A gay cruise carrying roughly 1,900 passengers was denied entry by both Turkey and Egypt during a Mediterranean voyage after authorities in each country refused to allow the ship to dock.
Atlantis Events, the world&#8217;s largest LGBT vacation company, scheduled the Scarlet Lady to stop in Kusadasi, Turkey, on July 7 as part of its “Athens to Venice” trip. 
However, Turkish officials said the cruise was organized by groups whose &#8220;behaviors do not align with the structure of our society,” according to local authorities <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/world/middleeast/gay-cruise-turkey-egypt.html">cited</a> by the New York Times.
The ship then rerouted to Alexandria, Egypt, but Egyptian authorities withdrew permission to dock about four hours before its scheduled arrival. Unlike Turkey, Egyptian officials did not publicly explain the decision. 
Atlantis Events CEO Rich Campbell said the company had previously docked in both countries without incident and that it was the first time in the company&#8217;s history that one of its cruises had been denied entry for political reasons. 
“We successfully sailed a similar itinerary last year without issue,” Campbell <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/09/lgbtq-cruise-ship-refused-entry-egypt-turkey">said</a> in a statement to passengers. “So we were surprised by this unfortunate decision.”
Broadway legend Patti LuPone, who was on the cruise to perform, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DaUkpPyCosk/">said</a> she was “shocked” by Turkey&#8217;s and Egypt’s decisions.
“A ship — a magnificent ship — full of gay men. And me. Denied entry to Turkey simply because of who is on board,” LuPone said. “I am furious, but I am sailing.”
Kyle Olsen, the owner of the LGBT tour company Hermes Holidays, said that Turkey’s ban empowered Egypt to also turn away the cruise. “I worry that other countries are going to be emboldened in turn to ban gay cruises from their ports as well,” he added.
Turkey’s government under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has taken a hardline stance toward the LGBT movement over the past decade, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/02/europe/turkey-cruise-lgbtq-american-blocked-intl">reports</a>. Authorities have repeatedly banned Pride marches and other LGBT events, citing public safety and security concerns. 
While homosexuality is <a href="https://www.equaldex.com/region/turkey">legal</a> in Turkey, the country does not recognize same-sex marriage. Egypt also does not recognize same-sex marriage, and authorities have used morality laws to target LGBT people. Both countries have overwhelmingly Muslim populations.

Screenshot 2026-07-17 at 1.10.02 PM

Gay Vacation Cruise Stunned To Be Turned Away From Two Muslim Countries

Egypt

Gay Rights

LGBT

LGBTQ

Social Issues

Turkey

World

President Donald Trump departed Turkey aboard the older Air Force One instead of the newly retrofitted aircraft accepted from Qatar, prompting questions about why the president switched planes.
The White House <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/08/trump-air-force-one-nato-iran-qatar/20bb3bfc-7b0a-11f1-b194-f872dd4ec5aa_story.html">insisted</a> that the new aircraft is equipped with advanced security measures, as reports suggested that the older presidential jet&#8217;s defense capabilities may have factored into the decision.
Journalist Andrew Feinberg wrote on X that the “<a href="https://x.com/AndrewFeinberg/status/2074838259427876963">most likely reason</a>” for the change was that the former Qatari jet “doesn’t have the self-defense capabilities needed when flying from Turkey while in a shooting war with Iran.”
Former CIA station chief and Fox News contributor <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/person/h/daniel-hoffman">Daniel Hoffman</a> said the switch reminded him of threat briefings he delivered to senior U.S. officials. 
“Credible threats required us to take countermeasures,” Hoffman said, adding that the older Air Force One reportedly has enhanced security capabilities that the newer aircraft does not. “I clearly think this is part of the president’s calculus.”
Later <a href="https://abcnews.com/Politics/secret-service-urged-trump-depart-turkey-air-force/story?id=134606227">reports</a> indicated that the Secret Service urged Trump to leave Turkey on the older Air Force One as a security precaution, citing sources familiar with the matter. The reports also said Trump told reporters the switch had nothing to do with security.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/08/trump-air-force-one-nato-iran-qatar/20bb3bfc-7b0a-11f1-b194-f872dd4ec5aa_story.html">said</a> the Qatari Boeing 747 is &#8220;a state of the art aircraft&#8221; equipped with &#8220;high-level security protocols&#8221; and added that the administration uses &#8220;every tool at our disposal, including distraction and misdirection,&#8221; to protect the president.  
The speculation came as Trump said Iran considers him its &#8220;number one target” amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran. 
Trump pushed back on the idea that the change was security-related. When asked what security concern caused the switch, he <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/2075007925496803741">said</a>, “We sent it a little early so the base could see the plane.”
A reporter then asked why passengers were told to close their window shades.
“Because you’re on a dangerous flight,” Trump replied.
Trump later said on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116886666473252596">Truth Social</a> that he sent the newer aircraft ahead to RAF Mildenhall, a U.S.-operated air base in Suffolk, England, where American service members toured the plane before Trump boarded it for the flight back to Washington.

CHINA-US-DIPLOMACY

Questions Swirl Around Security Lapses For New Qatari Air Force One

Air and Space

Air Force One

Donald Trump

Executive

Iran

Qatar

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed reports of a rift with President Donald Trump, saying their relationship &#8220;couldn&#8217;t be better&#8221; despite disagreements over key foreign policy issues.
<a href="https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/benjamin-netanyahu-war-iran/2026/07/07/id/1262083/">In an interview</a> on Newsmax&#8217;s &#8220;The Record With Greta Van Susteren,&#8221; Netanyahu said the close relationship between the two leaders has allowed them to speak candidly, including on issues where they do not see eye to eye. 
&#8220;He said it couldn&#8217;t be better,&#8221; Netanyahu said, referring to Trump&#8217;s own description of their relationship. &#8220;Friends can have agreements and disagreements.&#8221;
Netanyahu acknowledged that one disagreement involves the Trump administration&#8217;s consideration of selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. Trump has said he would consider the sale while also moving to lift U.S. sanctions on Turkey, drawing concerns from Israeli officials.
&#8220;I think this is not a good thing,&#8221; Netanyahu said.
The Israeli leader stressed that he has conveyed those concerns directly to Trump rather than through public statements.
&#8220;What I&#8217;m telling you, I say to my friend, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, in private conversations. It&#8217;s not that I&#8217;m hiding it,&#8221; he said.
Rather than viewing those disagreements as evidence of a strained alliance, Netanyahu argued they demonstrate the resilience of the relationship between the two countries.
&#8220;This is a real friendship, a real alliance.&#8221;
He said Israel remains deeply appreciative of its alliance with the United States, describing both nations as democratic societies where political disagreements can occur openly without undermining the broader partnership.
&#8220;We&#8217;re a robust democracy, too,&#8221; Netanyahu said of Israel. &#8220;I never lose sight of the fact that it is the ability to have disagreements that marks a free country.&#8221;
Contrasting Israel and the United States with countries such as Iran and Turkey, Netanyahu argued that authoritarian governments suppress dissent rather than tolerate open political debate.
&#8220;That&#8217;s not the American way, and it&#8217;s not the Israeli way,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Thank God we have our two democracies to continue the tradition of freedom and open discourse.&#8221;

Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump

Netanyahu Dismisses Trump Rift Reports: ‘Couldn’t Be Better’

Benjamin Netanyahu

F-35

Israel

Politics

United States

President Donald Trump said Tuesday at the NATO summit in Ankara that he is considering allowing Turkey to purchase American-made F-35 stealth fighter jets, a move that would reverse a ban imposed during his first administration after Ankara acquired a Russian missile defense system.
&#8220;We have a better relationship with Turkey, and Turkey&#8217;s been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal,&#8221; Trump said of the NATO ally. &#8220;So, it&#8217;s something, certainly, we would consider. It&#8217;s a great plane, it&#8217;s the best, currently the best plane by far, and it&#8217;s certainly something we will consider.&#8221;
The comments mark a dramatic shift after Trump&#8217;s own first administration removed Turkey from the multinational F-35 program in 2019 over Ankara&#8217;s purchase of Russia&#8217;s S-400 missile defense system. U.S. officials warned at the time that operating the Russian system alongside the stealth fighter could expose sensitive information about the aircraft&#8217;s capabilities to Moscow.
Trump also said his administration is working to lift sanctions imposed during his first term over Turkey&#8217;s acquisition of the S-400 system.
&#8220;I can tell you we&#8217;re going to take the sanctions off,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;It&#8217;s time.&#8221;
In 2020, Congress passed a law prohibiting the transfer of F-35 aircraft to Turkey unless the administration certifies that Turkey no longer possesses the S-400 system. 
That same year, the Trump administration imposed sanctions under the Countering America&#8217;s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) on Turkey&#8217;s Presidency of Defense Industries and several senior officials.
Then-Secretary of State <a href="https://2017-2021.state.gov/caatsa-section-231-imposition-of-sanctions-on-turkish-presidency-of-defense-industries/">Mike Pompeo said</a> Turkey&#8217;s decision endangered U.S. military technology, provided substantial funds to Russia&#8217;s defense sector, and ultimately led to Turkey&#8217;s removal from the F-35 partnership. The White House similarly argued in a July 2019 <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/statement-press-secretary-64/">statement</a> that the F-35 &#8220;cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities.&#8221;
Under the second Trump administration, U.S. and Turkish officials have spent months exploring ways to satisfy legal requirements while allowing Ankara to return to the program. According to reports, one proposal would involve transferring the S-400 systems to a third party, while other options include partially dismantling the system or relocating it to a U.S.-controlled facility in Turkey. 
Although some of the missile systems reportedly remain in their original shipping containers, no final agreement has been reached, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/us/politics/trump-turkey-f35.html">The New York Times.</a>
The issue has been under active review inside the Trump administration. During an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte last month, Trump suggested he hoped to deliver Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a &#8220;gift&#8221; that would make him &#8220;very happy.&#8221; Vice President JD Vance later said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was reviewing whether legal conditions required under U.S. law could be met before any sale proceeds. Trump added, &#8220;We will work it out.&#8221;
Congressional restrictions remain in place. Under the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the Defense Department is prohibited from transferring F-35s to Turkey while the country possesses the S-400 system. Six Turkish-owned F-35 aircraft remain in storage in the United States, while approximately $1.7 billion that Turkey had previously paid for the program has not been returned, according to a Congressional Research Service <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R44000?__cf_chl_f_tk=ywqE7JfInFIwjw1sPy8VxovHtDKvumnEi9TENRumWQ0-1783361436-1.0.1.1-GZiG9vhkgnaq7goWIQI6poxuUDBL7JhZBrJ9y0bagac">report.</a>
During Erdogan&#8217;s White House visit last year — his first in roughly six years — Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-presses-erdogan-to-stop-buying-russian-oil-may-lift-sanctions-on-turkey?author=Reuters+and+Daily+Wire+News&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Presses+Erdogan+To+Stop+Buying+Russian+Oil%2C+May+Lift+Sanctions+On+Turkey">suggested</a> he would consider lifting sanctions and allowing Turkey to reenter the F-35 program if Ankara stopped purchasing Russian oil.
&#8220;I&#8217;d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues this rampage against Ukraine,&#8221; Trump said.
According to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/turkey-buys-more-non-russian-oil-after-latest-western-sanctions-sources-say-2025-11-02/">Reuters</a>, Turkey later sought to reduce its reliance on Russian energy by pursuing additional oil imports from Iraq, Kazakhstan, and other suppliers in late 2025.
Trump&#8217;s comments came during his visit to Ankara for the NATO summit, which he said he nearly skipped because of his frustrations with the alliance.
&#8220;I was very disappointed with NATO,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Frankly, if it weren&#8217;t held in Turkey, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it&#8217;s possible that I wouldn&#8217;t have attended.&#8221;
Trump again criticized European allies for what he said was an unequal burden-sharing arrangement, arguing the United States has spent &#8220;hundreds of billions of dollars&#8221; defending allies that have not reciprocated U.S. support — especially during the recent conflict with Iran. 
At last year&#8217;s NATO summit in The Hague, most alliance members <a href="https://www.nato.int/en/what-we-do/introduction-to-nato/defence-expenditures-and-natos-5-commitment">agreed</a> to a new goal of spending 5% of GDP on defense and defense-related needs by 2035. Under the plan, at least 3.5% would go toward core military capabilities, while up to 1.5% could be spent on defense-related infrastructure, cybersecurity, resilience, and industrial capacity. 
The prospect of restoring Turkey&#8217;s access to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 has also alarmed Israel. In addition to Ankara&#8217;s increasingly hostile rhetoric toward the Jewish state, Erdogan has long backed the Muslim Brotherhood and provided refuge to many of its leaders after the group was ousted from power in Egypt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he has repeatedly urged Trump not to move forward with the sale, warned that Erdogan &#8220;is not exactly a model ally of the United States&#8221; and argued the aircraft would upset the regional military balance.
&#8220;This is not a force for peace and stability,&#8221; Netanyahu said in an interview <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/07/politics/netanyahu-opposes-sale-f35-jets">with CNN</a> on Tuesday. &#8220;When you give them that power, you&#8217;re going to see aggression in its wake.&#8221;

Turkey’s President Erdogan visits White House, in Washington

Trump Considers Reversing One Of His Own First-Term Foreign Policy Decisions

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

WASHINGTON — The only reason President Donald Trump is in Ankara, Turkey, for the NATO summit is his friendship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
That&#8217;s according to the president himself, who <a href="https://www.trtworld.com/article/793ea03f89ef?utm_source=chatgpt.com">told reporters</a> ahead of his visit, &#8220;If the summit was not taking place in Türkiye, I don&#8217;t think I would have gone to it. I&#8217;m going out of respect to President Erdoğan.&#8221;
The president is deeply frustrated with NATO and has criticized NATO for years, most notably since the war with Iran began, repeatedly calling out United States allies who wouldn&#8217;t support the operation against Iran.
Erdoğan, meanwhile, has consistently delivered on what Trump has asked for, and the president remains grateful.
“I was very disappointed with NATO, and frankly, if it weren’t held in Turkey, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended,” Trump said during a bilateral meeting with Erdoğan on Tuesday. “I felt I had to attend because of the fact that, you know, I know he’s gone all out.”
Erdoğan has been an “incredible partner in the region,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told The Daily Wire on Tuesday, describing the two leaders as having a “great relationship.&#8221;
Most recently, Trump <a href="https://www.jpost.com/international/article-900436">says he personally called </a><a href="https://www.jpost.com/international/article-900436">Erdoğan</a> and asked him to stay out of the Iran war amid rumors that Turkey would assist Iran, given that Erdoğan is openly against Israel. Erdoğan agreed to Trump&#8217;s request, keeping Turkey neutral throughout the conflict despite regional pressure. 
&#8220;We didn&#8217;t need any help at all,&#8221; Trump said of the matter on Tuesday, &#8220;And in a way, I was testing people, I was testing to see whether or not they&#8217;d be there, because I&#8217;ve long said that we helped them, but I&#8217;m not sure that they&#8217;d be there for us. And Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down, and it&#8217;s okay, but you know, why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they&#8217;re not there for us? We&#8217;ve always been there for them.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1129741" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-praises-turkeys-erdogan-for-his-friendship-highlighting-frustration-with-allies/u-s-president-trump-arrives-in-ankara-turkey-for-nato-summit-2" rel="attachment wp-att-1129741"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1129741" class="wp-image-1129741 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285073298-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285073298-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285073298-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285073298-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285073298.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>U.S. President Donald Trump (R) walks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a state arrival ceremony at the Bestepe Presidential Complex for the annual NATO Summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)</div>
Erdoğan <a href="https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/10/09/reuters-turkeys-billion%E2%80%91dollar-gas-shift-could-collapse-russias-last-major-foothold-in-europe/">also agreed to huge liquefied natural gas</a> (LNG) procurement contracts with the United States as a business favor to President Trump in 2025, a move seen as an effort to curry favor with Trump and his new administration. The Turkish leader also pushed European and NATO allies to buy LNG in order to reduce trade deficits. 
Trump and Erdoğan <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-meeting-pastor-andrew-brunson/">came to an agreement</a> during Trump&#8217;s first term in office to release Pastor Andrew Brunson from captivity in Turkey — Brunson, an American evangelical pastor, had been accused of spying and terrorism and was detained in Turkey until Trump successfully negotiated his release in 2018. Trump specifically brought this up on Tuesday, noting that he was grateful for Brunson&#8217;s release.
And in 2019, Erdoğan twice conceded to requests from Trump: he backed off his threat to veto NATO&#8217;s plans to defend the Baltic states and Poland and allowed NATO&#8217;s defense plans to move forward after meeting privately with Trump. Erdoğan similarly fulfilled Trump&#8217;s request for Turkey to take over the U.S fight against ISIS in northern Syria.
Trump is now considering approving a sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. The sale would likely prove contentious since Turkey was removed from the F-35 program in 2019 after the country purchased Russian S-400 air defense systems. That move prompted concerns that Russia would have access to sensitive information about the U.S. fighter jet.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that the United States should not sell the jets to Turkey, saying that it would “upset the power balance” in the Middle East.
“I don’t think they should be given F-35s or the engines for their fighter jets, because that&#8217;ll upset the power balance in the Middle East which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority and also by, I think, by America’s posture in the Middle East,”  Netanyahu said on Fox &amp; Friends.
Erdoğan reminded reporters of President Trump&#8217;s promise on Tuesday. &#8220;I believe that President Trump also has made a promise on this separately, and during the meeting of the leaders&#8217; summit, we do hope that the promise that we have previously received is going to be productively tested towards the future. President Trump has always been a man of his word, and hopefully with respect to the F-35.&#8221;
During Tuesday&#8217;s bilateral, Trump said he has &#8220;good chemistry&#8221; with Erdoğan, adding, &#8220;we&#8217;ve had a very special relationship.&#8221; He noted that the two leaders would be discussing trade, the military, and Iran, noting of the F-35s, &#8220;It&#8217;s a decision we&#8217;re going to make. It&#8217;s a very good relationship.&#8221;
&#8220;Because of the relationship that we have, it&#8217;s all gone very well,&#8221; he added, &#8220;I want to say I have a lot of respect for the president.&#8221;

U.S. President Trump Arrives In Ankara, Turkey For NATO Summit

Trump Praises Turkey’s Erdogan For His Friendship, Highlighting Frustration With Allies

NATO

The United States Men’s National Team takes on Turkey Thursday night in its final group stage game of the 2026 World Cup. While America has clinched its spot in the round of 32, there are still many things to look for as the red, white, and blue takes the field.
The result on Thursday won&#8217;t affect potential future opponents for the United States, but the match is still very important. Between staying perfect, resting starters, and preventing more yellow cards, manager Mauricio Pochettino has important duties in the final game before the knockout round begins.
The United States will attempt to accomplish a feat it has never done in its World Cup history: win all three games of a group stage. America will attempt to do so against a hungry Turkey roster that has not met expectations.
Turkey is widely regarded as one of the more disappointing teams of this year’s World Cup. Heading into the tournament, FIFA ranked the country as the 22nd best national team in the world, a ranking that put it only five spots behind the United States, and above the other Group D competitors Australia and Paraguay. 
After losing their first two group games, Turkey was eliminated from a potential knockout round appearance. Despite creating 62 shots in the first two games, Turkey has been held scoreless. 
While dominating the first two games, the roster that starts tonight for the United States will not be the same as the previous victories, making the group stage sweep even harder against a team that wants to end on a high note.
Pochettino will test the depth of his roster in tonight’s game as he works around yellow cards and rest for his stars.
After being injured against Paraguay, star forward Christian Pulisic did not play in the 2-0 Group D-clinching win against Australia. While it is reported that he is healthy and conditioned enough to start, Pochettino is expected to have him come off the bench late if he were to see playing time.
Pochettino also confirmed that the team&#8217;s leading goal scorer Folarin Balogun, along with Tyler Adams, Chris Richards, and Antonee Robinson, will not play against Turkey due to all of them having a yellow card. If any of the players were to receive another yellow, they would be suspended from America’s first knockout stage game. Assessed yellow cards reset after the group stages.
Coming away with a win will continue the momentum the United States needs to advance past the round of 16 for the first time since 2002.

USA v Australia: Group D – FIFA World Cup 2026

America Takes The Field For The Last Time In The Group Stages — Here’s What To Watch For

Soccer

U.S.

World Cup

The following is an edited transcript excerpt from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mks-ep-1945-sub?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.
* * *
A huge proportion of babies born in the United States are now born to foreign nationals who are cheating the immigration system. 
Can we acknowledge this whole “anchor baby” thing is a problem? I should hope so but I’m not totally sure that we can.
The whole concept of birthright citizenship comes from the British. The idea stems from a distinction between jus soli — the right-of-the-soil — and jus sanguinis — the right-of-blood. The notion that you get your citizenship from the blood of your parents versus receiving citizenship because you were born on certain soil.
Well, we get the idea from English common law. And guess what? The English — the Brits — have not had jus soli, right-of-the-soil birthright citizenship, since 1983. So even they recognized there’s a problem.
Can we too recognize that there’s a problem here?
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mks-ep-1945-sub?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-1054531 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1024x171.jpg" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Western Lensman gives some very good background on this topic on X, posting a clip about pregnant mothers from Turkey giving birth in the United States. Here&#8217;s the clip:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
2020. Turkish anchor baby ring found operating in Long Island, NY — mothers got taxpayer funded healthcare.
This is insane:
&#8220;Prosecutors say more than 100 pregnant women from Turkey came here to give birth, so their children were instantly granted U.S. citizenship.&#8221;… <a href="https://t.co/mjxyihjeO2">https://t.co/mjxyihjeO2</a> <a href="https://t.co/QcWl50rEXd">pic.twitter.com/QcWl50rEXd</a>
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/2039716413225550306?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Source: WesternLensman/X.com
There are “anchor baby” operations — what amount to birth tourism schemes — that have been operating in this country for years. Prosecutors described a case on Long Island where more than 100 pregnant women from Turkey came to the U.S. to give birth so their children would automatically receive U.S. citizenship.
<blockquote>The defendants fraudulently facilitated the births in the United States of approximately 119 Turkish children. And those children now hold birthright U.S. citizenship.</blockquote>
Officials alleged the scheme was openly advertised abroad — essentially marketing the idea: if you want your child to be born in the United States and become an American citizen, this is how you do it.
This is a business. This is an industry.
You see versions of this in other countries too — there were similar cases involving Chinese birth tourism operations in the past.
So, again I ask, can we acknowledge that this is a problem?
Yes.
Where does the problem derive from? It derives from what is now an outmoded conception from English common law — so much so that the English themselves moved away from it — and from interpretations of the 14th Amendment that have been expanded far beyond what some argue was originally intended.
So what’s the solution?
The solution, very obviously, would be to place limits on how birthright citizenship is applied. You don’t necessarily have to eliminate it entirely — you could define it more narrowly. Some argue that even within the text of the 14th Amendment there are grounds for interpretation about who qualifies, since the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” has historically been debated.
That’s the argument.
And the broader point is this: if a country cannot define who is and is not a citizen, then it raises serious questions about sovereignty and governance.
That’s why this debate keeps coming up.

New parents watching babies in hospital nursery

‘Anchor Baby’ Schemes Are Thriving And The System Making It Possible Is Still Untouched

14th Amendment

babies

birthright citizenship

citizenship

Great Britain

Michael Knowles

Pregnancy

Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, are accused of attempting to throw homemade bombs into a crowd of people and police officers outside Gracie Mansion in New York City on Saturday.
Officers quickly arrested the duo after one of the bombs was thrown. By Saturday evening, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch addressed the public, confirming that the devices were “a bit smaller than a football, [appeared] to be a jar wrapped in black tape, importantly with nuts, bolts, and screws along with a hobby fuse that could be lit.”
The devices — in Balat’s own words — were intended “to carry out an attack bigger than the Boston Marathon,” which Balat noted caused “only three deaths.” From Pennsylvania, Balat and Kayumi reportedly traveled to New York City to carry out their attack. After Balat was arrested on Saturday, authorities located a car registered to Balat’s family member and found footage of the vehicle crossing the George Washington Bridge into New York City at 11:36 a.m. on Sunday.
Balat and Kayumi lived <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/alleged-isis-inspired-suburban-terrorists-lived-10-miles-apart-were-strangers-before-nyc-attack-lawyer">ten miles</a> from each other in Pennsylvania. Balat is enrolled at Neshaminy High School in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Kayumi graduated from Council Rock High School in 2024. Balat’s lawyer, Mehdi Essmidi, claimed to reporters that the men did not know each other prior to the attack: “They’re strangers, as far as I know.” He added that they are in different age groups.
An official from Neshaminy High School shared with The Daily Wire said Balat was enrolled in the district’s virtual academy and had not attended in-person classes since September. Essmidi said, “He’s finishing school remotely because he has only like three classes left to do.”
When arrested, both Balat and Kayumi referred to ISIS in recorded post-arrest statements. Balat pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State on a piece of paper at the police detention center, and Kayumi said he was affiliated with ISIS and watched ISIS propaganda on his phone.
Authorities have since searched Balat and Kayumi’s devices, as well as their homes. Balat lived in Langhorne in a home estimated to be worth <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-suspected-nyc-terrorist-flashes-isis-salute-three-times?author=Brecca+Stoll&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=WATCH%3A+Suspected+NYC+Terrorist+Flashes+ISIS+Salute+Three+Times">$653,000,</a> and Kayumi lived in a home worth <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-suspected-nyc-terrorist-flashes-isis-salute-three-times?author=Brecca+Stoll&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=WATCH%3A+Suspected+NYC+Terrorist+Flashes+ISIS+Salute+Three+Times">$2.25 million</a>. It is unclear whether Kayumi continued to live in that home after he graduated from Council Rock.
The FBI also searched a storage facility in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, on South Flowers Mill Road. The FBI said it was conducting a court-authorized search in connection with Balat and Kayumi’s terrorism case.
Kayumi’s parents were <a href="https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/news/local/2026/03/09/are-terror-suspects-emir-balat-and-ibrahim-kayumi-us-citizens-bucks-county-gracie-mansion-protest/89069831007/">originally from</a> Afghanistan and became naturalized citizens in 2004 and 2009.
Both Balat and Kayumi <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-investigation-terrorism-explosive-device-new-york-city-mayor-mamdani-gracie-mansion/">traveled internationally</a> in the last two years. Balat left the United States for about four months, traveling to Istanbul, Turkey, from May 6, 2025, to August 26, 2025. In January of this year, Balat left the country, again traveling to Turkey. Like Balat, Kayumi also went to Istanbul, but in July and August of 2024. He also traveled to Saudi Arabia in March of that year.

US-POLITICS-DEMONSTRATION

Everything We Know About The Suspected NYC Terrorists

New York City

Pennsylvania

Terrorism

Suspected terrorist Emir Balat flashed an ISIS salute three times while being escorted in handcuffs from a police precinct in New York on Monday.
Balat first made the gesture as he emerged from a tunnel outside the precinct where he had been held after being arrested on Saturday. A police officer attempted to cover his hand with a manila folder, but Balat raised his hand above the folder and repeated the gesture. He briefly lowered his hand before raising it a third time as he was placed into a vehicle.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The 18-year-old was seen holding up his right index finger — a universal salute for the terror group — and grinning at the press while being led by a cop and an FBI agent. Read more at the link in our bio. <a href="https://t.co/9bg83J1HQ1">pic.twitter.com/9bg83J1HQ1</a>
— New York Post (@nypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypost/status/2031033866236960770?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
ISIS began using the gesture, a raised index finger accompanied by a slight shaking motion, in 2014. The gesture refers to Tawhid, the Islamic belief in the oneness of God.
When taken into custody on Saturday, Balat pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. He wrote, &#8220;All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds. I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic State. Die in your rage yu [sic] kuffar,&#8221; on a sheet of paper at the police precinct. Police body cam footage showed Balat saying, &#8220;this isn&#8217;t a religion that just stands when people talk about the blessed name of the prophet &#8230; We take action! We take action!&#8221; and &#8220;if I didn&#8217;t do it someone else will come and do it.&#8221;
A federal complaint released Monday adds that Balat stated he wanted to carry out an attack bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing, which Balat said caused &#8220;only three deaths.&#8221;
Eighteen-year-old Balat was arrested Saturday along with 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi after an explosive device was thrown into a crowd of protesters and police officers. Balat and Kayumi are no longer being held by the NYPD and will instead be held on federal charges pending further court proceedings.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said, “Once again, we were fortunate that the devices used this weekend did not cause the kind of harm that they were certainly capable of causing, but luck is never a strategy.” Tisch added that if the weapons had detonated, they could have caused serious injury or death.
Balat and Kayumi traveled from Pennsylvania to New York City on Saturday morning. Both reportedly grew up in affluent neighborhoods. Balat’s home in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, is estimated to be worth $653,000, while Kayumi’s home is valued at approximately $2.25 million. Balat&#8217;s parents were born in Turkey, and Kayumi&#8217;s are from Afghanistan, <a href="https://x.com/annaschecter/status/2030817903746965817">according to</a> federal officials.

Right-Wing Activists Protest Against New York Mayor Mamdani Outside Gracie Mansion

WATCH: Suspected NYC Terrorist Flashes ISIS Salute Three Times

Afghanistan

Radical Islamic Terror

Iran’s widening war nearly reached NATO’s doorstep after a ballistic missile fired toward Turkey was intercepted before entering Turkish airspace.
During a Pentagon briefing early Wednesday morning, Mary Margaret Olohan, White House correspondent for The Daily Wire, asked War Secretary Pete Hegseth whether the incident could trigger NATO’s collective defense clause known as Article 5.
Hegseth acknowledged the engagement but suggested the alliance does not currently see the incident as meeting the threshold for invoking NATO’s mutual defense provision.
“I&#8217;ll have to get back to you on exactly what the intercept looked like,” Hegseth said. “We&#8217;re aware about that particular engagement. Although, no sense that it would trigger anything like Article 5.”
Article 5 of the NATO treaty states that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all members of the alliance, potentially triggering a collective military response.
According to regional reports, the Iranian missile traveled across Iraqi and Syrian territory before being intercepted over the Eastern Mediterranean by NATO air defense systems. Debris from the intercept reportedly fell into Turkey’s Hatay province near the Syrian border.
Turkey is a NATO member, making the strike particularly sensitive as the United States and Israel continue their joint military campaign against Iran known as Operation Epic Fury.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said it reserves the right to respond to what it described as a hostile act.
Despite the rising tensions, Turkey has maintained a complicated relationship with Iran for years.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has cultivated close diplomatic ties with Tehran while also positioning himself as a defender of Turkish sovereignty in the region. Analysts have long noted that Ankara views the stability of Iran as strategically important, particularly to avoid a refugee crisis along their shared border and to prevent Kurdish militant groups from exploiting instability in the region.
Turkey also relies on Iran for roughly 10% of its natural gas imports and maintains key trade routes with the country.
At the same time, Erdoğan has been sharply critical of Israel during the broader conflict.
He has repeatedly condemned United States and Israeli strikes on Iran as a violation of international law and described the widening regional conflict as a “ring of fire.”
Erdoğan has also been one of Israel’s most vocal critics internationally, frequently accusing the Israeli government of war crimes and refusing to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization, instead describing the group as “liberation fighters.”

Erdogan meets Iran’s religious leader Khamenei

Iran Fires Missile Toward NATO Ally — Pentagon Asked If Article 5 Could Be Triggered

Operation Epic Fury

What really happened on the first Thanksgiving? Why do we eat turkey? How long has football been associated with Thanksgiving? Are Americans still honoring the spirit of the holiday? 
The Daily Wire&#8217;s Morning Wire interviewed historian Melanie Kirkpatrick to get to the bottom of these questions – and more. 
According to Kirkpatrick, author of “Thanksgiving: The Holiday at the Heart of the American Experience,” Thanksgiving goes back even before the Pilgrims. 
“Many of the European explorers who came to this continent called days of thanksgiving, and of course, the original thanksgivings were called by Native American populations,” Kirkpatrick explained.
“The pilgrims, after their first harvest, they gathered their people together and called a day of thanksgiving,” she explained. “And I&#8217;ll point out that it&#8217;s very wonderful when you consider that half of the pilgrims had died between the arrival of the pilgrims and the day of thanksgiving. But nonetheless, they gave thanks for the blessings of the harvest and for being together. And then, of course, Native Americans joined them.”
“There were about 90 Native Americans who joined them, and they celebrated for three days,” Kirkpatrick said. “We know all of that because thanks to two articles, two commentaries by two of the pilgrims.”
However, Kirkpatrick said, “a lot of the other stuff we traditionally associate with the pilgrims is not necessarily true.”
“There&#8217;s a famous painting of the first Thanksgiving, showing the pilgrims having a meal outside. That&#8217;s true,” she said. “But if you look at the other items in the painting, not so true. For example, the pilgrims are all dressed in dark colors. And in truth, they wore bright colors, which goes against what we all learned in kindergarten about how the pilgrims dressed.”
“Similarly, the Native Americans who were there were depicted as wearing elaborate headdresses, like you&#8217;d see in the Plains Indians. But that wasn&#8217;t true either,” she said. “They wore maybe one or two feathers.”
<h3>Did they really eat turkey at the first Thanksgiving?</h3>
Kirkpatrick says we don’t know what exactly was eaten. However, one of the pilgrims mentions “the great store of wild turkey that was available.”
“So they probably had turkey,” she said, adding that they had venison, too. 
“We know they had venison because the Indians brought as a gift a bunch of deer that they had killed,” Kirkpatrick said. “That was a standard feature of Thanksgiving Day up through &#8230; parts of the 19th century actually.”
Turkey became common on Thanksgiving as there were so many wild turkeys in New England, the author said. 
“I just saw a flock of turkeys out my window the other day – I live in Connecticut. So they were easy to find,” she said. “Also, they were, by the end of the 18th, early 19th century, they were domesticated, so they were special.”
Kirkpatrick added, though, that in New England in the 19th century, the central feature of the Thanksgiving Day meal was actually chicken pot pie.
“I know people in New England whose families still have that tradition of having chicken pot pie around the time of the holiday – not necessarily on Thanksgiving Day,” she said. “And as the holidays spread out west, American settlers brought their own food traditions with them. So you find beef being eaten on Thanksgiving instead of turkey, and as settlers from other places came to this country, they brought their own traditions with them, like lasagna and stir fries, curries. So the meal is still evolving.”
<h3>What do we know about the origins of the official Thanksgiving holiday? </h3>
“The early settlers in New England fixed the dates of their thanksgivings by community or by church,” Kirkpatrick said. “And then the governor of the New England colony would name a date.” 
The celebrations were very “ad hoc,” she said. But this all changed when the “Mother of Thanksgiving” stepped in to make the holiday official. 
“Along came Sarah Josepha Hale, who was the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Magazine, the most popular and most widely read magazine of the early part of the 19th century,” Kirkpatrick said. “She was from New Hampshire, and she adored the thanksgiving holiday, and she decided to try to make it national. She saw it as part of American culture, part of our heritage, and she tried to persuade presidents of the United States to name a Thanksgiving Day.”
“Hale used the power of her magazine to write about Thanksgiving and encourage governors to coordinate the date so that they would have the same date,” she continued. “Finally, as the Civil War was approaching, she intensified her campaign. And in 1863, she wrote to Lincoln asking him to name a date when the whole country could celebrate. He did, and in 1863 was the first date that at least part of the country, the North, the Union, celebrated on one day.”
“Every president since Lincoln has named a day, an official date of Thanksgiving,” the historian explained. “Interestingly, it wasn&#8217;t until 1941 that Thanksgiving became official. Congress passed a resolution naming the fourth Thursday of November the date of Thanksgiving, and President Franklin Roosevelt signed it into law.” 
<h3>Thanksgiving And Football </h3>
Relatively soon after football developed in the United States, it was connected to Thanksgiving. 
The tradition of tying football with Thanksgiving started to grow around the 1870s, Kirkpatrick said. “The first football games took place in the late 1860s between Rutgers and Princeton,” she said. “And then there was a college championship game that was played in New York City, and New Yorkers really got into it, and it was played on Thanksgiving Day. So that tradition in New York sets the scene, sets the trend, and other cities followed suit. And then high schools and community groups would have it by the 1890s.”
“There was a tradition of having games on Thanksgiving morning, and the guys would go off to the games and the women would stay home and make dinner, and everybody would reconvene in the afternoon and celebrate Thanksgiving,” she said. 
<h3>How Thanksgiving has evolved </h3>
Discussing the evolution of Thanksgiving, Kirkpatrick said the “value has shifted somewhat,” but people still associate the holiday with charity and family and friends. 
“It&#8217;s not as religious a holiday as it used to be,” she explained. “For the first couple of hundred years, people went to church on Thanksgiving morning, too, before they went to football. But we don&#8217;t see that as much. It&#8217;s still religious in the sense that if a family is going to say grace before a meal, it&#8217;ll be on Thanksgiving.”
“But the values of generosity to the poor, for example, have long been associated with Thanksgiving,” she said. “The earliest example I found of that was, I think, 1624. And today, people participate in helping, making sure that the military gets a good Thanksgiving dinner, and prisoners and people who have a hard time affording the meal.”
“I think maybe the saddest image in American culture is somebody who has no place to go on Thanksgiving Day,” Kirkpatrick added. “It&#8217;s a day that&#8217;s associated with family and friendship, as well as food.”

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