Important Takeaways:
- Trump on Monday evening signed an executive order that read:
- National security is also damaged by the publication of classified information. Former National Security Advisor John R. Bolton published a memoir for monetary gain after he was terminated from his White House position in 2019. The book was rife with sensitive information drawn from his time in government. The memoir’s reckless treatment of sensitive information undermined the ability of future presidents to request and obtain candid advice on matters of national security from their staff. Publication also created a grave risk that classified material was publicly exposed.
- To remedy these abuses of the public trust, this Order directs the revocation of any active or current security clearances held by: (i) the former intelligence officials who engaged in misleading and inappropriate political coordination with the 2020 Biden presidential campaign; and (ii) John R. Bolton.
- Trump also revoked the security clearances of the 51 former intelligence officials who signed a letter calling the Hunter Biden laptop Russian disinformation — which was used as justification to suppress reports about it just days before the 2020 presidential election.
- Bolton served as Trump’s third national security adviser, after Gen. (Ret.) Mike Flynn and Lt. Gen. (Ret.) H.R. McMaster.
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Important Takeaways:
- Vladimir Putin appeared on Russian television to appeal to Donald Trump not to start World War III and congratulated him on his win, hours before Donald Trump’s Inaugural address as the 47th President of the United States.
- “We hear [Trump’s] statements on the need to prevent World War III. We undoubtedly welcome such a disposition and congratulate the elected US president,” Putin said in a televised session of Russia’s Security Council.
- He emphasized the potential of rebuilding relations with the US following Trump and his team talking about re-establishing communication as Moscow continues to wage a war in Ukraine.
- Putin said that he has heard Trump and his team’s “statements on their wish to restore direct contacts with Russia, which the outgoing [Biden] administration had cut off through no fault of our own.”
- He said that Moscow “never turned down this dialogue” and highlighted that US-Russia relations should be based on “equality and mutual respect.”
- Putin’s comments show a sharp change in the Kremlin’s stance back in November when they refused to congratulate Trump on his victory, stating the US being “unfriendly” to Russia as the reason.
- On his presidential campaign trail, Trump vowed to end the war in Ukraine.
- Recently, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, too, emphasized Russia’s interest in conversing with the US about the war in Ukraine.
- “No special conditions are needed for this. What is required is the mutual intent and political will to have a dialogue,” Peskov said.
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Important Takeaways:
- MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN
- President Trump will take bold action to secure our border and protect American communities.
- This includes ending Biden’s catch-and-release policies, reinstating Remain in Mexico, building the wall, ending asylum for illegal border crossers, cracking down on criminal sanctuaries, and enhancing vetting and screening of aliens.
- President Trump’s deportation operation will address the record border crossings of criminal aliens under the prior administration.
- The President is suspending refugee resettlement, after communities were forced to house large and unsustainable populations of migrants, straining community safety and resources.
- The Armed Forces, including the National Guard, will engage in border security, which is national security, and will be deployed to the border to assist existing law enforcement personnel.
- President Trump will begin the process of designating cartels, including the dangerous Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations and use the Alien Enemies Act to remove them.
- The Department of Justice will seek the death penalty as the appropriate punishment for heinous crimes against humanity, including those who kill law enforcement officers and illegal migrants who maim and murder Americans.
- MAKE AMERICA AFFORDABLE AND ENERGY DOMINANT AGAIN
- The President will unleash American energy by ending Biden’s policies of climate extremism, streamlining permitting, and reviewing for rescission all regulations that impose undue burdens on energy production and use, including mining and processing of non-fuel minerals.
- President Trump’s energy actions empower consumer choice in vehicles, showerheads, toilets, washing machines, lightbulbs and dishwashers.
- President Trump will declare an energy emergency and use all necessary resources to build critical infrastructure.
- President Trump’s energy policies will end leasing to massive wind farms that degrade our natural landscapes and fail to serve American energy consumers.
- President Trump will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord.
- All agencies will take emergency measures to reduce the cost of living.
- President Trump will announce the America First Trade Policy.
- America will no longer be beholden to foreign organizations for our national tax policy, which punishes American businesses.
- DRAIN THE SWAMP
- The President will usher a Golden Age for America by reforming and improving the government bureaucracy to work for the American people. He will freeze bureaucrat hiring except in essential areas to end the onslaught of useless and overpaid DEI activists buried into the federal workforce. He will pause burdensome and radical regulations not yet in effect that Biden announced.
- President Trump is announcing an unprecedented slate of executive orders for rescission.
- President Trump is planning for improved accountability of government bureaucrats. The American people deserve the highest-quality service from people who love our country. The President will also return federal workers to work, as only 6% of employees currently work in person.
- President Trump is taking swift action to end the weaponization of government against political rivals and ordering all document retention as required by law. President Trump is also ending the unconstitutional censorship by the federal government. No longer will government employees pick and require the erasure of entirely true speech.
- On the President’s direction, the State Department will have an America-First foreign policy.
- BRING BACK AMERICAN VALUES
- The President will establish male and female as biological reality and protect women from radical gender ideology.
- American landmarks will be named to appropriately honor our Nation’s history.
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Important Takeaways:
- Trump had a busy day but not too busy to pardon about 1,500 of those he deems “hostages” of the weaponization of justice under President Joe Biden.
- “Tonight, I’m going to be signing on the J6 hostages – pardons to get them out,” Trump told a crowd at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
- “And as soon as I leave, I’m going to the Oval Office, and we’ll be signing pardons for a lot of people, a lot of people,” he added:
- Trump began the day at St. John’s Church. He then had tea with former President Joe Biden at the White House. He was sworn in at the Capitol building and then had lunch before participating in the Presidential Parade.
- Trump will finish his day making an appearance at the Commander in Chief Ball, Liberty Inaugural Ball, and Starlight Ball. But before the balls, he will go to the Oval Office to sign January 6 pardons.
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Important Takeaways:
- President Donald Trump vowed during his pre-inauguration speech on Sunday night to release records “in the coming days” related to the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.
- Trump also promised to release records related to “other topics of great public interest,” during the event at Washington, DC’s Capital One Arena.
- “As a first step toward restoring transparency and accountability to government, we will also reverse the overclassification of government documents, and in the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other topics of great public interest,” the 45th and 47th president said.
- “It’s all going to be released, Uncle Sam,” he added.
- During his campaign, Trump pledged to create a commission on presidential assassination attempts, as a tribute to RFK Jr.
- “After I was — can’t even believe I have to say this — nearly assassinated in Pennsylvania last month, Bobby called me to express his best wishes. He knows firsthand the risks incurred by leaders who stand up to the corrupt political establishment,” Trump said at the time. “And when you stand up, you bring on some trouble for yourself, but you have to do what’s right. You have to do what’s right for the country. I’ll tell you, we are both in this to do what’s right for the country.”
- Both Kennedy’s father and uncle were assassinated.
- “He lost his father and uncle in service to our country, and Bobby himself was subject to repeated threats to his safety during the course of his campaign, while being denied protection by the Harris-Biden administration,” Trump said. The Biden administration notably only ordered Secret Service protection for RFK Jr. after the Trump assassination attempt and after Trump demanded protection for him.
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Important Takeaways:
- Russia is rearming faster than first thought for a potential attack on Nato, Germany’s military pointman on Ukraine has warned.
- On the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president, Maj Gen Christian Freuding said that Russia had already replaced missiles and tanks lost in its invasion of Ukraine.
- “The Russian armed forces are not just able to compensate for their enormous personnel and material losses… they are successfully rearming,” he told Die Welt newspaper.
- Vladimir Putin has reorientated the Russian economy to feed his war machine and has also bought extra supplies from Iran and North Korea which Maj Gen Freuding, who is head of the German military’s task force, said was helping Russia replenish its tanks, missiles and drones.
- He warned that although it was not clear that Putin had plans to attack Nato, he was “clearly creating the conditions for it”.
- “Production is growing, the supplies in the depots are growing,” he said.
- Germany is locked in a debate ahead of a national election next month on whether to back a £2.5 billion aid package for Ukraine.
- In Ukraine, Russian forces have surrounded the fortress town of Pokrovsk and are on the brink of capturing one of the last Ukraine-held villages in south Donetsk.
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Important Takeaways:
- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday that humanity had unleashed a “Pandora’s box of ills,” including “out of control technology” that risks upending “our very existence.”
- “Our actions — or inactions — have unleashed a modern-day Pandora’s box of ills,” Guterres said.
- “Four of those ills stand out because they represent, at best, threats that could disrupt every aspect of our agenda and, at worst, upend our very existence: Runaway conflicts. Rampant inequalities. The raging climate crisis. And out-of-control technology.”
- The UN chief was laying out his priorities in a speech to the General Assembly for the year ahead, at a time when the organization faces unprecedented crises and polarization.
- The organization’s top decision-making body, the Security Council, is paralyzed. The war in Gaza has seen Israel and its allies attack the UN’s neutrality, and blue helmet peacekeepers have been caught in the crossfire in Lebanon and Syria.
- The return of Donald Trump to the White House could further complicate Guterres’s agenda, experts have warned.
- “Yes, there is progress in our tumultuous world,” Guterres said, pointing to the relative success of the ceasefire in Lebanon and the pace of renewable energy development.
- “But let’s have no illusions: this is very much a world in turmoil and grave uncertainty.”
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Important Takeaways:
- All of a sudden, everyone is talking about Greenland. Normally, Greenland is a place that is largely ignored by the rest of the world, but apparently Donald Trump is very serious about acquiring it…
- …the truth is that it all comes down to natural resources.
- In particular, Greenland has lots and lots of oil.
- According to Wikipedia, Greenland “has some of the world’s largest remaining oil resources”…
- Some geologists believe Greenland has some of the world’s largest remaining oil resources:[30] in 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey found that the waters off north-eastern Greenland (north and south of the Arctic Circle) could contain up to 110 billion barrels (17×109 m3) of oil,[31] and in 2010 the British petrochemical company Cairns Oil reported “the first firm indications” of commercially viable oil deposits.[3
- The U.S. consumes an average of approximately 20 million barrels of petroleum per day.
- So 110 billion barrels is a serious amount of oil
- In fact, one particular area of Greenland is “home to one of the world’s largest undeveloped deposits of rare-earth elements outside of China”…
- Kvanefjeld is home to one of the world’s largest undeveloped deposits of rare-earth elements outside of China. Seventeen elements, including scandium and yttrium, are buried deep underground there. They are used in everything from cell phones and wind turbines to electric cars. Mining advocates say tapping into them would be a major financial boon for Greenland.
- Greenland Minerals Limited (GML), the Australian company developing the mine, said that the country would receive $240 million (€201 million) in taxes and royalties annually over the mine’s planned 37-year lifespan. GML’s biggest stakeholder is Shenghe Resources Holding, a Chinese rare-earths processing company.
- It has been estimated that there are more than 38 million tons of rare earth deposits in Greenland.
- On top of everything else, an extremely important U.S. military base is already located in Greenland…
- Thule Air Base, already a vital U.S. military installation, provides early warning radar and monitors potential missile threats. Housing approximately 600 personnel, it plays a critical role in the U.S. missile defense network, covering threats across the northern hemisphere. Its strategic location enables unparalleled monitoring capabilities, reinforcing America’s defensive posture in the Arctic. Expanding this presence would fortify America’s Arctic strategy against rivals such as Russia and China, ensuring unparalleled leverage in the rapidly evolving Arctic theater.
- In the end, it will be up to the people of Greenland to decide their future.
- It is a land that has been dominated by Denmark for a very long time, but now it could soon be holding a referendum on independence…
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Important Takeaways:
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held his annual press conference in Moscow, and although he had criticism toward the UDS on a range of subjects, he did bring warm words of praise towards new President Trump.
- He especially commended Trump’s analysis pointing at NATO’s plan to include Ukraine as one of the root causes of the conflict.
- Lavrov reiterated that peace talks have to include ‘broader arrangements for security in Europe’.
- Associated Press reported:
- “Trump said Russia had it ‘written in stone’ that Ukraine’s membership in NATO should never be allowed, but the Biden administration had sought to expand the military alliance to Russia’s doorstep. Trump added that, ‘I could understand their feelings about that’.”
- Trump’s comments lift the seriousness of discussion, moving away from the tired old trope of denouncing Russia’s action as ‘an unprovoked act of aggression’.
- “’NATO did exactly what it had promised not to do, and Trump said that’, Lavrov said. ‘It marked the first such candid acknowledgement not only from a U.S. but any Western leader that NATO had lied when they signed numerous documents. They were used as a cover while NATO has expanded to our borders in violation of the agreements’.”
- “Lavrov also praised comments by Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, who said Sunday it’s unrealistic to expect that Ukraine could drive Russian forces ‘from every inch of Ukrainian soil’.
- ‘The very fact that people have increasingly started to mention the realities on the ground deserves welcome’, Lavrov said during his annual news conference in Moscow.”
- “’Threats on the western flank, on our western borders, must be eliminated as one of the main reasons (of the conflict)’, he said. ‘They can probably be eliminated only in the context of some broader agreements’.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Agreement says 33 hostages are expected to be released over 42 days
- Israel and Hamas have agreed to a cease-fire deal that also ensures the release of hostages, Fox News has confirmed.
- “A Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal was reached following the Qatari Prime Minister’s meeting with Hamas negotiators, and separately Israeli negotiators in his office,” a source briefed on the matter told Fox News
- The conflict, which began with Hamas’ brutal attacks on October 7, 2023, has left over 1,200 Israelis dead, more than 250 taken hostage, and thousands of others killed on both sides.
- President-elect Donald Trump, who threatened last week if a deal wasn’t struck before his Inauguration Day that “all hell will break out” in the Middle East, quickly offered his praise.
- The deal, brokered by Qatari negotiators and facilitated by Egyptian intermediaries, also saw significant involvement from the United States. Both the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration applied strategic pressure to finalize the agreement, despite concerns about Hamas re-arming and internal tensions within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.
- The agreement calls for the release of three hostages on the first day, followed by weekly batches. Women, children, and men over 50 will be prioritized initially, with younger men in humanitarian cases included later. Updates on hostages’ statuses will alternate between announcements of survivors and confirmation of those who did not survive captivity.
- Approximately 1,000 Palestinian prisoners will be freed in exchange, with murder convicts barred from returning to the West Bank. Instead, they will be sent to Gaza, Qatar, or Turkey.
- The cease-fire will also facilitate significant humanitarian aid to Gaza, with up to 600 trucks of supplies entering daily. By the 22nd day, displaced residents will be allowed to return to northern Gaza. Qatari and Egyptian teams will manage vehicle inspections, while pedestrian crossings will not require checks. The IDF will withdraw from the Nitzarim corridor but maintain a limited presence along the Philadelphi Route.
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