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    Fox News To Join Other Networks In Rejecting Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon Media ‘Pledge’

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    5

    Not happening…

    Fox News is reportedly planning to join a coalition of news organizations to reject the War Department’s order that will sharply curtail press freedom at the Pentagon.

    The move follows a late Friday memo from Hegseth demanding reporters sign a new “In-Brief for Media Members” agreement or surrender their Pentagon access cards by Tuesday.

    The order forbids journalists from soliciting tips, photographing, or even sketching what they see inside the building.

    David B. Gleason from Chicago, IL, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    Networks are coordinating through the Pentagon press pool to issue a unified response to publicly oppose the measure, according to Status’ Oliver Darcy.

    Darcy reported Tuesday that Fox News, where Hegseth worked for almost a decade prior to his nomination, has “no plans to agree to the draconian rules,” citing sources.

    The move will set up “a showdown with his former employer,” according to Darcy.

    Darcy’s reporting was later backed up by CNN’s chief media analyst Brian Stelter, who wrote in his Reliable Sources newsletter, “CNN has already said that its journalists will not accept the new restrictions. I’m told that Fox News, NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN will issue a joint statement later today saying much the same thing.”

    The push by Hegseth has now been slammed across the board by newspapers and networks — such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN, Newsmax and The Guardian — with the only outlet reportedly agreeing to the new terms being One America News.

    The Pentagon Press Association condemned the policy, saying: “This Wednesday, most Pentagon Press Association members seem likely to hand over their badges rather than acknowledge a policy that gags Pentagon employees and threatens retaliation against reporters who seek out information that has not been pre-approved for release.”

    Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell dismissed concerns on Monday, accusing reporters of a “full-blown meltdown” in a statement to Status and insisting the policy “is what’s best for our troops and the national security of this country.”

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    Report: Trump Tells Congress The U.S. Is Engaged In ‘Armed Conflict’ With Drug Cartels

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    1
    By The White House - https://www.flickr.com/photos/202101414@N05/54581054338/, Public Domain,

    On Thursday, the White House sent a memo to Congress saying that the United States is now “in a non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels, which administration officials have designated as “terrorist organizations.”

    “The President directed these actions consistent with his responsibility to protect Americans and United States interests abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to his constitutional authority as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive to conduct foreign relations,” the memo states.

    “The cartels involved have grown more armed, well-organized, and violent,” the memo said. “They have the financial means, sophistication, and paramilitary capabilities needed to operate with impunity.”

    “They illegally and directly cause the deaths of tens of thousands of American citizens each year,” it continued. “Although friendly foreign nations have made significant efforts to combat these organizations, suffering significant losses of life, these groups are now transnational and conduct ongoing attacks throughout the Western Hemisphere in the form of organized cartels. Therefore, the President determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States.”

    The memo specifically cites the Sept. 15 strike.

    “The vessel was assessed by the U.S. intelligence community to be affiliated with a designated terrorist organization and, at the time, engaged in trafficking illicit drugs, which could eventually kill Americans,” it said.

    Trump has vowed to unleash the strength of the U.S. military on drug cartels amid a buildup in the Caribbean and has signed off on a series of U.S. military strikes against alleged drug vessels from Venezuela to combat the stream of illegal drugs into the U.S.

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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    Cartel Leader Admits That President Trump’s Cartel Crackdown Works

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    CBP Photography, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    A senior Sinaloa Cartel leader has admitted that President Donald Trump’s strong border security policies are taking a real toll on their criminal operations. Speaking anonymously to CNN senior national correspondent David Culver, the cartel member acknowledged that Trump’s aggressive stance on border control and drug trafficking has disrupted their business.

    The Trump administration made confronting foreign cartels a top national security priority. By deploying more resources to the southern border, pressuring Mexico to take action, and increasing enforcement against drug trafficking networks, Trump sought to stop the flow of fentanyl, heroin, and human smuggling into the United States. His administration worked closely with law enforcement to dismantle smuggling corridors and target cartel finances, a shift that has forced cartels to adapt and scramble.

    Culver interviewed the masked, goggle-wearing Sinaloa leader, who described his own criminal past: “From killing to coordinating smuggling operations, he says he’s done it all,” Culver reported.

    When asked directly, “Do you think what President Trump has been doing has been making your job tougher?” the cartel member answered bluntly: “Oh yeah. Yeah.”

    “So it’s becoming more difficult, you think?” Culver pressed.

    “Yeah,” the senior member confirmed.

    According to Culver, these enforcement measures have “massive implications” for the cartels. “You heard that cartel boss say that his job is getting tougher. And because of that, officials say cartels are now charging much more to get migrants across. It’s jumped from about $6,500 a person that they were charging earlier this year to now nearly $10,000 that they’re charging,” Culver said. Many migrants simply cannot afford these higher rates, and those who do often end up in deep debt to the cartels.

    In a moment of rare candor, the cartel operative admitted the harm caused by his organization: when Culver asked if he felt part of the problem, he replied, “Yeah,” but justified his actions as self-defense — “You have something wrong to me, I do something bad to you.”

    The man said his decision to speak publicly was meant as a warning to others about the cost of a life in organized crime. But when asked why he doesn’t leave the cartel, his response was chilling: once someone joins, “they cannot get out.”

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    Taliban Responds To Trump Push To Reclaim Bagram Air Base

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    2
    By The White House - https://www.flickr.com/photos/202101414@N05/54325633746/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=159707159

    The Taliban on Sunday responded to President Trump’s push to regain control of Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, saying the U.S. should adopt “a policy of realism and rationality” while rejecting the move.

    “It has been consistently communicated to the United States in all bilateral negotiations that, for the Islamic Emirate, Afghanistan’s independence and territorial integrity are of the utmost importance,” Taliban deputy spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said in an official statement posted on the social platform X.

    Fitrat pointed to U.S. commitments under the Doha agreement — which Trump aides negotiated in his first term to end the U.S. presence in Afghanistan — not to “use or threaten force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Afghanistan, nor interfere in its internal affairs.”

    Trump in recent days has suggested the U.S. wants to wrest back control of Bagram Air Base.

    “If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.

    During a joint press conference in Great Britain with that country’s prime minister, Trump said the U.S. was “trying to get it back” because the Taliban needed things from the United States.

    He also highlighted the base’s proximity to China.

    “We gave it to them for nothing,” Trump said, repeating a campaign message on the Biden-era unconditional withdrawal from Afghanistan, during a joint news conference with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

    “We’re trying to get it back, by the way. OK, that could be a little breaking news. We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us.

    “We want that base back. But one of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.

    “So a lot of things are happening.”

    Watch:

    Bagram was once the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan during the U.S. war in that country, the longest conflict in American history. It was abandoned in 2021 when the Biden administration withdrew U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

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    Trump Designates Iran-Backed Groups In Iraq Terrorist Organizations

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    By The White House - https://www.flickr.com/photos/202101414@N05/54581054338/, Public Domain,

    In a decisive move to confront Iran’s destabilizing influence in the Middle East, the U.S. State Department on Wednesday officially designated four Iran-backed Iraqi militias as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). The groups—Harakat al-Nujaba, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, and Kata’ib al-Imam Ali—have long served as armed proxies for Tehran, attacking U.S. and coalition forces and threatening American diplomats.

    All four groups were previously sanctioned by the Treasury Department as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) in 2023, but the new designations escalate U.S. pressure by invoking additional legal penalties, travel bans, and asset freezes.

    “Iran-aligned militia groups have conducted attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and bases hosting U.S. and Coalition forces, typically using front names or proxy groups to obfuscate their involvement,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in the announcement.

    Iran’s Proxy War Network: The Islamic Resistance in Iraq

    According to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), these four militias form the backbone of a Tehran-controlled umbrella organization known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI). The IRI surged in prominence after Hamas launched its deadly October 7, 2023 assault on Israel.

    Since then, the IRI has claimed or been linked to hundreds of rocket, drone, and IED attacks on U.S. and allied forces in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan. U.S. officials say the network was responsible for the January 2024 drone attack in Jordan that killed three American service members, marking one of the deadliest assaults on U.S. troops in years.

    “The Trump administration broke the taboo during term one when it proved it could name, shame, and punish Iran-backed militias in Iraq without the country devolving into civil war,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the FDD’s Iran program. “Now in term two the administration is upping the ante continuing a campaign of designations against the agents of influence and terror of Iran in Iraq.”

    Popular Mobilization Forces: A Trojan Horse for Tehran

    The four newly designated groups are also part of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)—a nominally state-run coalition originally created to fight ISIS, but which has been heavily infiltrated and directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

    “Tehran relies on these militias to literally have a state within a state in Iraq,” Ben Taleblu warned. “Sandwiching these and other Iran-backed terror groups between Treasury Department [Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons] SDN listings and State Department [Foreign Terrorist Organizations] FTO listings, as the Trump administration previously did with their patron, the IRGC, in term one is the right approach.”

    Trump’s Proven Record on Targeting Terror Groups

    This new wave of designations continues the Trump administration’s aggressive posture against Iran and its terror proxies. In 2019, the administration made history by designating the IRGC itself as a Foreign Terrorist Organization—the first time the U.S. had ever used the FTO label on part of another nation’s military.

    That same year, U.S. forces conducted a precision strike in Baghdad killing Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of the PMF and leader of the Iran-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah militia, another group long designated as an FTO.

    Other Iran-backed entities targeted by the Trump administration included:

    • Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) — designated in 2020 for killing U.S. and coalition troops.
    • Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (HHN) — sanctioned in 2019 for its role in attacks on American forces.
    • Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) — designated in 2009, but further sanctioned and struck by U.S. airpower under Trump following deadly rocket attacks.

    These actions sent a clear message that attacks on Americans would carry severe consequences—a doctrine many national security analysts argue helped restore deterrence in the region.

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    Trump Claims U.S. Military Killed Three More ‘Confirmed Narcoterrorists from Venezuela’

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    3

    President Donald Trump announced that he had ordered a second military strike on a Venezuelan boat on Monday, claiming that the vessel was carrying “confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela.”

    Regarding this new strike, Trump described the strike as targeting “positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” the U.S. Southern Command responsible for the command and control of American military forces in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

    According to Trump, the boat was traveling from Venezuela to the U.S., in international waters, was “transporting illegal narcotics,” and three male “terrorists” were killed in the strike. No U.S. service members were harmed.

    The president added a warning to those who are “TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS,” writing “WE ARE HUNTING YOU!”

    Trump’s post read:

    This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S. These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests. The Strike resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this Strike. BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU! The illicit activities by these cartels have wrought DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES ON AMERICAN COMMUNITIES FOR DECADES, killing millions of American Citizens. NO LONGER. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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    Report: John Bolton Probe Focused On Classified Emails Obtained By Foreign Spies

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    3
    The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    The Biden administration’s Justice Department has launched an aggressive investigation into former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, accusing him of mishandling classified information. According to an explosive New York Times report, the probe escalated dramatically last week when FBI agents raided Bolton’s Bethesda, Maryland residence and his Washington, D.C. office.

    Sources told the Times that investigators claim Bolton sent emails containing “sensitive information” over an unclassified system while drafting his 2020 book, The Room Where It Happened. The emails, allegedly shared with friends and associates assisting him with the manuscript, reportedly contained material that appeared to be drawn from classified documents Bolton had seen during his time in the White House.

    Even more startling, U.S. officials say a foreign intelligence service later obtained those emails. At this point, it remains unclear which country’s spies were in possession of the material.

    A Raided Home, No Arrest

    Bolton, who has been a vocal critic of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden, was at home during the FBI raid. Despite the dramatic nature of the search, he was not arrested. That fact alone has fueled speculation that the raid was more about spectacle than substance—an attempt to send a political message rather than to secure an immediate prosecution.

    A Familiar Pattern of Double Standards

    Republicans have already begun to highlight what they see as yet another glaring double standard. While the Biden DOJ aggressively pursues Bolton, questions linger about how the administration handled President Biden’s own mishandling of classified documents, discovered in multiple unsecured locations, including his Delaware garage. Unlike Bolton—or former President Trump, who continues to face relentless investigations—Biden has faced little in the way of raids or public spectacle.

    This latest move against Bolton follows a broader pattern where the DOJ appears far more eager to go after figures associated with the Trump years while showing restraint when it comes to Democrats.

    What’s Next

    At this point, Bolton has not been charged with any crime. Legal experts note that the government would face serious hurdles in proving that Bolton knowingly mishandled classified material or intended to expose it to foreign governments.

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    Trump Mulls Renaming Department Of Defense

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    2

    Big things are happening…

    On Monday, President Trump announced he plans to restore the Department of Defense to its original title: The Department of War.

    The president said at the White House that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth “has been incredible with the, as I call it, the Department of War.”

    “You know we call it the Department of Defense, but between us, I think we’re going to change the name. You want to know the truth? I think we’re going to have some information on that, maybe soon,” Trump added. 

    “But I think because, you know, Department of Defense, we won the World War One, World War Two. It was called the Department of War. And to me that’s really what it is. Defense is a part of that. But I have a feeling we’re going to be changing,” Trump continued. “I’m talking to the people. Everybody likes that. We had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War. Then we changed it to Department of Defense. 

    Later on, NewsNation reporter Kellie Meyer asked, “And on the Department of War, how do you plan to do that? It requires an act of Congress to rename the Defense Department–”

    Trump then said, “It’s something that I think you’re going to be hearing about or seeing about over the next couple of weeks,” and “probably that change is going to be made over the next week or so.” 

    When asked about the name change at another White House event Monday, Trump told a reporter “We’re just going to do it.”

    “I’m sure Congress will go along if we need that. I don’t think we even need that. But, if we need that, I’m sure Congress will go along,” Trump also said. You know, that was the name when we won World War One. We won World War Two. We won everything. And, just to me, seems like just a much more appropriate. The other is, defense is too defensive. And we want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive too, if we have to be. So it just sounded to me like a better name.” 

    The Department of Defense says on its website that the Department of War was established by Congress in August 1789 “at the cabinet level to oversee the operation and maintenance of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps.” 

    Following the conclusion of World War II, in July 1947, President Harry Truman signed the National Security Act which, the site says, merged “the Navy and War Departments and the newly independent Air Force into a single organization called the National Military Establishment led by a civilian secretary of defense who also oversees the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

    Two years later in August 1949, the National Security Act was amended, renaming the National Military Establishment as the Department of Defense.

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    Tulsi Gabbard Revokes Security Clearance From 37 Intelligence Officials

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    1

    This week, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard revoked security clearances for 37 current and former intelligence community officials, accusing them of politicizing and manipulating intelligence.

    Fox News reports that a DNI memo sent out on Monday included the names of officials who worked at the CIA, NSA, State Department and National Security Council, including former Obama DNI James Clapper, who Gabbard claimed told officials to “compromise” normal procedures to rush a 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment related to Russia’s influence in the 2016 election.

    “Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right,” Gabbard wrote in an X post. “Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold.”

    Notable officials include:

    Brett M. Holmgren

    • Former Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research

    Richard H. Ledgett

    • Former Deputy Director of the National Security Agency (NSA)

    Stephanie O’Sullivan

    • Former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence

    Luke R. Hartig

    • Former Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council

    Maher Bitar

    • Served on the National Security Council (NSC) under Biden

    Emily Horne

    • Former NSC Spokesperson under Biden

    Also included was Yael Eisenstat, a former CIA officer and White House advisor known for her involvement in the Facebook election integrity operation.

    Gabbard said the decision was made at President Donald Trump’s direction.

    “Our Intelligence Community must be committed to upholding the values and principles enshrined in the US Constitution and maintain a laser-like focus on our mission of ensuring the safety, security and freedom of the American people,” Gabbard wrote on X.

    The memo noted the revocation was effective immediately, and the officials’ access to classified systems, facilities, materials and information would be terminated.

    Trump has revoked security clearances for a number of officials, including those who signed on to a letter saying the Hunter Biden laptop had the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign.

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    Mexico Agrees To Extradite 26 Cartel Leaders To US

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    2
    The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Mexico reached a deal with the United States to hand over 26 top cartel leaders.

    The cartel figures were scheduled to fly to the U.S. on Tuesday.

    “Today is the latest example of the Trump administration’s historic efforts to dismantle cartels and foreign terrorist organizations,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News. “These 26 men have all played a role in bringing violence and drugs to American shores — under this Department of Justice, they will face severe consequences for their crimes against this country. We are grateful to President Sheinbaum and the Mexican government for their collaboration in this matter.”

    Abigael González Valencia, a leader of the “Los Cuinis,” cartel, which is aligned with the notorious Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) and Roberto Salazar, who is accused of participating in the 2008 killing of a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy, are among those being handed over to the U.S. 

    Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and Security Ministry confirmed the men were being handed over, saying the deal was made after the U.S. Justice Department said it wouldn’t seek the death penalty.

    President Donald Trump has also reportedly secretly authorized U.S. military force against cartels in Latin America designated by the U.S. as terrorist organizations, which would allow U.S. forces to engage with them.

    The move, reported by the New York Times, would give U.S. forces permission to engage the cartels, which traffic drugs like fentanyl across the US-Mexico border,

    “The president is determined to not just dismantle – but completely destroy – [Venezuelan dictator Nicolas] Maduro’s Cartel de Los Soles and obliterate their operations in the Western Hemisphere,” a source close to the White House said, the New York Post reported. 

    The anti-cartel effort is being coordinated among several departments, including the Department of Defense, Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Treasury, the source added.

    “President Trump’s top priority is protecting the homeland, which is why he took the bold step to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations,” deputy White House press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to Fox News.

    It also comes ahead of 25% tariffs on Mexican goods coming into the U.S. imposed by Trump. 

    Mexico also extradited 29 cartel leaders in February, including Rafael Caro Quintero, who prosecutors say was behind the torture and murder of a DEA agent in 1985. 

    “The previous Administration allowed these criminals to run free and commit crimes all over the world. The Trump Administration is declaring these thugs as terrorists, because that is what they are, and demanding justice for the American people,” the White House said at the time. 

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