.”
The vice president added that he believes Europe will rise to the occasion, and expressed his confidence that Europe’s democracies “are substantially less brittle than many people apparently fear.”
&#8220;We should be able to speak freely about one of the greatest medical scandals in modern history,” Elston said. “Children are being maimed, chemically castrated, and sterilized for an ideology which teaches they were born wrong.”
Elston is no stranger to brushing up against foreign speech codes and hostile crowds. In 2023, he was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/canadian-cops-watch-as-radical-trans-activists-assault-lone-man-defending-kids" target="_blank" rel="noopener">assaulted</a> during an event in Canada, an attack police did nothing to stop. The following year, he was put on trial in Australia <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/he-shared-a-link-on-x-now-hes-in-an-australian-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">simply</a> for sharing a link on X.
Months after his arrest in Belgium, Elston <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/billboard-chris-launches-global-nonprofit-to-fight-child-gender-exploitation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> a nonprofit dedicated to fighting “medical malpractice of child transition” and defending free speech worldwide.
&#8220;We’re formalizing a grassroots movement to educate, activate, and equip people to protect children,&#8221; Elston told The Daily Wire in an exclusive interview after the organization&#8217;s launch.“We will always endeavor to follow the law, while at the same time challenge abuses of authority.”

Screenshot 2026-01-31 at 1.54.02 PM

Belgium Investigating Arrest And Detention Of ‘Billboard Chris’ And British Activist

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gender ideology

President Donald Trump touts his first-year economic wins as American allies make trade deals behind the scenes, the White House switches things up in Minnesota, and another government shutdown looms as Senate Dems hold up a funding bill.
It’s Wednesday, January 28, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trumps-economic-line-minnesota-tactic-shift-1-28-26/id1576594336?i=1000746991084" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Sells Economy While Europe Turns To India</h2>
President Trump hit the campaign trail Tuesday to tout his economic agenda, as Europe finds a new trading partner, and sends a message to Washington. Trump has traveled the country in recent months, working to convince the American people that he has made progress on the economy. While he won’t be on the ballot, he is fighting to maintain control of the Senate. He delivered a speech on Tuesday in Iowa, where an open Senate seat is up for grabs. Meanwhile, Europe is pivoting away from the United States in trade, thanks in part to the president&#8217;s aggressive trade wars. On Tuesday, the European Union announced the framework of a massive trade deal with India, the world’s most populous nation. The agreement will eliminate or significantly reduce nearly all tariffs between the two sides, mainly on agricultural products, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, and allow Europe to finally sell its cars on the Indian market. 
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Changes Tack After Pretti Killing</h2>
President Trump is shuffling his personnel and changing his administration’s message after Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. But he remains committed to deporting illegals in Minnesota. As Trump looks to shift his strategy on mass deportations, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is facing criticism for labeling Pretti a domestic terrorist and claiming he showed up armed to massacre federal agents. Some Congressional Democrats, including Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), have called on Trump to oust Noem. Trump, however, appears to be standing his ground. Meanwhile, in Minnesota, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has begun settling in and meeting with state and local officials, including Democratic Governor Tim Walz. They agreed to an “ongoing dialogue” on continued federal immigration operations.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">DC Stares Down A Shutdown</h2>
In Washington, the government is inching closer to a partial shutdown on Friday as the Senate debates funding for Homeland Security. As funding runs out, the House is out of town this week, even though it already approved the funding bills. But since Border Patrol agents shot and killed Pretti, an ICU nurse, the tone on Capitol Hill has shifted, and Democrats want a shutdown over DHS funding because they want strings attached. It is unclear if there could be any deal that would avoid even a short shutdown. Democrats want DHS funding separated from other bills to prevent a broader shutdown. Many Democrats have called for “constraints” on ICE and Border Patrol, as Sen. Fetterman and House Democrats have called for Homeland Security Secretary Noem to be fired. Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton of Arkansas has warned against a “mob veto.”

MRN_260128_V1

Morning Brief: Trump’s Midterm Pitch, Minnesota Tactic Shift, & Shutdown Showdown

Morning Brief: Trump’s Midterm Pitch, Deportation Shuffle, And DC Heads Toward A Shutdown

Congress

Donald Trump

Immigration

Kristi Noem

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Morning Wire

Opening Day Of World Economic Forum (WEF) 2026

The WEF Made One Thing Very Clear: If Democrats Win We Are Totally Screwed

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Globalization

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Matt Walsh

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World Economic Forum

President Trump did something extraordinary in Davos. He gave a speech targeting our European allies, telling them that they need to up their game in terms of defense, economics, and their own national sovereignty.
Then he pried a deal away from Denmark with regard to Greenland.
The markets were very concerned about the possibility that President Trump was going to hit all of Europe with these gigantic tariffs based on a desire for sovereignty over all of Greenland.
But that is no longer the case. A deal has been cut.
The really big story here is how the President of the United States is calling on Europe to stand up for itself.
The president said that his goal in saying all of this wasn&#8217;t just to dunk on the Europeans. Obviously, his goal was to revitalize what he called a “precious” culture, shared by Americans and Europeans.
“The explosion of prosperity and conclusion and progress that built the West did not come from our tax cuts,” he stated. “It ultimately came from our very special culture. This is the precious inheritance that America and Europe have in common. We share it. But we have to keep it strong. We have to become stronger, more successful, and more prosperous than ever. We have to defend that culture and rediscover the spirit that lifted the West from the depths of the Dark Ages to the pinnacle of human achievement.”
He also suggested that Europeans have failed themselves in pursuing a green energy-based economy.
When the man&#8217;s right, the man is right.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
The real message the president was there to deliver is that the Europeans ought to be both independent, but also recognize that they are reliant on the United States.
In that vein, he went after Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada. Carney gave a peculiar address with regard to the United States in which he suggested that the era of American dominance was over. And Trump basically said, well, that&#8217;s weird, since if it weren&#8217;t for us, your continent would be a little bit more at risk. We are your defensive shield. We&#8217;re building a golden dome that just by its very nature is going to be defending Canada.
“Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way,” Trump said. “They should be grateful also, but they&#8217;re not. I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn&#8217;t so grateful. They should be grateful that Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
The president also articulated the favorite line of those of us on the Right, which is that if it had not been for the United States’ involvement in Europe, everyone would be speaking German and Japanese.
“The problem with them, though, is that we&#8217;ll be there for them 100%,” he said. “But I&#8217;m not sure that they&#8217;d be there for us if we gave them the call.”
You can see why the Europeans are feeling a bit peevish right now.
We&#8217;ll have to see how they react to everything that&#8217;s going on. Are we again entering a period of a multipolar world order, or is the president just flexing American muscles a little bit more than usual in an attempt to get everybody back on the same pro-America, pro-Western page? That remains a bit of an open question.
All of this ties into what the broader American orientation is toward the world. Is it America First, or is it America Alone? Is it a multipolar world order, or is it an American-led world order where we are more muscular in pursuit of our own interests, and we expect more from our allies in helping us out with those interests?
That remains the big question coming out of Davos. It was the big question going in.
I&#8217;m not sure that the question has been fully answered at this point in time.

U.S. President Trump Attends World Economic Forum In Davos

Trump’s Davos Doctrine: A Muscular Reassertion Of The West

Trump's Davos Doctrine: A Muscular Reassertion Of The West

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Energy

The European Union, one of America&#8217;s largest trading partners, voted on Wednesday to pause a trade deal with the United States that was initially agreed upon last summer. The finalization of the major trade deal is now uncertain over the bloc&#8217;s opposition to President Donald Trump&#8217;s efforts to acquire Greenland.
European Parliament member Bernd Lange said that Trump&#8217;s plans to impose a 10% tariff on European countries that oppose his Greenland push go against the framework of the U.S.-E.U. trade deal, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/21/european-lawmakers-suspend-us-trade-deal-amid-greenland-tariff-tensions.html">reported</a>. Lange pointed to Trump&#8217;s remarks at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, when the president said that he would continue to push for control of Greenland and called for &#8220;immediate negotiations.&#8221;
“I guess he didn’t revise his position,&#8221; Lange said. &#8220;He wants to have Greenland as part of the United States as quick as possible.”
Lange, the chair of Parliament’s International Trade Committee, added in a statement that the European Union will pause its work on the trade deal &#8220;until the US decides to re-engage on a path of cooperation rather than confrontation,&#8221; Fox Business <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/european-parliament-halts-work-us-trade-deal-response-trump-greenland-push">reported</a>. While the United States and the European Union agreed to the trade deal&#8217;s framework last year, it can&#8217;t go into effect until the European Parliament gives final approval.
During his speech, Trump said he would not use military force to take over Greenland, which Lange called a positive development, but the European Parliament member added that until Trump takes the additional tariff threat off the table, “There will be no possibility of compromise.” Lange called Trump&#8217;s tariff threats “an attack against the economic and territorial sovereignty of the European Union.”
Trump imposed tariffs on European countries shortly after being sworn in last year as part of his massive &#8220;Liberation Day&#8221; tariff agenda, and the European Union responded with tariffs on U.S. goods. The White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/08/joint-statement-on-a-united-states-european-union-framework-on-an-agreement-on-reciprocal-fair-and-balanced-trade/">announced</a> a trade agreement with the European Union last August, saying that the bloc &#8220;intends to eliminate tariffs on all U.S. industrial goods and to provide preferential market access for a wide range of U.S. seafood and agricultural goods.&#8221; As part of the deal&#8217;s framework, the Trump administration agreed to drop the tariff rate on the European Union to 15%.
European countries have roundly criticized Trump over his plan to take over Greenland, but the president continues to argue that the United States needs the territory for national security. Greenland controls its own internal affairs, but Denmark oversees the territory and guarantees its security.
While speaking in front of world leaders in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Trump said the United States needs Greenland to stop the &#8220;bad guys.&#8221; Trump has repeatedly claimed that China and Russia have their eyes set on conquering Greenland, which would threaten U.S. and global security.
&#8220;All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland, where we&#8217;ve already had it as a trustee, but respectfully returned it back to Denmark not long ago after we defeated the Germans, the Japanese, the Italians and others in World War II,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;We gave it back to them.&#8221;
&#8220;So we want a piece of ice for world protection,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;And they won’t give it. &#8230; They have a choice: you can say yes, and we will be very appreciative, or you can say no. And, we will remember.&#8221;

USA International Relations Photo Illustrations

European Union Suspends Trade Deal With U.S. Over Trump’s Greenland Push

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After Spain, France, and Italy blocked a move to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, Dutch member of the European Parliament Bart Groothuis blasted the decision.
The IRGC acts as the &#8220;praetorian guard&#8221; for the Supreme Leader of Iran, tasked with ensuring the regime&#8217;s survival by crushing any internal opposition. Reports indicate that IRGC and Basij forces used live fire against peaceful demonstrators and even raided hospitals to arrest injured protesters. Estimates range from 5,000 to more than 15,000 deaths in January. The IRGC <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/08/14/iran-detainees-ill-treated-and-disappeared-after-israeli-evin-prison-attack">controls</a> its own intelligence apparatus and secret detention centers (such as Ward 2A of Evin Prison), where dissidents, journalists, and dual nationals are subjected to physical and psychological torture, forced confessions, and summary executions. Through its Quds Force, the IRGC operates as the world&#8217;s most active state sponsor of terrorism, conducting operations on nearly every continent.
Germany and the Baltic states are among the countries <a href="https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/01/14/pressure-mounts-on-eu-to-list-irans-revolutionary-guards-as-terror-organization?utm_source=chatgpt.com">pushing</a> for the European Parliament to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Under EU rules, all 27 member states must agree for the designation to move forward.
“Italy, Spain, and France are against putting the Islamic Iranian Revolutionary Guard, IRGC, on the EU terrorist list,” Groothuis noted. “Let’s call things as they are: France, Spain, and Italy say there are legal obstacles. Well, maybe murdering people inside Europe, or funding several terrorist organizations, or burning synagogues in Düsseldorf; maybe that is not enough. But surely, unleashing chemical weapons on the Iranian population or killing many thousands of innocent civilians.”
“Spain, Italy, and France say they need a legal court order; well, there is one, like in Düsseldorf. And please ask Israel, Saudi Arabia, United States, Canada, Bahrain, who have already designated IRC a terrorist organization, whether there was a diplomatic collapse: there wasn’t. Can the High Representative formally acknowledge here today that it is these three countries — like the press is reporting constantly in the Council — who are blocking to list the IRGC? Will the High Representative be on our side to sanction the IRGC, and expose their children and grandchildren who are studying here in Europe, enjoying our liberties, while their relatives are pouring chemical weapons over the heads of innocent, freedom-abiding Persians?”
“Let’s call things as they are,” he repeated.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
WOW. I’m speechless.
Spain, France, and Italy have BLOCKED the declaration of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.
Dutch Member of the European Parliament Bart Groothuis from the right-center party bloc &#8220;Renew Europe&#8221; opposes the blocks set by Spain,… <a href="https://t.co/LDAbCOwbeF">pic.twitter.com/LDAbCOwbeF</a>
— Chaya’s Clan (@ChayasClan) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChayasClan/status/2013946594601599432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2026</a></blockquote>
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European Defence And Security Summit Held In Brussels

Dutch Lawmaker Slams France, Spain, Italy For Blocking Terror Label On Iranian Revolutionary Guards

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Greenland dominates discussions in Davos ahead of President Donald Trump’s speech, Erika Kirk files a motion to advance the trial of her husband’s alleged killer, and a look back at one year of Trump 2.0.
It’s Wednesday, January 21, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/greenland-dominates-wef-panels-robinson-trial-stalled/id1576594336?i=1000746019888" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Vs. Europe</h2>
President Trump is set to join global leaders at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, kicking off a series of high-stakes meetings on tariffs, Greenland, and more. Every year, the WEF holds its annual meeting in Davos, hosting thousands of Fortune 500 business leaders, diplomats, and heads of state. Leaders from across the European Union huddled on the sidelines of the conference to formulate a strategy that could spark an enormous economic war. French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU “should not hesitate” to use its “Anti-Coercion Instrument,” known unofficially as the Trade Bazooka. That mechanism, which has never been used before, would include widespread bans on American investments in Europe and restrictions on the import and export of American products. They could also take a more subdued approach and simply withdraw from the previously agreed-upon U.S./EU trade deal.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Erika Kirk Files To Speed Up Trial Of Her Husband’s Alleged Killer</h2>
Erika Kirk has filed a motion to speed up the trial of her late husband Charlie Kirk’s killer, accusing the defense team of delay tactics. Kirk’s attorneys are using Utah’s victims’ rights laws, which are designed to prevent unnecessary delays in serious criminal cases. They argue that the case has remained stuck in this pretrial phase while the defense files multiple motions, and that those delays are compounding the trauma for the victim’s family. The filing specifically noted Charlie Kirk’s love for the U.S. Constitution, saying that while the Constitution “guarantees criminal defendants many rights, it does not guarantee them the right to cause undue delay in the criminal justice process.” Meanwhile, the suspect, Tyler Robinson, has still not entered a plea.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">One Year Of Trump</h2>
One year into his second term, President Trump says his agenda is delivering results, bringing the country into what he calls a new “golden age.” Trump has drastically reduced illegal immigration, effectively securing the southern border. Federal officers have surged into major cities to arrest illegal aliens. The United States experienced annual negative immigration for the first time in decades in large part because of Trump’s approach. On economic policy, the president cut numerous trade deals around the world while receiving pledges of investment worth trillions. It remains to be seen whether those pledges bear fruit. Trump has also ignited a series of trade wars, the latest being with Europe over his desire to acquire Greenland from Denmark. The aggressive posture could have consequences later as countries seek to diversify their trading partners. On foreign policy, the president has severely set back Iran’s nuclear program and toppled the Maduro dictatorship in Venezuela. He has also settled a number of open and near-conflicts, while the war in Ukraine continues to rage. Domestically, Trump has waded into prominent culture war topics such as DEI and transgenderism. He has pardoned several people prosecuted and imprisoned under his predecessor, including pro-life activists. He has battled universities to root out woke policies or risk losing federal funding.

MW_260121

Morning Brief: Greenland Tensions, Erika Kirk Seeks Faster Trial, & Trump’s First Year Back

Charlie Kirk

Emmanuel Macron

Utah

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey come under federal scrutiny, President Donald Trump threatens tariffs over Greenland, and the United States severs aid to Somalia.
It’s Monday, January 19, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Minnesota Anti-ICE Protests Turn Violent</h2>
As left-wing protests in Minneapolis <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jacob-frey-says-minneapolis-riots-about-love-but-videos-tell-a-more-violent-story">appear</a> to be growing more violent, the Justice Department is investigating Minnesota Democrats for obstructing federal law enforcement. Last week, Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz urged President Donald Trump to “turn down the temperature.” But over the weekend, violent left-wing agitators in his state continued demonstrations. Large groups of protesters clashed with law enforcement outside of federal buildings and other ICE facilities, and a number of conservative demonstrators were brutally attacked in broad daylight. In one instance, a right-wing activist was physically dragged from the steps of a government building by a large mob of leftist agitators. They proceeded to beat him with fists, rocks, and flag poles, as some in the crowd yelled “kill him” — all with police nowhere to be seen. 
On Sunday, dozens of protesters stormed the Cities Church in St. Paul as part of a “clandestine operation” to “disrupt business as usual,” activist leader Nekima Levy-Armstrong told ex-CNN host Don Lemon, who embedded with the protest group.
Clips from Lemon’s coverage of the protest spread on social media and drew the attention of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
“The [Civil Rights Division] is investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers,” Dhillon said in a <a href="https://x.com/aagdhillon/status/2013003168179724426" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on X.
Governor Walz and Mayor Frey are under federal investigation amid their opposition to the Trump administration’s massive immigration enforcement operation in the state. CBS News first <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justice-department-investigating-tim-walz-jacob-frey-minnesota/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> the details of the investigation, which focuses on allegations that Walz and Frey have interfered with federal immigration operations.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump’s Greenland Gamble Revives Trade War With Europe</h2>
Some European leaders want to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/europe-ramps-up-trade-fight-after-trump-threatens-tariffs-over-greenland">escalate</a> a trade war with the United States after President Trump threatened to impose tariffs of up to 25% on eight countries. Trump has said he will back off the tariffs only when Denmark agrees to sell Greenland. Leaders in the European Union want to <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-us-trade-deal-on-hold-after-new-trump-tariffs/">freeze</a> the trade agreement the bloc struck with the United States last year. Under that agreement, the EU would lift all levies on American goods, and in exchange, the United States would drop its tariffs on EU imports to 15%. The European Parliament was supposed to move forward on it next week, but instead the bloc is now expected to vote on Wednesday to put the deal on hold. It may also take additional steps to increase economic pressure on the United States. Some officials are concerned that the brewing trade war could mean trouble for the NATO military alliance, as well.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">State Department To Permanently End Aid To Somalia</h2>
The State Department will permanently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/state-department-to-permanently-end-aid-to-somalia-after-warehouse-of-food-disappears">end</a> foreign aid to Somalia after a warehouse full of U.S.-funded food disappeared. The Daily Wire obtained diplomatic cables from the United States embassy in Mogadishu showing corruption in Somalia that mirrors the fraud perpetrated by refugees in Minnesota. The U.S. embassy recommended that the State Department stop foreign aid after January 3, “at the direction of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the Federal Government of Somalia, authorities at Mogadishu Port demolished the World Food Programme Emergency Response Warehouse with no prior notification or coordination with international donor countries, including the United States.” Seventy-six metric tons of food went missing, even as another 1,650 tons of commodities were on their way.

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Morning Brief: Minnesota Church Stormed, Trump’s Greenland Gamble, & U.S. Ends Aid To Somalia

Minneapolis

Somalia

State Department

The United States is on the verge of reigniting last year’s trade war with Europe after President Donald Trump threatened eight European countries with tariff hikes over Denmark’s refusal to sell Greenland.
A trade deal Trump secured in July of last year with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is unlikely to move forward after Trump on Saturday <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115911344443637897">threatened</a> 25% tariffs against eight EU countries, as well as the United Kingdom and Norway.
The European People’s Party is the most influential bloc in the European parliament, <a href="https://results.elections.europa.eu/en/seats-political-group-country/2024-2029/">holding</a> 188 of 720 seats. Party President Manfred Weber said in a statement that the parliament cannot move forward with the trade deal the EU agreed to last year because of threats from the United States.
“The EPP is in favour of the EU–U.S. trade deal, but given Donald Trump’s threats regarding Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage. The 0% tariffs on U.S. products must be put on hold,” <a href="https://x.com/ManfredWeber/status/2012607273370087621">said</a> Weber.
The deal by Trump and von der Leyen last year would eliminate tariffs on goods from the United States to the EU, and cap U.S. tariffs on European products at 15%. Because of Trump’s trade threats over Greenland, officials in the bloc want to freeze the trade agreement and potentially pull other economic levers against the United States as well.
French President Emmanuel Macron intends to ask the EU to use the bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument, known as the trade “bazooka,” against the United States. The instrument would allow the bloc to take significantly more steps against the United States, such as placing limits on intellectual property protections and restricting investment.
“He will be in contact all day with his European counterparts and will ask, in the name of France, the activation of the Anti-Coercion Instrument,” Macron&#8217;s office <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/macron-to-urge-eu-to-use-trade-bazooka-in-response-to-trumps-tariffs/">told</a> Politico Europe on Sunday.
In response to the escalating trade threats coming from Europe, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Sunday <a href="https://x.com/JacquiHeinrich/status/2012952767518650432">defended</a> Trump’s approach.
“I think right now with respect to Greenland, the president has a strong view that it&#8217;s a national security matter for the U.S. to have more control over Greenland, and I&#8217;m confident that in the end, he&#8217;s going to negotiate a deal that&#8217;s great for us and great for our partners,” said Hassett.

Ursula von der Leyen, Donald Trump

Europe Ramps Up Trade Fight After Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland

Global Politics

United States

World

Europe’s weakness is no longer just Europe’s problem; it is the West’s crisis. For decades, the continent has drifted into complacency, retreating from free markets, hollowing out its militaries, and outsourcing its security to Washington. What began as integration hardened into dependency. The result is a Europe that is economically stagnant, strategically vulnerable, and increasingly unsure of its own identity.
President Trump’s recently released National Security Strategy and the National Defense Authorization Act are the first major American documents in a generation that speak to Europe not as a ward, but as an adult. They state, in effect, that the West cannot survive if its largest democratic bloc insists on remaining structurally weak. America will not abandon Europe, but it will no longer indulge Europe’s illusions. The ball is now in Europe’s court.
Trump’s statecraft is often misdescribed as improvisation. In reality, a Trump Doctrine of strategic sovereignty has emerged. Its core is simple: no nation is entitled to protection from the United States unless it actively contributes to collective security; coalitions are built on shared interests and values, not on inertia; and the West is worth preserving. Once the United States and Europe shared these beliefs, and their alliance was strong on this basis.
This abandons the fantasy of a self-enforcing “rules-based order.” Russia’s attack on Georgia or Ukraine, and other similar powers’ attacks on other weaker countries, have repeatedly shown that there is no universally accepted rules-based order. The simple, stubborn fact is that order is made and maintained by sovereign states that possess power, will, and clarity of purpose. Trump’s approach replaces the old habit of open-ended guarantees with a “balance of sovereigns”: the United States will remain the preeminent Western power, but its allies must become genuine pillars, not permanent dependents, to keep the balance of power in the West and keep at bay geopolitical adversaries that understand solely strength.
Trump has already done more to weaken the Russia-China-Iran-North Korea axis than his predecessor. Trump’s pressure on Moscow has been more consequential than Joe Biden’s. By pushing NATO allies to raise defense spending, by imposing secondary measures that hit Russian oil revenues, and by brokering peace in the Caucasus, Trump has constrained Russia’s maneuvering space.
Iran, once emboldened by Western appeasement, is now reeling. Israeli and American strikes have gutted its nuclear and military infrastructure. Combined with the Abraham Accords and the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement, the Middle East has been reshaped in ways that keep Russia out and leave Tehran increasingly isolated. Iran’s proxies are weakened, its economy strangled, and its strategic depth reduced.
The updated Monroe Doctrine has likewise kept China out of the Western Hemisphere. Beijing’s attempts to buy strategic assets and political influence in Latin America have been blocked or rolled back, while Venezuela’s dictator is now under arrest, with his regime destabilized. Trump’s declarations about the Panama Canal and Greenland should be seen as part of this larger doctrine.
Taken together, these moves have fractured the “unholy alliance” of America’s adversaries. Europe should take note: Trump has shown that strength and clarity can weaken adversaries far more effectively than platitudes and half-measures. The United States is doing its part to reshape the global balance. The question is whether Europe will do its part to reshape itself.
Security begins with production. Europe’s retreat from free-market dynamism has hollowed out its competitiveness. While Trump has pursued reindustrialization, deregulation, near-shoring, and energy abundance in the United States, Europe has doubled down on regulatory maximalism and green utopianism — policies that have driven factories, capital, and talent elsewhere.
A continent that once powered the Industrial Revolution now tries to regulate its way into relevance. High taxes, rigid labor markets, and hostility to conventional and nuclear energy have produced dependence on Russian gas, Chinese supply chains, and American defense spending. There is no single European entity in the top 10 biggest companies, startups, or AI firms, because the European instinct has become “regulate before even creating”. 
Real recovery will not come from new Brussels programs, but from unleashing the energy and initiative of millions of individuals and families who are now trapped under layers of taxation, bureaucracy, and paternalism. Europe does not lack talent; it lacks permission to use it.
Trump’s doctrine treats Europe’s stagnation not as an internal matter, but as a strategic liability. Economic weakness means underfunded militaries, brittle societies, and a politics increasingly tempted by accommodation with authoritarian suppliers of energy and credit. A Europe that cannot sustain industry will not sustain deterrence.
If Europe wants to be something other than a museum of past greatness, it must rediscover growth: lower and simpler taxes, domestic energy, and a serious commitment to frontier technologies. Otherwise, the center of gravity of the democratic world will keep shifting from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific, not by American design but by European default.
Trump’s strategy does something European elites have avoided for years: it links power to identity. It speaks of restoring the West’s “civilizational self-confidence” and calls on the nations of the free world to defend their histories, cultures, and borders.
This is not nostalgia. It is strategic clarity. A society that doubts its right to exist cannot project power. A civilization that treats its past as a moral burden will not endure the costs of defense, child-rearing, or long-term investment.
For too long, influential European institutions have treated national identity as suspect, the family as optional, borders as administrative details, and free speech as a negotiable privilege. The result is fragmentation: uncontrolled migration, parallel societies, and cultural self-censorship. In such a context, phrases like “strategic autonomy” are empty. Autonomy presupposes cohesion. 
Trump’s message is that the West is not an NGO; it is a civilization. The President does not seek American domination of Europe. He seeks equilibrium. America First does not mean America Alone; it means an America strong enough to lead, partnered with European allies strong enough to matter. For Europe, that means three things: (a) Rearmament as an act of self-respect, not of deference to Washington. A Europe that cannot field serious forces from the Baltic to the Mediterranean is not “pacifist”; it is strategically unserious. (b) Reindustrialization and energy realism. A continent that shuts down reliable power without viable alternatives, and that drives industry offshore, will find its foreign policy constrained by whoever keeps its lights on. (c) Civilizational recovery. Europe must stop apologizing for its existence. Its nations, cultures and Judeo-Christian roots are not obstacles to the future; they are the only basis on which a free future can be built.
Trump has laid out a doctrine that treats Europe not as a client but as a potential equal. The question is whether Europe will seize this moment or shrink from it.  The United States has made its choice: strength, sovereignty, and renewed Western leadership. If Europe fails to rise, the West will fall, not because America abandoned it, but because Europe abandoned itself.
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<div class="p-rich_text_section">Nikola Kedhi is the Executive Director of the Albanian Conservative Institute and a contributor to various media such as the Daily Wire, Fox News, Newsweek, the Daily Signal, Newsmax, and others. Kedhi is also a co-author of the Constitution of Conservative Values, the official Doctrine of the Democratic Party of Albania. He can be reached on Twitter: @nikedhi95 and on his Substack.</div>
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The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

European Leaders Join Ukrainian President Zelensky For White House Meeting With Trump

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