President Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine beginning Saturday, hinting at the possibility of the “beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War.”
&#8220;I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE DAY CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th, and 11th) in the War between Russia and Ukraine,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116540259118606629">posted</a> Friday on Truth Social, adding that the ceasefire would mark the anniversary of Victory Day in World War II — one of Russia&#8217;s most important national holidays.
President Trump said the ceasefire will mean the &#8220;suspension of all kinetic activity&#8221; in a conflict that began in February 2022 and has resulted in more than 2 million casualties.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the details of the ceasefire, adding that &#8220;a prisoner exchange in the format of 1,000 for 1,000&#8221; would also take place between Russia and Ukraine.
&#8220;Within the framework of the negotiating process mediated by the American side, we received Russia’s agreement to conduct a prisoner exchange in the format of 1,000 for 1,000,&#8221; Zelensky wrote on X. &#8220;A ceasefire regime must also be established on May 9, 10, and 11. Ukraine is consistently working to bring its people home from Russian captivity. I have instructed our team to promptly prepare everything necessary for the exchange.&#8221;
Russia had spent weeks lobbying Ukraine for a Victory Day ceasefire, threatening to strike Kyiv if the planned Victory Day parade was disrupted. Ukraine dismissed the ceasefire proposal as &#8220;unserious&#8221; until Trump intervened and brokered a prisoner exchange.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian media that Moscow agreed to the arrangement following a phone call between Putin and Trump.
The three-day truce will mark the first mutual ceasefire between the two nations since Russia&#8217;s full-scale invasion began more than four years ago. Russia has previously declared unilateral pauses around Orthodox church holidays and Victory Day in past years, and the two nations briefly observed a one-month halt to strikes on energy infrastructure earlier this year. A deep mutual distrust between the two sides has prevented any comprehensive cessation of hostilities from being reached until now.
&#8220;Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War. Talks are continuing on ending this Major Conflict, the biggest since World War II, and we are getting closer and closer every day,&#8221; Trump said.

Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin

Trump Announces Ceasefire In Russia-Ukraine War

Ceasefire

Russia

Trump Administration

Ukraine

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Martin Makary says his agency is working hard to bring back &#8220;gold standard science&#8221; while Americans&#8217; trust in science and medicine is at historic lows.
&#8220;We have brought back gold standard science and taken politics out of the process,&#8221; Makary told The Daily Wire during an exclusive interview this week. &#8220;We&#8217;ve been going hard on what&#8217;s right. Be it the COVID vaccine, be it getting back to basic science — gold-standard science &#8230; We are going up against Big Food, Big Pharma, and we aren&#8217;t afraid to stand up to them.&#8221;
Makary has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle during his 14 months as FDA Commissioner. <a href="https://democrats-energycommerce.house.gov/media/press-releases/ec-democrats-demand-answers-fdas-covid-vaccine-memo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Democrats</a> have criticized his vaccine policies, while pro-life groups have called for his resignation over what they say is inaction on Biden-era abortion pill regulations. Asked about safety concerns surrounding the abortion drug mifepristone, Makary told The Daily Wire the FDA is committed to addressing these concerns and that a study on the drug&#8217;s safety is underway.
&#8220;There needs to be a good, detailed granular study for mifepristone, which to date has not been done. We have committed to conducting a granular study,&#8221; Makary told The Daily Wire. &#8220;We&#8217;re doing it the right way, and that study will inform any potential next steps.&#8221;
But <a href="https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-organization/martin-makary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Makary</a> has experience swimming through the turbulent waters of public opinion. A pioneering surgeon at Johns Hopkins University, Makary is the author of more than 300 peer-reviewed medical journal articles and was one of the few scientists calling out the politicization of science during the COVID pandemic.
Under Makary, the FDA is on a mission to make American children healthier, find new treatments for diseases, and regain America&#8217;s place as a world leader in scientific breakthroughs.
&#8220;When I came into office 14 months ago, the year prior, China was doing four times the number of phase one trials as the United States,&#8221; Makary said. &#8220;In the first Trump administration, the U.S. was the leader, and that changed under the Biden administration. We walked into a mess.&#8221;
Makary says the agency is achieving its mission in record time. Within weeks of his March 2025 Senate confirmation, the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services announced an initiative to phase out petroleum-based food dyes, something Makary says the FDA talked about doing for decades.
&#8220;We announced action to remove all nine artificial dyes from the U.S. food supply,&#8221; Makary told The Daily Wire. &#8220;A lot of companies are ahead of schedule. It is a tremendous success. These are petroleum-based artificial dyes. American kids don&#8217;t need more petroleum in their bodies.&#8221;
In the past 14 months, the FDA has also taken steps to <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/wtas-fda-announces-major-steps-implement-real-time-clinical-trials.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">modernize</a> and increase the efficiency of drug applications and trials. The FDA launched the Commissioner&#8217;s National Priority Voucher program, which <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzMG6_hOB5w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reduces wait times</a> for drug applications and allows therapies for rare diseases to forgo randomized trials, which are <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/wtas-fda-launches-framework-accelerating-therapies-ultra-rare-diseases.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">difficult</a> to conduct due to small patient populations.
&#8220;We introduced a new pathway to approve drugs at the speed patients would demand if they&#8217;re suffering from a terminal or debilitating condition,&#8221; Makary said. &#8220;Typically, the FDA takes a year to review and file a drug application. We have that down now to one to two months, regularly.&#8221;
The Daily Wire asked Makary about criticisms he&#8217;s faced over the FDA&#8217;s rejection of several drug applications, including those for cancer treatments. Patient groups say Makary&#8217;s FDA is <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/president-trumps-marty-makary-problem-08ebd71a">slow-walking</a> rare disease drugs, making companies jump through unnecessary hoops in order to get approval for things like Huntington&#8217;s Disease.
But Makary says it&#8217;s simply a matter of good science.
&#8220;There&#8217;s a very simple system at the FDA: if the drug works, it gets approved,&#8221; Makary told The Daily Wire.
In an effort to regain the public trust in science and medicine, the FDA is giving the public unprecedented transparency of the drug application process.
&#8220;If the drug fails in its trial and the FDA does not approve it, in my opinion, the public deserves to know why. So we have taken the bold step of making our decision letters public information.&#8221;
The FDA has posted the complete response letters of approved and non-approved new drug applications on its<a href="https://open.fda.gov/apis/transparency/completeresponseletters/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> website</a>.
&#8220;In the past, politics has resulted in overruling scientists at the agency. But in this Trump administration, we stand by our scientists,&#8221; Makary told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;Every time the commissioner has overruled scientists at the FDA, it&#8217;s been a fiasco. The Biden administration overruled scientists who recommended against approving the Covid vaccine for healthy children. It was a fiasco.&#8221;
The FDA is also taking bold steps to improve the quality of school lunches and baby formula.
After hearing from parents wanting better quality food in schools, the FDA launched a <a href="https://x.com/DrMakaryFDA/status/2045249715642495124?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pilot</a> program giving schools resources to provide healthier meals to students. The program has been hugely successful, showing a 70 to 80% reduction in pesticides and 80% to 90% reduction in heavy metals contained in school lunches, Makary told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;We proved that you can make a switch to healthier food in an affordable way,&#8221; Makary said.
On April 29, the FDA released results of the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-releases-results-largest-ever-testing-infant-formula-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">largest-ever testing</a> of infant formula in the United States, testing more than 300 infant formula samples for contaminants such as mercury, lead, and forever chemicals like PFAS. The testing found the samples overwhelmingly had undetectable or very low levels of contaminants, which Makary called a &#8220;resounding success.&#8221;
&#8220;Many companies find it too hard to bring new products to market because you have to follow a rigid recipe,&#8221; Makary said. &#8220;So we are modernizing the monograph that&#8217;ll enable more companies to come to market, that will both lower prices and create more options for moms that are healthier, while at the same time, make the supply chain more resilient.&#8221;
In the midst of swirling public opinion, Makary remains focused on the FDA&#8217;s mission to promote strong science and healthier Americans.
&#8220;We set the priority of the agency to a simple mission of more cures, meaningful treatments, and healthier food for children.&#8221;

Untitled design – 2026-05-08T091712.133

EXCLUSIVE: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary Says He’s Taking Politics Out Of Science

Abortion Drug

MAHA

Mifepristone

A Republican congressman is pushing the Trump administration to investigate a North Carolina high school after female students complained that a biological male has been using the women&#8217;s locker room, according to a letter first obtained by The Daily Wire. 
Rep. Addison McDowell wrote a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/1036268220/Title-IX-Letter-to-OCR">letter</a> on Thursday calling on the Education Department to investigate Cox Mill High School in Cabarrus County for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/principal-tells-girls-to-go-somewhere-else-if-theyre-uncomfortable-with-boys-in-their-bathrooms">reportedly allowing</a> a boy to access intimate female spaces. He urged Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey to review a parental complaint filed on April 17 claiming the school violated a female student&#8217;s Title IX privacy rights. 
“I was profoundly concerned to learn of reports that the school is allowing biologically male students to enter women’s restrooms and locker room facilities on school property,” McDowell wrote. “As a father of three girls and one on the way, and the Representative for the Sixth Congressional District of North Carolina, I remain committed to working to protect women and girls and preserving their civil rights for generations to come.”
The Trump administration has interpreted Title IX as protecting the right of girls to access private, single-sex spaces such as bathrooms and locker rooms. 
In recent months, students and parents have asked the Cabarrus County School Board to adopt policies ensuring female-only spaces at the high school. School officials have downplayed concerns from parents, saying some claims about incidents involving the transgender student are false. 
The district previously <a href="https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/verify/viral-claim-that-boy-tried-to-watch-young-girl-in-school-restroom-is-false-cabarrus-county-school-district-says">said</a> it was constrained by a law that mandates “schools may not discriminate against students by denying them access to the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity.”
McDowell said the district must step up to ensure students&#8217; privacy. 
“It is the bare minimum for schools to ensure a safe learning environment, and schools owe students’ parents a guarantee that the school is taking every available measure to protect the health and safety of kids,” he said. “The policy that the school district has adopted is in direct opposition to these principles.”
On Tuesday, the organization NC Values <a href="https://x.com/NCValues/status/2051752454035824984" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> a video featuring Trista Ruck, a junior at Cox Mill High School, who said she had seen a male in the girls&#8217; bathroom. 
&#8220;I encountered a male in the female restroom. I walked straight to the restroom, did my business, and then whenever I went to go wash my hands, he walked in,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He then just looked at me, and then went about his business, but honestly, I felt uncomfortable. Why would I want someone who has different parts than me in the same bathroom as me?&#8221;

Rep.-elect Addison McDowell

Congressman Urges Trump Admin To Intervene After High School Girls Say Spaces Invaded By Boy

Department of Education

North Carolina

Title IX

Transgender

The Trump administration sued the New York Times for anti-white discrimination on Tuesday, saying the newspaper giant passed over a male employee because of the color of his skin. 
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said that The Times “chose” not to promote a white male employee with “extensive experience in real estate” journalism, leaving him out of the final interview process in 2025. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, pointed to the Times’ DEI policies as the source of its bias. 
“Every candidate who advanced through to the final interview process was not a white male,” the commission said. “The company ultimately hired an outside candidate for the role — a non-white female with little to no experience in real estate journalism, despite such experience being a requirement for the real estate editor position.”
The complaint said that the minority candidate was ultimately hired outside the standard interview process and chosen despite two internal candidates being rated more favorably by the interview panel. 
“As a White male, Charging Party did not match the race and/or sex characteristics NYT sought to increase in its leadership through its diversity actions and aspirations,” the suit said. “The four candidates advanced to the panel interview stage matched the race and/or sex characteristics NYT sought to increase in its leadership. Specifically, the final pool of candidates was composed of a White female, a Black male, an Asian female, and a multiracial female.”
In 2021, the Times <a href="https://www.nytco.com/2021-new-york-times-diversity-and-inclusion-report/">published</a> a “Call to Action” saying that it was committed to making itself more “diverse, equitable and inclusive” and increasing “racial diversity of leadership.” Since 2017, the newspaper has also published the racial and gender demographics of its staff, and various subsequent reports have talked about making “progress” in increasing minority and women employment. 
“A decrease in the percentage of White male employees (whether new hires, existing employees, or those in leadership, as appropriate) was a necessary consequence for the NYT to achieve these results,” the lawsuit said. 
Internal company Slack messages from May 2024 show that Deputy Managing Editor Monica Drake and Assistant Managing Editor for Strategy, Operations and Finance, Jonathan Galinsky, were concerned about not enough “people of color” being hired in leadership positions, according to the lawsuit. 
“The May 2024 conversation between Drake and Galinsky, who were senior editors, shows that NYT top leadership discussed ‘targeted efforts’ and were ‘alarmed’ about the trends in the percentage of Whites in leadership reflected in that data, and shows NYT intended to act to increase the numbers of non-White leaders,” the lawsuit said. 
Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha told The Daily Wire the complaint was &#8220;politically motivated.&#8221; 
&#8220;Our employment practices are merit-based and focused on recruiting and promoting the best talent in the world. We will defend ourselves vigorously,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The allegation centers on a single personnel decision for one of over 100 deputy positions across the newsroom, yet the EEOC’s filing makes sweeping claims that ignore the facts to fit a predetermined narrative. Neither race nor gender played a role in this decision — we hired the most qualified candidate, and she is an excellent editor.&#8221;
EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said that there was no “diversity exception” to race-based hiring or programs. 
“No one is above the law — including ‘elite’ institutions. There is no such thing as ‘reverse discrimination’; all race or sex discrimination is equally unlawful, according to long-established civil rights principles,” she said. “Federal law is clear: making hiring or promotion decisions motivated in whole or in part by race or sex violates federal law. There is no diversity exception to this rule.”

The New York Times Entrance

Trump Admin Sues NYT For Anti-White Discrimination

anti-white

Racial Discrimination

The New York Times

Nearly a decade ago, he led an attempted coup d&#8217;etat in the West African nation of Burkina Faso.
Zakaria Songotoua, 40, fled his country and eventually ended up in New York, and has since become a target of President Donald Trump&#8217;s mass deportation effort, The Daily Wire has learned. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers sent him back to Burkina Faso on April 22.
The one-way flight came after Songotoua was ordered deported by an immigration judge after he was found &#8220;ineligible&#8221; for immigration status.
Songotoua participated in the coup attempt which began on September 16, 2015, while he was a member of the Presidential Security Regiment (RSP). At the time, a rogue group of his force stormed the presidential palace and took the interim president, Michel Kafando, along with the country&#8217;s prime minister, Lt. Col. Isaac Zida, and several cabinet members hostage, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/world/africa/burkina-faso.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
They also fired upon protesters, resulting in an estimated 11 fatalities, while more than 100 people were injured. The overthrow attempt ultimately failed after 13 days of violence and chaos, according to The New York Times.
Songotoua fled his home country before his trial, where he was convicted in absentia of murder, assault and battery, and an attack on state security. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations New York City Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo said that &#8220;individuals&#8221; like Songotoua &#8220;who engage in such bloodshed anywhere in the world have no place in the United States.&#8221;
ICE did not disclose when or where he entered the United States.
“Songotoua’s role in the violent 2015 effort to overthrow Burkina Faso’s government, which included holding a national leader hostage and killing and injuring protesters, reflects a grave disregard for human life and the rule of law,&#8221; Genalo said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents investigated the case as part of the Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, which focuses on targeting individuals who have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female genital mutilation, and the use or recruitment of child soldiers, ICE said.
HSI has more than 190 active investigations into suspected human rights violators. The agency has also received more than 1,985 leads and removal cases involving alleged human rights violators who hail from 95 countries.
&#8220;ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations] New York, with essential support from Homeland Security Investigations New York and the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center, will continue to identify and remove human rights violators who attempt to seek refuge in our communities,&#8221; Genalo said.

Untitled design – 2026-05-05T090655.272

EXCLUSIVE: Foreign Rebel Who Led Coup Attempt Booted From U.S.

deportation

Donald Trump

Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

New York

The New Yorker had a full-blown meltdown this week over E.P.A. Administrator Lee Zeldin’s unapologetic effort to carry out President Trump’s environmental agenda.
In the process, the magazine unintentionally elevates Zeldin to folk hero status among the conservative faithful, making him look exactly like what many conservatives have long wanted: an E.P.A. chief who is finally willing to fight aggressive environmental leftism instead of accommodating it.
Titled “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/05/04/can-the-epa-survive-lee-zeldin">Can the E.P.A. Survive Lee Zeldin</a>?” the article begins by expressing outrage over Zeldin slapping the wrists of 144 insubordinate career E.P.A. bureaucrats who published a public letter excoriating their boss. The <a href="https://www.standupforscience.net/epa-declaration">letter</a> begins by stating, “Declaration of dissent: E.P.A. employees join in solidarity with employees across the federal government in opposing this administration&#8217;s policies,” while singling out Zeldin by name for special criticism.
The letter reads like an Ilhan Omar press release. It alleges that “black communities,” “disabled communities,” “LGBTQIA+ communities,” and the usual mix of leftist special-interest groups are disproportionately impacted by climate change and environmental harm. The letter then chastises Zeldin for cutting back funding and staff dedicated to “environmental justice.”
So much for career bureaucrats in Washington being dispassionate, politically neutral applicators of law and policy.
<div id="attachment_1087961" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/05/04/can-the-epa-survive-lee-zeldin"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1087961" class="size-large wp-image-1087961" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/TNY-LZ-1024x474.jpg" alt="Screenshot: The New Yorker" width="1024" height="474" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/TNY-LZ-1024x474.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/TNY-LZ-300x139.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/TNY-LZ-768x356.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/TNY-LZ-1536x711.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/TNY-LZ.jpg 1624w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>Screenshot: The New Yorker</div>
For the crime of carrying out the elected president’s agenda, Zeldin is accused by career bureaucrats of “undermining public trust,” “promot[ing] misinformation,” and even backing “President Trump’s tariffs.”
The E.P.A. is part of the executive branch of the federal government, and the administrator reports directly to the president. E.P.A.’s role is to implement environmental laws and policies consistent with federal law and the president’s direction.
By definition, it is aggressively insubordinate for a federal agency’s bureaucratic employees to publicly criticize and issue a “Declaration of dissent” against the boss of their agency.
How did Zeldin respond? He placed the offending employees on temporary administrative leave, receiving full pay and benefits. In other words, Zeldin gave the insubordinate staffers free vacation time. Reading The New Yorker article, however, one would think Zeldin sentenced the staffers to hard labor in a gulag.
The New Yorker then goes on to attack Zeldin’s voting record in Congress. As an elected Republican, Zeldin voted “mostly along party lines” rather than joining Democrats in opposition to Republican-supported policies.
According to the <a href="https://heritageaction.com/scorecard/search/">Heritage Action Scorecard</a>, which tallies how often a member of Congress votes the conservative or liberal position on the most important congressional votes, Zeldin strayed from the conservative Republican position 22% of the time during his years in Congress. By comparison, so-called “conservative” Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema deviated from the liberal Democrat position just 21% and 10% of the time, respectively.
Zeldin deviated from the conservative position more frequently than so-called conservative Democrats, and yet The New Yorker still brands Zeldin a conservative extremist.
The New Yorker then complains that in the September 12, 2025, issue of the official E.P.A. newsletter, Zeldin engages in “mourning” Charlie Kirk’s assassination. To illustrate its outrage, The New Yorker points out, exasperated, that Zeldin wrote, “In Loving Memory” in the E.P.A. newsletter under a picture of Kirk.
The fact is, The New Yorker, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and the rest of the leftist cabal are <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-epa-chief-vows-he-wont-take-morality-lessons-dem-senator-after-heated-clash">losing their minds</a> because Zeldin is the most principled and effective implementer of common-sense conservative environmental policy in the history of the E.P.A.
Under the squishy presidencies of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, the two Bushes searched for the most environmentally leftist “Republican” they could find. Both cases were a futile effort to win Democratic votes. George H.W. Bush chose William K. Reilly, who previously served as head of the leftist environmental activist group World Wildlife Fund, to lead his E.P.A. George W. Bush chose one of the most liberal self-identified Republican politicians in the country, former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, to lead his E.P.A.
Lee Zeldin is unquestionably the greatest conservative administrator the E.P.A. has ever had. The New Yorker can’t stand that, and its amateurish hit job on a very competent and effective Zeldin only makes them look more toxic.
* * *
James Taylor (<a href="mailto:JTaylor@heartland.org">JTaylor@heartland.org</a>) is President of The Heartland Institute.

Zeldin II

The Left’s Latest Hit Job On Zeldin Goes Sideways

The Left's Latest Hit Job On Zeldin Goes Sideways

DW Opinion

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Lee Zeldin

The New Yorker

The first commercial flight from the United States to Venezuela since 2019 took off from Miami International Airport on Thursday morning, a win for the Trump administration as the president reshapes Washington&#8217;s relationship with Caracas.
The American Airlines plane destined for Caracas was given a water salute by fire engines on the tarmac before it took off from Miami at around 10:00 a.m. ET. Flight AA3599 was operated by Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines. The plane was one of the airline&#8217;s America 250 commemorative aircraft.
&#8220;For nearly 7 years there have been no direct commercial flights between the U.S. and Venezuela,&#8221; the State Department said. &#8220;Under President Trump we&#8217;re changing that today. Flights between Miami and Caracas restored.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
For nearly 7 years there have been no direct commercial flights between the U.S. and Venezuela.
Under President Trump we&#8217;re changing that today. Flights between Miami and Caracas restored. <a href="https://t.co/3fsLVwWHQQ">pic.twitter.com/3fsLVwWHQQ</a>
— Department of State (@StateDept) <a href="https://twitter.com/StateDept/status/2049870663138083123?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Flight AA3599 is expected to arrive in Caracas just after 1:20 p.m. local time. The plane will return to Florida later Thursday afternoon, the Associated Press <a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/flights-resume-from-miami-to-caracas-venezuela-for-the-first-time-in-7-years/3803307/">reported</a>. Miami resident Lennart Ochoa said he was excited for the reopening of commercial air travel between the two countries.
“I’m very excited to go and see the family and I’m looking forward to see the country,” Ochoa said, according to the AP.
Thursday&#8217;s flight from the United States to Venezuela comes less than five months after U.S. forces captured dictator Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges. In March, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article314795646.html">praised</a> acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez and said his administration&#8217;s relationship with Venezuela had greatly improved after the operation to capture Maduro.
The Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/15/politics/dhs-suspends-venezuela-flights">suspended</a> air travel between the United States and Venezuela in 2019 during Trump&#8217;s first term &#8220;based on the ongoing political instability and increased tensions in Venezuela.&#8221; Just a few months earlier, the Trump administration sanctioned Venezuela&#8217;s state-run oil company, citing Maduro&#8217;s corruption.
“As a result of the Maduro regime’s inability to govern and perpetuation of lawlessness, it is no longer possible to certify that Venezuela is meeting baseline standards of security,&#8221; a U.S. official told CNN at the time.
The flight to Caracas on Thursday is just the first of many commercial flights to come between the two countries. In the coming months, American Airlines will also offer <a href="https://www.aa.com/en-us/flights-to-venezuela">flights</a> to Caracas from Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York, and Washington, D.C.

American Airlines

Trump Officially Opens Flights To His Favorite South American Country

Air Travel

Global Politics

Venezuela

World

The Daily Wire dives into the incredible details of one of America’s most daring rescue missions in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/daily-wire-explains-the-world-ep-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mini documentary</a> that hit the platform on Thursday.
Just over a month after the United States launched its massive military operation against Iran, a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down by Iranian forces on April 3, sending the fighter jet’s two crew members directly into enemy territory.
It marked the first time in more than 20 years that a U.S. warplane was lost to enemy fire, but President Donald Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth had a bigger problem: finding the missing Americans and bringing them home.
The jet’s pilot was rescued by U.S. forces within hours, but the weapons system officer, a colonel who ejected from the jet, vanished in some of the most remote and treacherous terrain on earth.
Back in Washington, U.S. officials quickly drew up a daring plan to rescue the colonel before Iranian forces could capture him. American officials knew the stakes. Either an American soldier would fall into the hands of a terrorist regime, die of dehydration, or the U.S. military would go into hostile territory and get him.
The next 48 hours would prove to be one of the greatest success stories in American military history, a rescue that President Donald Trump called an “Easter miracle.”
The Daily Wire’s “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/daily-wire-explains-the-world-ep-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Race To Rescue</a>” provides a detailed account of the incredible mission to find the missing U.S. colonel and bring him home. “The Race To Rescue” is now available exclusively for DailyWire+ members.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/daily-wire-explains-the-world-ep-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: THE RACE TO RESCUE</a>
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The Race to Rescue | First Look" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_Vikl-XYz34?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The Race To Rescue

How The U.S. Pulled Off One Of The Greatest Rescue Missions In Military History

Daily Wire

Iran

Pete Hegseth

Special Reporting

U.S. Military

Guidelines at the University of Washington allowing gender-confused men to use women’s bathrooms violate federal law, according to a civil rights complaint obtained by The Daily Wire.  
A <a href="https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/UWashDEComplaint043026.pdf">complaint</a>, filed Thursday by Defending Education, accused the university of violating Title IX regulations that protect single-sex spaces such as bathrooms and changing areas. 
It points to university <a href="https://hr.uw.edu/diversity/transgender-resources/transgender-resources-for-uw-employees/">policies</a> stating that individuals are allowed to use facilities in line with their “gender identity” rather than their biological sex. 
“The University of Washington eschews these longstanding and unequivocal principles through its administration of dedicated LGBTQ scholarships, its bathroom facility policies that open private spaces to anyone on the basis of self-professed gender identity, and its pronoun policies that punish students for recognizing biological reality,” said the <a href="https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/UWashDEComplaint043026.pdf">complaint</a>, which was first obtained by The Daily Wire.
Defending Education called for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to investigate the university.
The complaint cites a university document called “Transgender Resources for UW Employees,” which <a href="https://hr.uw.edu/diversity/transgender-resources/transgender-resources-for-uw-employees/">states</a> individuals are “welcome to use the restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms aligned with your gender or whichever choice you are most comfortable with.” It also references a university webpage that <a href="https://hss.washington.edu/building-management/all-gender-restrooms/">lists</a> “all-gender restrooms.” 
“This presumably forces female UW students who attend class in the building to share bathrooms with male students, employees, and even guests,” the complaint said. 
&#8220;The UW is committed to following federal law and will respond through appropriate channels if we are contacted by the DOE,&#8221; the University of Washington told The Daily Wire. 
Defending Education Vice President Sarah Parshall Perry told The Daily Wire that the policies directly conflict with guidance from the Trump administration, interpreting Title IX as requiring sex-separated private spaces. 
“The University of Washington — like too many other institutions of higher education in blue states — is engaged in what can only be described as a standoff with the Administration over the meaning of civil rights law,” she said. “Despite unambiguous federal language in Title IX, its implementing regulations, and related executive guidance, UW believes that ‘sex’ and ‘gender identity’ are the same. They most assuredly are not, and the Supreme Court has never held otherwise.”
The complaint also highlights the university’s overall promotion of transgender activism, including <a href="https://depts.washington.edu/safcom/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/FY-26-Award-Q-Center.pdf">funding</a> a center that <a href="https://qcenter.washington.edu/services/engender/">provides</a> free “tucking underwear” and “stand to pee” devices.
Defending Education filed the complaint the same day it launched its new Center for Litigation and Legal Policy, which will focus on filing administrative complaints, submitting legal briefs, and tracking developments in education-related law and policy. 
Perry told The Daily Wire the center would be “dedicated to identifying civil rights and civil liberties violations wherever we find them on campuses across the country.”

Public shower room with shower cabins. A large, empty public shower room with bright walls. Toilet and locker room of a swimming pool, sports club and fitness center, school, college, dorm or hostel. The concept of hygiene and healthy lifestyle.

Major University Slapped With Civil Rights Complaint In Trans Bathroom Showdown

Civil Rights

University of Washington

A former FBI official who oversaw the agency&#8217;s production of an infamous memo targeting “Radical Traditional Catholics” joked about how it would make good fodder for a memoir, according to emails viewed by The Daily Wire. 
Stanley Meador, who now works in Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger&#8217;s administration, ran the FBI’s Richmond field office when it produced an <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/fbi-anti-catholic-memo.pdf">internal memo</a> attempting to link traditional Catholic beliefs to criminal activity. After backlash to the memo, Meador downplayed it and suggested that one of the agents who produced it include it in their memoirs, according to emails released by the Justice Department. 
“No apology needed [redacted],” he wrote on July 7, 2023. “I’m glad you are on the team and thankful for your commitment. Keep that head up, this too shall pass. Will make for a great chapter in your memoirs some day!”
<div id="attachment_1086743" style="width: 1601px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1086743" class="size-full wp-image-1086743" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-29-at-2.05.35-PM.png" alt="" width="1591" height="495" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-29-at-2.05.35-PM.png 1591w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-29-at-2.05.35-PM-300x93.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-29-at-2.05.35-PM-1024x319.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-29-at-2.05.35-PM-768x239.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-29-at-2.05.35-PM-1536x478.png 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1591px) 100vw, 1591px" />Justice Department report.</div>
The emails were included in a Justice Department report released Thursday morning on anti-Christian bias from the federal government during the Biden administration. 
The document, referred to as the “Richmond Memo,” relied on the leftist Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), now facing criminal wire fraud charges, to link racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists with what the agency called “radical-traditionalist” Catholic beliefs. The memo was retracted shortly after it was leaked in February 2023, generating outrage from Republican lawmakers and Catholics. 
Meador’s July 7 email came after one of the FBI agents involved in crafting the memo apologized over the document.
“I am terribly sorry for all that everyone has had to endure as a result of this product. Each person negatively impacted is a trusted colleague and/or supervisor whom I deeply respect and admire,” the unidentified FBI employee wrote. “I feel personally responsible as I should have known the potential DT pitfalls and the susceptibility to politicization surrounding this paper better than anyone. Thanks for supporting us and please accept my sincerest apologies.”
Meador, now <a href="https://www.governor.virginia.gov/cabinet/name-1081469-en.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Secretary</a> of Public Safety and Homeland Security in Virginia, was removed from the FBI in June 2025 after serving for over two decades with the agency. 
The Richmond Memo was an FBI product known as a “Domain Perspective,” or an internal threat assessment document. The document argued that the FBI should pursue threat mitigation based on the interest in violent extremists in so-called “radical-traditionalist Catholic (RTC) ideology.” Using SPLC data, the FBI identified nine of these groups.
Other documents included in Thursday&#8217;s Justice Department report showed that intelligence officers inside the FBI expressed concerns about the citation of the SPLC, but were ignored by leadership. 
“This product cites more subjective information from SPLC (a list of hate groups) without examining SPLC’s threshold for determining a hate group or explanation of how that threshold aligns with the FBI’s definition,” one intelligence officer wrote. “This product’s Source Summary Statement does not address factors that would affect the quality and credibility of SPLC as a source for subjective information, such as it previously issuing apologies and retracting its naming of individuals or groups as extremist.”
The DOJ wrote in its anti-Christian bias report that the FBI used “an unsubstantiated claim by the Southern Poverty Law Center that several traditional Catholic churches were ‘hate groups’ — as justification to launch a two-pronged attack against traditional Catholics.”
“FBI Richmond thus assessed that traditional Catholics and racially motivated violent extremists may share ‘common cause’ on issues of ‘abortion rights, immigration, affirmative action, and LGBTQ protections,’” the DOJ wrote Thursday. “In an appendix, the Domain Perspective cited to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s identification of radical traditional Catholics.”
As criticism mounted, former President Joe Biden&#8217;s FBI Director Christopher Wray said the Richmond Memo did &#8220;not reflect FBI standards.”
“We do not conduct investigations based on religious affiliation or practices, full stop,” Wray said. “We have also now ordered our inspection division to take a look at how this happened and try to figure out how we can make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.”
In an interview with the task force investigating anti-Christian bias, FBI Director Kash Patel said his team did a deep dive into the Richmond Memo. 
“We came to learn that companies like the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League were out there working with the FBI, giving them false information to generate a memo that allowed law enforcement a [] &#8216;justification&#8217; to go after and attack people of faith,” Patel said. 
The DOJ report also details how the Biden administration targeted pro-life Christians for peaceful protests and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-biden-partnered-with-abortion-activists-to-track-and-imprison-pro-lifers?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=BREAKING%3A+How+Biden+Partnered+With+Abortion+Activists+To+Track+And+Imprison+Pro-Lifers">outlines</a> other Biden-era policies that suppressed Christian expression.
The release of the report comes one day after The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-biden-doj-lawyers-fantasized-about-prosecuting-catholic-nuns-emails-show?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=Exclusive&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Biden+DOJ+Lawyers+Fantasized+About+Prosecuting+Catholic+Nuns%2C+Emails+Show">obtained text messages</a> from Biden-era DOJ prosecutors discussing their desires to target Catholic nuns. One prosecutor said he would &#8220;like to prosecute any nun who still wears the head habit,&#8221; when working on January 6-related cases.

MixCollage-29-Apr-2026-03-15-PM-9949

READ IT: The Internal ‘Joke’ That Followed The Biden-Era FBI Targeting Of Catholics

abigail spanberger

Biden Administration

Catholic Church

Christopher Wray

Department of Justice

kash patel

Virginia

Vice President JD Vance compared Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz to an &#8220;arsonist trying to claim credit for the work of the fire department&#8221; after Walz praised his administration&#8217;s role in a series of anti-fraud raids on daycares around Minneapolis earlier this week.
Vance told Fox News host Will Cain on Wednesday that the Trump administration &#8220;really did not get much help at all from the Governor&#8217;s office&#8221; despite Walz&#8217;s <a href="https://x.com/GovTimWalz/status/2049153096358481927">claims</a> that state agencies helped initiate the investigation.
Walz said Tuesday that raids at nearly two dozen daycares and learning centers were conducted &#8220;by state and federal law enforcement &#8230; because our state agencies caught irregular behavior and reported it.&#8221;
Vance <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2049540492795240765">pushed back</a> sharply.
&#8220;This is like the arsonist trying to claim credit for the work of the fire department because Tim Walz let this fraud happen under his watch, whether he was complicit in it directly himself or just turned a blind eye towards it.&#8221;
&#8220;Where we did actually get some help was from some state and local law enforcement officers who we assigned to the federal task force because the state government wasn&#8217;t doing anything,&#8221; Vance added. &#8220;All credit goes to people on the ground: the state officers, the federal officers who are working to uncover this fraud.&#8221;
Vance, who was tapped by President Donald Trump in February to lead the administration&#8217;s crackdown on state-level fraud, <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2049586471967830054">said</a> that the White House&#8217;s anti-fraud task force has moved quickly to investigate suspected abuses, especially in Minnesota.
The probe gained national attention after independent journalist Nick Shirley posted videos in December raising questions about fraud tied to several Somali-run daycare and learning centers in the Twin Cities area.
&#8220;These investigations take a long time, so I was asking myself, &#8216;How quickly can we start getting into some real investigatory work, court-issued warrants, actually going door-to-door and finding out what&#8217;s going on?&#8217; People told me it would take at least six months,&#8221; Vance said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve gone from Nick Shirley&#8217;s video about the Minneapolis fraud schemes to &#8230; judges issuing warrants for this investigation in a matter of three months.&#8221;
Vance added that the federal government&#8217;s anti-fraud task force includes 280 law enforcement officers looking into the issue.
&#8220;We really have the most accelerated, aggressive anti-fraud operation that we&#8217;ve ever seen from the federal government,&#8221; the vice president said, adding, &#8220;This is far from done, but we&#8217;re making a lot of good progress.&#8221;
Federal agents with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security executed search warrants Tuesday at 22 sites, primarily daycare and learning centers, many of which are Somali-owned. No arrests were made during the raids, though dozens of individuals have been charged with fraud in recent months as federal prosecutors uncovered a massive fraud scheme targeting numerous Minnesota state programs.
&#8220;The President&#8217;s War on Fraud is working, as the task force and the entire Trump administration continue to work tirelessly to expose Fraudsters who have scammed the American people out of billions of dollars,&#8221; a Vance spokesperson told The Daily Wire on background.
Walz, who ended his bid for a third term as governor in January amid scrutiny over the scandal, has defended his administration&#8217;s response, arguing that state officials properly flagged fraudulent activity.
In his final State of the State address on Tuesday night, Walz claimed that he has done more than Republican-led states to crack down on fraud.
&#8220;We’ve created additional checks and balances. We have brought on more investigators, more auditors, and more law enforcement agencies, as well as an outside firm to take a look at high-risk programs,&#8221; he said. &#8220;People who have ripped us off are getting caught, and they are going to jail.&#8221;
&nbsp;

JD Vance/Tim Walz

Vance Rips Tim Walz For Taking Credit For Anti-Fraud Raids

Fraud

JD Vance

Minnesota

Tim Walz

Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz boasted about his moves to crack down on fraud during his final State of the State address on Tuesday night, just hours after federal agents raided numerous daycares in the Minneapolis area as part of an investigation into government fraud that has plagued Minnesota for years.
In his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/sHPaQk2GD6U?si=FpadFG6TkHzIIdoq&amp;t=2295">remarks</a> before state legislators, Walz highlighted steps he&#8217;s taken to address the rampant fraud in recent months as his second term as governor nears its end. The Democratic governor has come under pressure from the Trump administration after federal prosecutors uncovered a massive fraud scheme that has seen tens of millions of taxpayer dollars stolen from state government programs.
&#8220;In February, I introduced a comprehensive anti-fraud package and began to implement a nine-part fraud prevention roadmap developed by Director of Program Integrity Tim O’Malley,&#8221; Walz said. &#8220;We’ve created additional checks and balances. We have brought on more investigators, more auditors, and more law enforcement agencies, as well as an outside firm to take a look at high-risk programs. People who have ripped us off are getting caught, and they are going to jail just like today.&#8221;
Walz then claimed that more fraud is taking place in Republican-led states.
&#8220;I’ve said the buck stops with me. And I know some of you will take that as an open invitation to play politics with every incident of fraud that takes place here in Minnesota, even though I have to tell you the statistics show it&#8217;s happening in red states more than here,&#8221; Walz said. &#8220;But, so be it. But taking responsibility doesn’t just mean taking the blame. It means taking it upon yourself to fix the problem.&#8221;
The governor&#8217;s remarks came around 12 hours after the FBI and Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-wave-hits-as-feds-raid-more-minnesota-daycare-sites-in-growing-fraud-scandal?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Up+Next&amp;rowType=Up+Next+Carousel&amp;title=New+Wave+Hits+As+Feds+Raid+More+Minnesota+Daycare+Sites+In+Growing+Fraud+Scandal">raided</a> 22 daycares and learning centers in the Minneapolis area as part of President Donald Trump&#8217;s anti-fraud crackdown. Earlier on Tuesday, Walz <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tim-walz-takes-credit-for-fbi-raids-on-minnesota-daycares?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Tim+Walz+Takes+Credit+For+FBI+Raids+On+Minnesota+Daycares">took credit</a> for helping orchestrate the raids and was blasted by FBI Director Kash Patel.
“Come again? This FBI and DOJ with our DHS partners drafted and executed every search warrant today,” Patel fired back. “But go ahead and take credit for our work while we smoke out the fraud plaguing Minnesota under your governorship.”
Tuesday&#8217;s raids focused on many Somali-owned daycares and learning centers around Minneapolis. Under Walz&#8217;s watch, dozens of Somalis defrauded numerous Minnesota social programs for years before they were caught. The fraud scandal included the federally funded Feeding Our Future nonprofit, which claimed to hand out meals to children during the COVID pandemic, but greatly exaggerated its work.
Walz, along with Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison, has been accused of attempting to cover up the state&#8217;s fraud problem and silence government employees who raised concerns. Walz and Ellison have denied those accusations and claim that the state government has been properly investigating and prosecuting fraud.
In January, Walz announced that he would not seek a third term for governor so he could focus on addressing the state&#8217;s fraud problem. In his State of the State address, Walz called on the Minnesota state legislature to pass legislation to strengthen government oversight.
&#8220;My ask for you tonight is simple,&#8221; Walz told state lawmakers. &#8220;If you&#8217;re taking fraud seriously, take your responsibility to help me stop it seriously. If you talk about oversight, vote for that oversight in the bills that are working their way through the chamber.&#8221;
Four months ago, Walz accused President Donald Trump of &#8220;politicizing the issue&#8221; of fraud as Trump deployed federal agents and immigration officers to the Minneapolis area.

Tim Walz/Quality ‘Learing’ Center

Tim Walz, Awash In Fraud Investigations, Crowns Himself Anti-Fraud Champ In Final State Address

Department of Homeland Security

Menu