President Donald Trump issued a blunt warning Monday to communities pushing back against the construction of artificial intelligence data centers, arguing that opposition to the facilities could leave communities poorer while benefiting China.
“The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor,” Trump wrote in a post on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117190477440173795">Truth Social</a>. “If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.”
“The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them,” Trump continued. “If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame.” Trump also invoked the central geopolitical argument behind his support for the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure, writing, “China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening!”
The president’s comments come as opposition to data centers has emerged as one of the most politically charged issues ahead of the November midterm elections. A <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/709772/americans-oppose-data-centers-area.aspx">Gallup poll</a> conducted in March found 71% of Americans opposed building a data center in their communities, including 75% of Democrats, 63% of Republicans, and 74% of independents. A <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-cool-your-servers-voters-reject-data-centers">Fox News poll</a> conducted last month similarly found 70% opposed to building an AI data center in their area.
Critics have raised concerns about the enormous amounts of electricity and water consumed by the facilities as well as noise. Critics also argue that data centers can place a strain on local infrastructure and question whether nearby residents actually benefit economically from their construction.
Those concerns have also been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/republicans-are-turning-against-data-centers-fast">voiced</a> by Republican politicians and candidates even as Trump has remained firmly committed to the data center buildout. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who has broadly supported data centers, recently moved to impose new regulations on the industry and has argued that data center companies need to pay the full cost of the electrical infrastructure they require. Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton supports Abbott’s pause on new data centers.
Republican Senate candidate <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/20/republican-mike-rogers-michigan-data-center-moratorium-01044140">Mike Rogers</a> in Michigan and Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial nominee <a href="https://penncapital-star.com/technology-information/garrity-and-shapiro-have-accused-each-other-of-flip-flopping-on-data-centers-are-they-both-right/">Stacy Garrity</a> have also called for halts or restrictions on certain projects. On the other side of the aisle, Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has imposed restrictions on data center development, while Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/did-a-democratic-governor-just-hand-china-a-gift-wrapped-win">ordered</a> a one-year moratorium on certain hyperscale data centers.
Trump, however, has repeatedly rejected calls for a broader pullback. In a recent <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/08/23/trump-data-centers-michael-cohen-interview">interview with Michael Cohen</a>, Trump argued that communities refusing data centers were “making a mistake” because the facilities bring “tremendous amounts of jobs and money.” He also claimed that data centers are increasingly being paired with their own power plants rather than relying entirely on existing electrical grids.
The administration has sought to address concerns over electricity costs through its Ratepayer Protection Pledge, under which data center operators and several governors agreed to measures intended to prevent ordinary ratepayers from being saddled with the costs of the AI buildout. Trump has also <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116924979201330474">previously called</a> data centers “one of the biggest Driving Forces in the Future for Jobs” and signed an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/accelerating-federal-permitting-of-data-center-infrastructure/">executive order</a> aimed at accelerating their construction.

Trump Tries To Curb Birthright Citizenship Anew After Court Loss

Trump Warns Americans Are About To ‘Kill The Golden Goose’

Artificial Intelligence

China

Communist China

Data center

Data Centers

Donald Trump

Greg Abbott

Josh Shapiro

Kathy Hochul

Mike Rogers

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President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States had reached an agreement with Venezuela securing majority U.S. control of more than 65 billion barrels of oil reserves, touting the deal as a major boost to U.S. energy security and a potential long-term answer to rising gas prices.
Trump announced the agreement in a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117175567133618952">Truth Social post</a>, calling it “THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY.” 
The president said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth negotiated the deal with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez and private businesses.
“This Historic Transaction MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future,” Trump wrote.
<iframe class="truthsocial-embed" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/117175567133618952/embed" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><script src="https://truthsocial.com/embed.js" async="async"></script>
Trump said the agreement comes “at no cost to the American Taxpayer” and argued that it will strengthen the increasingly close relationship between Washington and Caracas.
Trump did not identify the private businesses participating in the deal or provide details about the agreement&#8217;s structure or how the United States would exercise majority control over the reserves.
The announcement follows the Trump administration’s dramatic intervention in Venezuela earlier this year, when U.S. forces captured then-President Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the United States to face federal narcoterrorism and drug-trafficking charges. 
In the months since Maduro’s removal, Trump has repeatedly emphasized Venezuela’s enormous petroleum reserves and the possibility of bringing American energy companies back into the country.
Venezuela possesses the largest proven oil reserves in the world, with roughly 303 billion barrels of crude oil beneath its territory, <a href="https://www.eia.gov/international/analysis/country/VEN">according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration</a>. The 65 billion barrels cited by Trump represent a substantial portion of the country’s known reserves.
Venezuela has historically produced only a fraction of the oil its reserves would suggest. Years of economic collapse, sanctions, government mismanagement and deteriorating infrastructure have crippled the country’s oil industry, leaving Venezuela responsible for only about 1% of global oil production despite possessing roughly 17% of the world’s oil reserves.
Developing the reserves covered by the agreement could give the United States a significant new source of oil, but any effect on supply would depend on how quickly production could be expanded. 
The timing is particularly significant as Americans face elevated energy prices and the Trump administration attempts to manage the economic fallout from the war with Iran. The conflict has disrupted global oil markets, particularly through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping corridor for crude. 
Oil prices have risen sharply since the conflict began, while the United States has drawn down its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to levels not seen in decades, per <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/15/strategic-petroleum-reserve-spr-oil-iran-war-caverns.html">CNBC</a>.
The reserve fell below 300 million barrels earlier this month, more than 100 million barrels below its level at the beginning of 2026.
The average price of gasoline in the United States was roughly $4.09 per gallon on Thursday, according to <a href="https://newsroom.aaa.com/2026/08/gas-prices-remain-high-as-august-will-likely-set-new-record/">AAA</a>. Trump has repeatedly argued that increasing American energy production and securing reliable supplies from friendly nations can help bring those prices back down.
“This Transaction will greatly strengthen the already growing relationship between Venezuela and the United States,” Trump wrote. 
The agreement could mark a significant new phase in that relationship if American companies invest in Venezuela’s long-neglected oil infrastructure and substantially increase production. Its ultimate effect on American supply and gasoline prices will depend on how quickly the oil can be developed and brought to market. 
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Trump Announces ‘Biggest Oil Deal In World History’

Crude Oil

Energy

Energy Policy

Iran

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Oil policy

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A Nigerian journalist imprisoned for reporting on Christian persecution says Americans must fight the rise of Islam in the United States if they want to preserve their freedom.
Luka Binniyat issued the warning while speaking about a five-year legal battle that saw him spend over 80 days in prison after officials took issue with a story he wrote on an attack on a Christian village by Islamic militants. Binniyat, from the religiously divided, mineral-rich Nigerian state of Kaduna, is haunted by the violence he has witnessed.
“You should not allow Islam to gain root in America. They’ll come there with values that are not your own, and even if they are a minority, they will eventually try to enforce their own religion, their own beliefs over the community,” the 60-year-old Binniyat told The Daily Wire in an interview. “In Nigeria — here in the Muslim-dominated areas — Christians do not have rights.”
The warning is personal for Binniyat, who has seen firsthand the violent implementation of Sharia law. Northern Nigeria is largely Islamic, and the southern part of the country is Christian. The middle, where Binniyat has spent most of his time reporting on, is divided. What he has witnessed, he told The Daily Wire, is genocide.
“When you select a group of people for extermination, based on their race, based on their belief, or based on their ideology, you select them for mass murder. That is what genocide is all about,” he said. “That is what we&#8217;re experiencing.”
In many of the attacks he has reported on, he said the “Muslim community is not touched” while “it is the Christian community that is attacked.”
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<div id="attachment_1162877" style="width: 942px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1162877" class="size-full wp-image-1162877" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-21-at-10.36.55-AM.png" alt="" width="932" height="881" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-21-at-10.36.55-AM.png 932w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-21-at-10.36.55-AM-300x284.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-21-at-10.36.55-AM-609x576.png 609w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-21-at-10.36.55-AM-768x726.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 932px) 100vw, 932px" />World Watch Monitor.</div>
Binniyat’s use of the term genocide got him into legal trouble in October 2021, when he <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/in-nigeria-police-decry-massacres-as-wicked-but-make-no-arrests-4075998?slsuccess=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> a story in The Epoch Times that quoted a local politician accusing an official of covering up attacks on Christians. The official accused Binniyat of defamation while the local politician denied making the comment.
In November 2021, officials charged him with using a computer to transmit knowingly false information &#8220;for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will, or needless anxiety to another.&#8221;
The resulting legal battle, which lasted until May 2026, saw Binniyat spend months in prison. He said he was kept in a small, insect-infested prison cell with dozens of other inmates where they were forced to poop in buckets and given food Binniyat described as “punishment.”
In October 2024, Binniyat’s defense filed a “no case submission,” which was approved by the Federal High Court in Kaduna in November 2025, but no written decision was issued until May 26, 2026. His defense throughout the case was assisted by the Alliance Defending Freedom International.
The decision found that there was “no evidence to prove the essential elements of the alleged offense” and said the evidence presented against Binniyat was “manifestly unreliable,” according to ADF International.
“Luka Binniyat did nothing more than accurately quote a Nigerian legislator&#8217;s own words. This ruling is a vindication for Luka, but it should also be a wake-up call: Accurate reporting on atrocities is not a crime, and journalists covering religious persecution deserve protection, not prosecution,&#8221; Sean Nelson, senior counsel for Global Religious Freedom at Alliance Defending Freedom, told The Daily Wire.
ADF International has another case pending before Nigeria’s Supreme Court looking to strike down its stringent blasphemy laws.
Binniyat’s case was <a href="https://www.uscirf.gov/religious-prisoners-conscience/forb-victims-database/luka-binniyat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">championed</a> by the United States Council on International Religious Freedom and other watchdog organizations, including the <a href="https://cpj.org/2021/11/nigerian-journalist-luka-binniyat-detained-over-complaint-by-kaduna-state-official/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Committee to Protect Journalists</a> and Reporters Without Borders.
“I&#8217;m walking as a free man today. Thank God for the pressure around the world that was put on the government,” he said.
Thousands of Christians across Nigeria are killed annually with many advocates faulting the government for not doing enough to crack down on the violence. The continuous state of violence led to the Trump administration labeling Nigeria as a country of particular concern in 2025, putting it under greater international scrutiny.
Several militant Islamic groups typically are behind the violence, including insurgent group Boko Haram, the largely nomadic Islamic Fulani herdsmen, and the Islamic State of West Africa.
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<div id="attachment_1162889" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1162889" class="size-full wp-image-1162889" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-1234007408.jpg" alt="TOPSHOT - The remaining wares of students of Bethel Baptist High School are seen inside the school premises as parent of abducted students wait for the return of their children whom were abducted by gunmen in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna state, northwest Nigeria on July 14, 2021. - The girls are just two of the more than 100 Nigerian children snatched from Bethel Baptist High School nearly three weeks ago, herded by gunmen into the forests after a kidnapping raid on their dormitories.The July 5 attack in Nigeria's northwest Kaduna state was just the latest mass abduction at a school or college as kidnap gangs seeking quick ransoms zero in on soft target of young students. Armed kidnappings for ransom along highways, and from homes and businesses now make almost daily newspaper headlines in Africa's most populous country. (Photo by Kola Sulaimon / AFP) " width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-1234007408.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-1234007408-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-1234007408-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-1234007408-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />The scene outside a school where gunmen abducted children (KOLA SULAIMON/AFP via Getty Images.)</div>
While not describing himself as a typical “born-again” Christian, Binniyat said it is his mission to expose violence against Christians, even if it means writing reports critical of the government. His home state of Kaduna demonstrates a “clash of values” that could not be more different.
Binniyat said that the Muslims want to impose Sharia law on the whole middle Nigerian region over Christians who want to embrace Western values with traditional African practices sprinkled in. A Christian converting to Islam can be killed for that conviction and many of the Muslim children do not attend schooling.
“They believe in violence. They say it&#8217;s a religion of peace,” he said of Islam. “As far as we know, it is a religion of violence.”
There is one attack that he said haunts him to this day. He said he showed up on the scene and found the smoldering bodies that were burnt during an attack targeting a Christian wedding. He said he helped locals gather over 20 bodies and bury them in a mass grave.
“It is something that I don&#8217;t want to recall. You could smell the flesh of humans burning. We had to bring out bodies that were roasted like animals — children, women,” he said.
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<div id="attachment_1162891" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1162891" class="size-full wp-image-1162891" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2159375313.jpg" alt="Injured men lay in a van as they arrive for treatment after a wave of suicide attacks in the North East of Nigeria, in Maiduguri on June 29, 2024. At least 18 people were killed and 19 seriously wounded in suicide attacks targeting a wedding, a hospital and a funeral in northeastern Nigeria on June 29, authorities said. The region has been scarred by more than a decade of violence by jihadist group Boko Haram, which did not immediately claim responsibility for the string of attacks. (Photo by Audu MARTE / AFP) " width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2159375313.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2159375313-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2159375313-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2159375313-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Injured men lay in a van as they arrive for treatment after a wave of suicide attacks in Nigeria (AUDU MARTE/AFP via Getty Images.)</div>
With his legal battle over, Binniyat says he plans to continue writing on the plight of Christians, which he says has not improved during his journalism career. He said he would consider entering politics and push for policies that would provide more protection for Christians.
As someone who has seen the violence of a society dominated by militant Islam, Binniyat wants Americans to be careful.
“Americans should not take the liberty and the freedom which they are enjoying now for granted. If they allow Islam to establish a root in America, you are going to lose your country,” he said. “That is [why] I want the Americans to protect their religion, to protect their culture, and to assert their values on every immigrant that comes.”

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He Was Jailed For Exposing Muslim Violence In Nigeria. Now, He’s Warning Americans To Fight Sharia.

Africa

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

Christian Persecution

Islam in America

Nigeria

Persecution

Sharia Law

The State Department has temporarily paused all immigrant visa appointments for applicants across the globe.
The federal government said it made the decision because it needs time to train all consular staff to better screen visa applicants to determine whether they are likely to become dependent on the American welfare system, the Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2026/08/26/state-dept-pauses-immigrant-visa-appointments-worldwide-says-staff-need-training/">reported</a> on Wednesday. It is not clear when the appointments will restart.
&#8220;A more prosperous America means ensuring that visa applicants are not likely to become a public charge, as defined under U.S. law and regulation, and not likely to become dependent on U.S. public benefits reserved for qualified Americans in need,&#8221; the State Department said in a statement.
The department said the training would ensure consular officers &#8220;are fully equipped to evaluate every visa applicant comprehensively and consistently.&#8221; The pause is not expected to affect visas for tourists, foreign workers, or students, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/u-s-state-department-pauses-immigrant-visa-applications-25b31b23">according</a> to The Wall Street Journal.
Last Friday, a federal judge struck down the Trump administration&#8217;s 75-country visa ban that sought to target those looking to take advantage of taxpayer-funded public benefits.
U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, said the 75-country policy  &#8220;represents a direct abrogation&#8221; of the consular officers&#8217; authority to determine which foreigners are eligible for visas.
The latest move comes as the Trump administration has taken recent actions to reform legal immigration programs.
As part of the effort, the federal government has revoked roughly 175,000 visas tied to individuals accused or convicted of crimes.
Federal officials are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-readies-for-largest-mass-visa-revocation-effort?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Admin+Prepares+To+Revoke+More+Visas+Than+Ever+Before">preparing</a> to revoke the business and tourist visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who later sought asylum in the United States. The targets of the plan received their visas between 2016 and 2026.
In an X post on Monday, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau voiced the administration’s concerns about immigrants who game the visa system to extend their stay in the United States by later applying for asylum.
&#8220;People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims. Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration laws; rather, it’s supposed to provide a narrow safe harbor for persons persecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion,&#8221; Landau wrote.
The Trump administration also recently proposed a $103,265 fee for employers looking to hire employees through the H-1B visa program, arguing that employers have abused the program to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor and that the existing system fails to prioritize the most highly skilled workers.
It is the administration&#8217;s second attempt at instituting a six-figure fee for the program after a federal judge struck down a previous plan to charge a $100,000 fee.

US-POLITICS-TRUMP-MINING-INDUSTRY-ENERGY

Trump Admin Pauses All Immigrant Visa Appointments

Immigration

State Department

Visas

In a scandal first uncovered by The Daily Wire, a new Department of Homeland Security <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2026-08/OIG-26-21-Aug26.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_new" rel="noopener" data-start="90" data-end="196">inspector general report</a> found that a FEMA disaster response crew illegally skipped Florida homes displaying signs supporting President Donald Trump, as workers surveyed damage from Hurricane Milton without proper training.
In November 2024, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-fema-official-ordered-relief-workers-to-skip-houses-with-trump-signs">The Daily Wire first exposed</a> the FEMA scandal after multiple federal employees confirmed that a supervisor ordered disaster relief workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump” as they canvassed Lake Placid, Florida, to identify residents eligible for federal aid. Internal messages obtained by The Daily Wire showed that supervisor Marn’i Washington issued the directive both verbally and in a group chat used by the relief team, according to multiple government employees.
“This situation eroded public trust in FEMA’s ability to treat everyone impartially, offer unbiased and consistent assistance, and ensure equal access to resources and tools,” the inspector general’s report <a href="https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2026-08/OIG-26-21-Aug26.pdf">said</a>. 
The 25-page investigation concluded that the discrimination violated both FEMA policy and the Hatch Act. The <a href="https://www.osc.gov/services/hatch-act/overview/">1939 federal law</a> prohibits government employees from using their positions or government resources for partisan political activity.
FEMA disaster relief crews canvassed more than 744,000 homes and other locations after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. But a DHS watchdog found that workers deliberately skipped 11 homes displaying signs supporting then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Images obtained by The Daily Wire showed workers documenting the homes in the government system with messages such as “Trump sign no entry per leadership.”
<div id="attachment_1165733" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1165733" class="wp-image-1165733 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/fema-avoid-trump-1-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/fema-avoid-trump-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/fema-avoid-trump-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/fema-avoid-trump-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/fema-avoid-trump-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/fema-avoid-trump-1.avif 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Microsoft Teams chat used by FEMA workers.</div>
“These issues occurred due to weaknesses in FEMA’s training, documentation, and oversight,” the inspector general&#8217;s report concluded. “FEMA DSA [Disaster Survivor Assistance] crews did not receive ethics and Hatch Act training before deploying to disasters, DSA policies and procedures did not require crews to explain why they skipped homes, and DSA crew leaders were not required to conduct quality control reviews of survivor interactions.” 
Investigators also interviewed 18 random FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance crew members deployed during the natural disasters and found 11 who said they never received Hatch Act training.
Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm on September 26, 2024, unleashing catastrophic flooding and devastation that killed hundreds and caused billions of dollars in damage from the Gulf Coast to the mountains of North Carolina. Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton struck near Siesta Key, Florida, as a Category 3 storm, battering communities still reeling from Helene. 
President Biden quickly approved major disaster declarations for Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee, unlocking federal aid to help survivors clean up and begin rebuilding.
As FEMA scrambled to respond to the back-to-back disasters, the agency called on a DHS Surge Capacity Force, drawing volunteers from other DHS agencies to bolster its understaffed workforce ahead of Hurricane Milton.
“I know they’re short-staffed, I thought we could go help and make a difference,” one of the employees told The Daily Wire at the time. “When we got there we were told to discriminate against people. It’s almost unbelievable to think that somebody in the federal government would think that’s okay.” 
The employee said it felt wrong to discriminate against Trump supporters when they were at their “most vulnerable.” 
“I volunteered to help disaster victims, not discriminate against them,” the employee said. “It didn’t matter if people were black, white, Hispanic, for Trump, for Harris. Everyone deserves the same amount of help.”
The guidance came as the Biden administration faced mounting criticism over what many rural communities described as a lackluster response to Hurricane Helene. In Roan Mountain, Tennessee, for example, residents <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-a-small-tennessee-town-survived-helene-after-the-emergency-response-floundered">told</a> The Daily Wire that it took nearly two weeks for FEMA to arrive. Carter County, where the town is located, <a href="https://www.politico.com/2024-election/results/tennessee/">voted 81%</a> for Trump.
The FEMA workers ordered to bypass homes displaying Trump signs were operating in Highlands County, a deep-red region of south-central Florida that backed Trump with 70% of the vote. The county was battered by tornadoes, torrential winds and rain, and flooding when Hurricane Milton struck in October.
The inspector general’s report laid out the limited exceptions in which FEMA workers could skip homes, including &#8220;hostile&#8221; interactions with residents, no-trespassing or private-property signs, hazardous debris, or purple paint marking a property as off-limits.
Political signs supporting Trump were not among the exceptions.
The inspector general reviewed thousands of FEMA canvassing records and identified 11 cases with notes indicating potential political bias. The workers logged the skipped homes under generic categories such as “Not Able to Access Property” and “Private Property.” 
“However, in the notes field all 11 surveys included the name of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump to explain the reason for skipping the homes,” the investigation found. 
<div id="attachment_1165737" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1165737" class="wp-image-1165737 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/MixCollage-08-Nov-2024-03-17-PM-8891-2048x1024-1-1024x512.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="512" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/MixCollage-08-Nov-2024-03-17-PM-8891-2048x1024-1-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/MixCollage-08-Nov-2024-03-17-PM-8891-2048x1024-1-300x150.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/MixCollage-08-Nov-2024-03-17-PM-8891-2048x1024-1-768x384.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/MixCollage-08-Nov-2024-03-17-PM-8891-2048x1024-1-1536x768.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/MixCollage-08-Nov-2024-03-17-PM-8891-2048x1024-1.avif 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />One of the homes skipped by FEMA/ FEMA app tracking what homes were visited.</div>
The report could not determine whether FEMA workers used similar discriminatory tactics elsewhere in the country as communities reeled from hurricane devastation.
“We could not determine if crews skipped locations for unallowable reasons during other disasters because the support contract for FEMA’s Field Assessment and Collection Tools ended in September 2025 when then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Noem did not act on FEMA’s request to fund it before expiration,” investigators said.  
Looking forward, the inspector general issued four recommendations: strengthen ethics and Hatch Act training before deployments, create a system to document survivor interactions, and require FEMA crews to standardize how they record skipped homes and the reasons for doing so. 
After The Daily Wire broke the story, a FEMA spokesman said the agency was “deeply disturbed” and “horrified” by the employee’s actions, and that it has “taken extreme actions to correct this situation.”

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The Trump administration is proposing a fee of more than $100,000 for companies looking to hire skilled foreign workers through the H-1B visa program, making it significantly more expensive for American employers to bring foreign workers into the country.
The Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/dhs-proposes-additional-h-1b-fee">proposed</a> Monday that employers pay an additional $103,265 for every new H-1B petition subject to the program&#8217;s annual cap, including petitions for foreign workers who earned advanced degrees from U.S. universities. The charge would come on top of the other fees employers already pay when filing an H-1B visa. 
The administration argues that employers have abused the program to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor and that the existing system does not sufficiently prioritize the most highly skilled workers. Under the proposed rule, the six-figure fee would apply to all H-1B petitions subject to the annual statutory cap, rather than primarily targeting workers seeking to enter the country from abroad. That distinction could have major consequences for American businesses. Many companies use H-1B visas to shift foreign students and workers legally present in the United States into long-term employment.
The H-1B program is capped at 85,000 new visas annually — 65,000 for the regular program and another 20,000 for workers with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions. Demand regularly far exceeds that number, forcing employers to compete in an annual lottery. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services <a href="https://x.com/USCIS/status/2057561453373399339">reported</a> it received more than 211,000 registrations for the most recent lottery. 
The administration estimates that the new fee would generate approximately $8.8 billion annually. Rather than limiting the money to the cost of processing H-1B applications, DHS says the revenue would help cover broader costs associated with administering the legal immigration system, including immigration courts, immigration enforcement, visa processing, and other federal immigration operations. 
The proposed rule would exempt employers whose H-1B petitions are not subject to the annual cap, including certain universities, nonprofit research organizations, and government research institutions. That provides an exemption for many hospitals and universities that rely on H-1B workers to fill medical and research positions. 
The proposal comes after Trump&#8217;s previous attempt to impose a $100,000 H-1B fee was <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/06/09/nx-s1-5851474/federal-judge-fee-h1b-visa">struck down</a> by a federal judge in June. Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that the administration had effectively imposed an unauthorized tax without congressional approval. 
The Trump administration appealed the ruling, but the First Circuit declined to pause the decision while the appeal proceeds. 
The new proposal is an attempt to establish the fee through the federal regulatory process rather than through the presidential proclamation used last year. DHS is characterizing the $103,265 charge as a mechanism for recovering the federal government&#8217;s costs of administering the legal immigration system. 
The proposed rule says the fee would make employers &#8220;less likely to hire an H-1B worker over a qualified and highly-skilled American,&#8221; according to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2026/08/24/trump-administration-proposes-103000-fee-h-1b-visas-after-legal-setback/">Washington Post</a>.
The proposal also comes as the administration considers additional restrictions on employment programs used by foreign graduates. The administration is also <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/trump-weighs-100-000-fee-for-foreign-students-to-work-post-grad">considering</a> a $100,000 fee on Optional Practical Training, which allows international students to work in the United States after completing their studies.
The proposal has already drawn opposition from business and immigration groups, which argue that the H-1B program allows American companies to access specialized talent that is not always available domestically. India&#8217;s largest technology industry association, Nasscom, also <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/india-it-industry-body-urges-us-weigh-h-1b-visa-benefits-trump-proposes-hefty-2026-08-25/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">urged the administration</a> to consider the program&#8217;s role in addressing U.S. labor shortages. 
But the administration is betting that making foreign labor substantially more expensive will encourage companies to hire and train Americans instead. The proposal will now enter a 30-day public-comment period after its publication in the Federal Register. It could still be altered, withdrawn, or challenged in court before taking effect.

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The United States formally removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, ending a designation that had remained in place since 1979 and clearing a major obstacle to foreign investment as the country attempts to rebuild after nearly 14 years of civil war.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/2091962663072899131">announced</a> Monday that he had formally rescinded Syria’s designation following the completion of a mandatory 45-day congressional notification period. The Treasury Department simultaneously <a href="https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20260824">removed</a> Islamist paramilitary group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from its list of specially designated global terrorists. 
The decision marks a dramatic reversal in Washington’s relationship with Damascus following the fall of longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Syria had originally been designated a state sponsor of terrorism in 1979 under Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad, in large part because of the regime’s support for Palestinian militant organizations. 
“Rescinding Syria’s designation as an SST and HTS’ designation as an SDGT eliminates the final major barriers for private sector investment in Syria and promotes Syria’s economic recovery and reintegration into the global economy,” Rubio wrote in his announcement on X.
With Syria&#8217;s removal, only three countries remain on the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list: Cuba, Iran, and North Korea. 
The State Department <a href="https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/08/rescission-of-syrias-designation-as-a-state-sponsor-of-terrorism/">said</a> the decision reflects actions taken by the government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to distance itself from international terrorism. Over the past year, Syria has joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and conducted operations against ISIS, al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Iran-aligned groups, according to Rubio. 
The administration&#8217;s decision also follows President Donald Trump’s broader effort to dismantle the sanctions regime imposed on Syria during the Assad era. Trump signed an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/providing-for-the-revocation-of-syria-sanctions/">executive order</a> in June 2025 directing the revocation of the Syria sanctions program, and formally initiated the process of removing Syria from the terrorism list in July.
The designation carried significant restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance, defense exports, and certain financial transactions. Its removal, therefore, gives international companies and financial institutions substantially greater ability to conduct business with Syria. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0612">said</a> the move would “help foster additional investment in Syria to promote political and economic stability.” That investment could be particularly significant as Syria faces the enormous task of rebuilding infrastructure destroyed during its civil war. In 2025, the World Bank <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/10/21/syria-s-post-conflict-reconstruction-costs-estimated-at-216-billion">estimated</a> the cost of Syria&#8217;s postwar reconstruction at roughly $216 billion.
Syrian officials have characterized the removal as a crucial step toward reconnecting the country with the international financial system. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said before the announcement that lifting the designation would remove what he described as the “last obstacle” to investment and economic activity in Syria. 
The geopolitical stakes could extend beyond Syria&#8217;s economic recovery. Syria&#8217;s geographic position on the Mediterranean also gives it potential importance to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/world/middleeast/strait-hormuz-blockade-iran-war-syria-oil.html">regional energy and trade routes</a>, particularly as disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz continue to affect the movement of oil and gas.
Syria&#8217;s Mediterranean ports could eventually provide an alternative route for regional energy exports, although taking advantage of that opportunity would require substantial investment in roads, ports, utilities, and other infrastructure devastated during the war.
The move also represents a remarkable transformation for al-Sharaa himself. The Syrian president previously led HTS, which had been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. Washington formally <a href="https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/07/revoking-the-foreign-terrorist-organization-designation-of-hayat-tahrir-al-sham">revoked</a> HTS&#8217; Foreign Terrorist Organization designation in July 2025 and has now removed its separate designation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. 
Al-Sharaa led the rebel offensive that toppled Assad in December 2024 and subsequently moved to establish a new Syrian government. The Trump administration has increasingly engaged with him as a potential partner, with Trump meeting the Syrian leader and publicly supporting the country&#8217;s reintegration into the international community.

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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to begin enforcing parts of an executive order aimed at restricting mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections.
In an<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a124_hgci.pdf"> unsigned order</a>, a majority of the justices agreed to pause a lower-court ruling by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston that blocked the Trump administration from carrying out portions of a March executive action. Monday’s order allows the Department of Homeland Security to move forward with creating and distributing “State Citizenship Lists” cataloging adult U.S. citizens in each state ahead of federal elections.
Monday’s decision is an interim victory for Trump but does not resolve the order&#8217;s underlying legality,<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/24/supreme-court-mail-voting-trump.html"> CNBC reported.</a>
The Supreme Court found that the Trump administration was likely to prevail on its argument that the district court lacked jurisdiction to block the order, concluding that the states challenging it had not shown the concrete and imminent injuries required to bring their claims at this stage.
“The Court’s disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful. On that score, time will tell,” the court wrote. “But the Order itself does not harm the States, so the District Court lacked jurisdiction to bar the Government from trying to implement it.”
A separate injunction Talwani issued on Aug. 11 still bars the Postal Service from implementing procedural changes ahead of the Nov. 3 elections, meaning the administration would need to overcome that order before the USPS changes could take effect for the midterms.
In March, Trump signed an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/ensuring-citizenship-verification-and-integrity-in-federal-elections/">executive order </a>directing the Department of Homeland Security to take steps to create and distribute “State Citizenship Lists” cataloging residents who are U.S. citizens and will be over the age of 18 at the time of an upcoming federal election. The order also directed the U.S. Postal Service to begin a rulemaking process involving new procedures for mail-in and absentee ballots.
Last Friday, the USPS issued a<a href="https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-17238.pdf"> final rule</a> establishing new standards for mail-in ballots used in federal elections. Among other requirements, election officials would have to submit voter names, addresses, and unique ballot-envelope barcodes through a federal portal before outbound ballots are presented to the Postal Service. Mailings that fail to comply with the rule’s requirements would not be accepted and would be returned to the authorized ballot mailer. The USPS rule remains subject to the separate federal injunction blocking its implementation ahead of the midterms.
All three liberal justices dissented. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a solo dissent to blast the court’s order.
“This is not a close call. The Government suffers no harm from an injunction limiting unlawful actions, much less ‘hypothetical’ and ‘speculative’ acts that the Government says it was not even sure it would take,” Jackson wrote.
This is a developing story. Stay with The Daily Wire for updates.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent fired a blistering shot across Iran’s bow, declaring that President Donald Trump is bringing the hammer down on the Islamic Republic once and for all.
Writing in the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/cb865200-1a06-40be-86a3-10ee2bb05804">Financial Times</a> on Sunday, Bessent wrote, “We are entering the endgame. At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary. “
Bessent, channeling WWII, compared the Trump administration’s economic strategy to the 1943 Tehran Conference where Allied leaders plotted the downfall of Nazi tyranny. But this time around, the target is Tehran.
“For 47 years, the Islamic republic of Iran has been a malignant force in the world,” Bessent declared. “Within Iran, a corrupt regime has consigned what would be one of the world’s strongest economies to ruin and its enterprising people to repression. Beyond its borders, the Iranian regime maintains a network of proxies that perpetuate its terror.”
Bessent then turned to the nations that have covertly or overtly supported the despotic Iranian regime.
&#8220;The regime’s final refuge now lies in the self-deception of fearful nations that still believe accommodating aggression can secure a durable peace,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;Iran’s enablers purchase and transport its petroleum. They facilitate the flow of its finances through exchange houses and free trade zones. They welcome Iran’s flights and maintain registries on its behalf. They turn a blind eye to seaborne fuel transfers and the illicit use of their banks, all while concealing the extent of their complicity.. In short, these countries calculate appeasement of the regime to be the safer course. But they would do well to consider the consequences of sustaining it.&#8221;
Bessent invoked the 17th-century philosopher Blaise Pascal, whose famous wager stated that human reason cannot definitively settle the question of whether God exists. Pascal argued that humans should think like gamblers, weighing the relative costs and payoffs of believing versus not believing. He contended that if you bet on God and are right, you gain everything (infinity); if you bet on God and are wrong, you lose very little (a few finite pleasures or the time spent in worship); but if you bet against God and are wrong, you lose everything (infinite pain/loss), thus any rational person should choose to believe in God, because risking an infinite loss for a temporary, finite gain is a terrible bet.
Bessent said of Pascal, “He understood that uncertainty does not absolve men or nations of divine judgment. In fact, it demands a more exacting appraisal of risk and imposes a higher price for error. Pascal’s eponymous wager now applies to Iran’s lifelines. Nations that, in courting reprieve from Tehran, continue to replenish the very regime from which they seek protection — and now exceed the limits of America’s tolerance.”
Bessent shredded decades of weak-kneed Washington politicians, writing, “For decades, the political class accepted an endless cycle of provocation instead of advancing American interests. Not another generation should be condemned to the menace of fanatics who devote themselves to ‘death to America’ and fulfilling the regime’s nuclear ambitions.”
“Those who sever Iran’s remaining financial and commercial connectivity will reinvigorate their own,” he urged. “They will deepen their access to global capital, reinforce confidence in their markets and attain the standing they seek in the world economy.”
“The Islamic republic has subsisted by dressing extortion as security guarantees,” he continued. “ It has drawn strength from a calculus that regards Iranian retaliation as certain and American enforcement as negotiable. Under President Trump, that era is over. And those who fear the danger of defying Tehran ought not to discount the cost of testing Washington.”
He concluded, “Pascal considered salvation to be a choice. As a great wave of American resolve comes ashore, are Iran’s enablers willing to wager their future against it?”
Bessent’s warning is clear: the Trump administration is bringing the ultimate financial reckoning.

President Trump Meets With Lebanese President Joseph Aoun

‘We Are Entering The Endgame’: Trump Admin Sends Major Warning As ‘Economic D-Day’ Begins

The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s administration to continue construction of the White House ballroom, pausing a lower court order that would have halted above-ground work on the controversial project.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued an <a href="https://x.com/JordanOnRecord/status/2090863977840459889?s=20">administrative stay</a> Friday, preventing a federal district court’s injunction from taking effect while the Supreme Court considers the Trump administration’s emergency request. The order does not resolve the underlying legal dispute or determine whether Trump had the authority to construct the ballroom without congressional approval.
The move is nevertheless a significant victory for the administration, which has argued that construction should be allowed to continue as the case makes its way through the courts. The dispute is likely to head to the full Supreme Court after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-white-house-ballroom-plans-just-hit-a-major-legal-roadblock">ruled</a> earlier this month that Trump could not proceed with the project without authorization from Congress.
That 2-1 ruling by the appeals court held that the decision to construct the massive addition to the White House was ultimately Congress’ to make. “Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” the appeals court majority wrote.
The court, however, paused its ruling for two weeks to give the administration time to seek relief from the Supreme Court. The Trump administration subsequently asked the justices to intervene. Roberts’ Friday order keeps construction moving while the justices consider that request. The order is an administrative stay, meaning it is temporary and procedural rather than a ruling on the merits of the case. The full Supreme Court could ultimately lift the stay, leave it in place while the case proceeds, or take up the underlying dispute.
The administration has urged the Supreme Court to allow construction to continue, arguing that the project is already substantially underway and that stopping it would interfere with national security.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/08/supreme-court-allows-white-house-ballroom-construction-to-continue-for-now/">described</a> the project in a filing as an “integrated military complex” that includes a secure ballroom space that is “vitally required by national security.” The administration has also argued that the White House requires additional security infrastructure, including facilities designed to protect the president and other officials from potential attacks.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which brought the lawsuit against the administration, has taken the opposite position. The group argues that Trump cannot unilaterally demolish portions of the White House and construct a 90,000-square-foot addition without congressional authorization and other required reviews. The trust has accused the administration of attempting to “outrun judicial review” by moving construction forward as quickly as possible.
The administration said in court filings that the project is already roughly 65% complete, with crews working 20 hours a day, seven days a week. About $200 million in private donations has reportedly already been spent or committed to the project. Trump first announced the ballroom project after returning to the White House, describing it as a roughly $400 million project that would be financed primarily through private donations. The administration subsequently demolished the White House’s East Wing last year to clear the site.
The legal battle escalated after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon issued an injunction blocking most above-ground construction. Leon permitted underground work related to security facilities, including bunkers and other national security infrastructure, to continue.
The D.C. Circuit subsequently upheld Leon’s ruling, with Democratic-appointed judges Patricia Millett and Bradley Garcia forming the majority. Trump-appointed Judge Neomi Rao dissented, arguing that the lower court had improperly intervened in the president’s management of the White House.
“Each president is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House and its executive residence,” the majority wrote. Rao countered that the lower court had exceeded its authority. “The district court seized supervision of construction at the White House, and my colleagues affirm this judicial overreach,” Rao wrote.
The Supreme Court’s Friday order does not indicate when the justices will decide whether to take further action. But with the Trump administration appealing the D.C. Circuit ruling, the legal dispute is now positioned to potentially become a full-fledged Supreme Court case.
For now, however, construction continues. The Trump administration has argued that halting the project would jeopardize both the construction schedule and national security, while preservationists maintain that allowing construction to proceed could effectively make the courts’ eventual ruling meaningless if the ballroom is completed before the legal dispute is resolved.
Friday’s order leaves that larger question unresolved: whether Trump has the unilateral authority to transform the White House’s East Wing into a 90,000-square-foot ballroom without first obtaining Congress’ approval.

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Several Democratic Socialists of America-backed congressional nominees are traveling to Uruguay this week to join a left-wing international conference aimed at opposing President Donald Trump’s foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere.
New York Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, New York activist Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb — all three DSA members who won Democratic congressional primaries this year — will attend the Pan-American Congress in Montevideo as “special guests” of a congressional delegation led by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL). New Jersey Democratic congressional candidate Adam Hamawy, who is not a DSA member but has embraced many of the same left-wing causes, is also attending.
The gathering, scheduled for August 21-23, will bring together left-wing political leaders from across North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
For Valdez, Avila Chevalier, and Rabb, all of whom are running in heavily Democratic districts, the trip also offers an early look at the foreign-policy priorities they could bring to Capitol Hill next year.
Valdez, who is expected to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez in New York’s heavily Democratic 7th Congressional District, said she intends to promote “international solidarity and cooperation — not imperialism, war and extraction.”
“The threats we face, from climate change to mass displacement to the rise of fascism, don’t stop at borders, and neither can our response,” Valdez told <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/08/19/congress/democratic-socialists-congress-uruguay-01041713">Politico</a>.
Conference organizers have similarly framed the participation of the incoming lawmakers as part of a broader effort to reshape the United States&#8217; role in the hemisphere. 
“These inspiring leaders won their primaries on a promise to pursue a new place and purpose for the United States in the international community — and that project starts right here in the hemisphere,” said David Adler, the Pan-American Congress’ general coordinator.
The delegation comes as the Trump administration has moved to assert a more aggressive U.S. presence in the Western Hemisphere through what the administration has dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine.” The administration has emphasized combating drug trafficking, illegal immigration, and foreign adversaries in the Americas, while seeking to strengthen relationships with governments willing to cooperate with the United States.
The Democratic delegation, however, is traveling to Uruguay with the stated goal of building opposition to that approach. Jayapal, 9 other House Democrats, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) last week sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio a <a href="https://jayapal.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/FINAL-SIGNED_Letter-to-Rubio-on-Trump-Corollary.pdf">letter</a> condemning the administration’s application of the “Trump Corollary,” arguing that it amounts to “a license for unlimited foreign intervention.”
The lawmakers accused the administration of using military force without congressional authorization, economic sanctions and tariffs as “collective punishment,” and political pressure to influence elections in sovereign countries. 
“Taken together, the interventions conducted under the banner of the ‘Donroe’ Doctrine appear to follow a partisan playbook,” the lawmakers wrote. “These are tactics that destabilize our hemisphere and endanger our neighbors.”
The emerging Democratic opposition to the policy is notable not simply because of the current congressional delegation, but because of who is preparing to join it. Valdez and Avila Chevalier are among a new generation of DSA-backed politicians who have successfully <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mamdanis-socialists-upset-incumbent-dems-in-house-primary-sweep">defeated</a> Democratic establishment candidates in deep-blue districts.
Valdez, a former union organizer, defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and other candidates in the Democratic primary to succeed Velázquez. She was endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the self-described democratic socialist whose political movement has helped propel a new generation of socialist candidates into office. 
Avila Chevalier defeated five-term Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat in New York’s 13th Congressional District. The 32-year-old organizer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-newest-pick-is-their-most-radical-yet">has spent years</a> working on immigration and Palestinian causes and has helped organize the Columbia University protests following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel. She also received endorsements from Mamdani and the DSA. 
Rabb defeated Democratic establishment favorite Sharif Street in Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District, another overwhelmingly Democratic seat. The DSA-backed candidate has advocated for Medicare for All, universal basic income, guaranteed housing, and the abolition of ICE, among other left-wing policies.
Rabb has also rejected the premise of describing illegal immigration as inherently criminal and said he wants to end deportations. “What are illegals?” Rabb <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/socialist-house-nominee-radical-law-order-vision-what-are-illegals">asked</a> when Fox News host Sean Hannity pressed him on whether he supported amnesty for illegal immigrants and the abolition of national borders.
Valdez, Avila Chevalier, and Rabb are heavily favored to join the House next year, while other DSA-aligned candidates are competing for additional seats.
The Pan-American Congress was founded as a forum for left-wing political leaders from across the Americas to coordinate on regional issues and develop a shared political vision.
This year&#8217;s gathering will give several likely future members of Congress a chance to begin building those relationships before they take office, as Democrats intensify their fight with the Trump administration over the future of U.S. policy in the Western Hemisphere.

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The Trump administration is moving to claw back tens of millions of dollars in pandemic relief that went to celebrities, music artists, and entertainment industry elites.
The Small Business Administration announced Tuesday that it has referred $34 million in outstanding Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) debt to the Treasury Department, marking the first time the federal government has referred unresolved debt from the program to the Treasury for collection.
The move is part of a broader effort by SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler to recover pandemic-era funds that the agency says were improperly awarded or remain outstanding. 
“Under the Biden Administration, the SVOG program became one of the biggest cash-grabs of the pandemic,” Loeffler said in a statement first obtained by The Daily Wire. “For the last year, the Trump SBA has been working to recoup funds meant for struggling small arts and entertainment businesses that ended up lining the pockets of celebrities, music artists, and elite talent agents.”
“Today’s $34 million referral to the Treasury Department is only the first one,” she added, saying the agency will continue using “every lawful tool to claw back unmerited SVOG payments.”
The Treasury referral comes after recipients failed to resolve outstanding repayment obligations through the SBA’s debt-resolution process. The $34 million figure includes principal, applicable administrative costs, and accrued interest. The Biden administration never referred the outstanding SVOG debts to the Treasury for collection, according to the SBA.
The SVOG program was created during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide emergency assistance to live venue operators, promoters, theatrical producers, performing arts organizations, museums, movie theaters, and talent representatives whose businesses were affected by pandemic-related shutdowns and revenue losses.
Congress authorized $16.25 billion for the program, with individual applicants eligible for grants of up to $10 million. 
But the program ultimately became a source of millions of dollars in federal aid for some of the entertainment industry&#8217;s wealthiest names. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lil-wayne-chris-brown-covid-relief-funds-svog-grant-2024-12">Business Insider</a> previously reported that musicians including Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Marshmello, Steve Aoki, and members of Alice in Chains received millions of dollars through the program.
Lil Wayne&#8217;s touring company received an $8.9 million grant. Records reviewed by Business Insider showed that more than $1.3 million was spent on private-jet flights and more than $460,000 on clothing and accessories, while nearly $88,000 was charged to taxpayers for a concert the rapper did not ultimately perform.
Chris Brown&#8217;s touring company received $10 million, with approximately $5.1 million going to Brown personally. His company also charged nearly $80,000 to the grant for his birthday party.
Marshmello received $9.9 million, while Steve Aoki&#8217;s touring company received millions more. Business Insider reported that Aoki&#8217;s company used approximately $1.9 million of its grant for officer pay.
The program&#8217;s rules allowed recipients to spend grant money on a broad range of authorized business expenses, including payroll and owner compensation. That meant wealthy artists could qualify through corporate entities connected to their touring operations even if they personally possessed substantial assets, provided their businesses met the program&#8217;s eligibility requirements.
The grants were intended to help keep struggling businesses in the live entertainment industry afloat during the pandemic, when venues and performances were shut down across the country.
Instead, critics have pointed to instances in which large sums flowed to already wealthy entertainers and their business managers.
The SBA now says it is attempting to recover money it determined was improperly awarded or remains subject to repayment.
The agency began issuing rescission and demand letters to SVOG recipients in June 2025. Those recipients were given opportunities to appeal the agency&#8217;s determinations or enter repayment agreements before the SBA pursued additional collection measures.
The agency says it has recovered more than $50 million through voluntary and involuntary payments since the Trump administration began its recovery effort.
The SBA said additional referrals could follow as it continues reviewing outstanding awards and resolving recipients&#8217; repayment obligations. The SBA&#8217;s Office of Inspector General identified approximately $544 million in potentially improper SVOG payments. It also found that 2,590 awards worth approximately $4.8 billion remained open more than a year after they were supposed to have been closed out.
A separate 2025 inspector general report found that 1,080 SVOG grants remained open as of May 2025, meaning the agency had not yet fully accounted for how the funds were used. Roughly two-thirds of those recipients had either failed to submit required audits or failed to respond to questions about their use of the funds.
The program&#8217;s problems began almost immediately after Congress authorized the grants.
In 2021, amid pressure from lawmakers to get money out to struggling entertainment businesses as quickly as possible, the Biden administration directed SBA personnel to “presume applicant assertions to be true” and expedited the review of applications under $500,000. As many as two-thirds of approved applicants were reportedly on the Treasury Department&#8217;s Do Not Pay List. The SBA says its current effort is intended to restore accountability and ensure that pandemic-relief programs do not become a permanent loss for taxpayers.

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EXCLUSIVE: A-Listers Got $34 Million In COVID Relief, The Trump Admin Is Trying To Get It Back

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