With Trump back in office things are beginning to turn around especially for police officers who have been targeted for many years by anti-cop activists.
Breakaway USA on this Month’s Top Headlines
From the Sean Diddy Combs trials to the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, One America’s Makenna Blackman has more on this month’s top headlines.
Good Morning, Illini Nation: Humrichous giving back
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Can’t Wait For Saturday Recruit’s decision to arrive early gives Trojans a lift
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Greetings from “Can’t Wait For Saturday,” your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He’ll give you his views each day on the game he loves.
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Military veterans of US’ ‘toxic soup’ Uzbekistan base fighting for proper care 20 years after its shutter
At the former Soviet base-turned-CIA black site and U.S. military base in Uzbekistan, researchers knew early on danger lingered not just from the enemy but from the ground itself.
Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, known as K2, was a launchpad for U.S. operations into Afghanistan after 9/11. But for thousands of American troops who served there, it may have been a death sentence.
Matthew “Nick” Nicholls, an Army environmental technician and preventive medicine specialist, was part of an early team that assessed the environmental hazards at K2.
“It is probably the most toxic soup of chemicals that any service member has ever been exposed to,” Nicholls told Fox News Digital.
Yellowcake uranium oozed from the ground. Jet fuel and volatile chemicals from decaying Soviet rocket bunkers polluted the soil and air. Dangerous fumes hung over the base like the fog of forgotten war.
Nicholls and his team warned commanders, providing recommendations like laying down gravel to suppress toxic dust and restrictions on how long personnel could work in high-risk zones. Some precautions were taken, others weren’t.
“People that I am friends with are actively dying from cancer right now,” Nicholls said. “These are weird ontologies that are striking down people who are very young, people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, in the prime of their life.”
K2 veterans have reported a disturbing trend of rare and aggressive cancers, reproductive organ diseases, osteoarthritis and sudden, unexplained deaths.
“These are not the cancers that young people normally get,” Nicholls said. “Their stories are not really able to be told. That’s the tragedy of it.”
“These people went there right after 9/11 to avenge the deaths of those who were murdered,” Nicholls said. “Yet we had this launching pad in Uzbekistan that was left in such derelict condition by the Soviets.”
Between 2001 and 2005, more than 15,000 U.S. service members passed through K2. Thousands more served as contractors. Many now find themselves struggling to get adequate medical care or recognition from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The VA recognizes such veterans “may have encountered several hazardous exposures,” and the Department of Defense conducted an initial study to look at cancer outcomes. But that study was based only on a few cases of each type of cancer and should not be viewed as “definitive evidence of an association with service at K-2,” the VA says.
But a spokesperson for Rep. Mark Green said he does not believe these studies were enough, that they did not take the full extent of contamination into account and did not appropriately inform occupants of the base of their exposure risk or account for the full range of diseases that can result from toxic exposures.
“That is why Rep. Green’s NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) amendment calls for a new, fully rigorous epidemiological study to cover these blind spots,” the spokesperson said. “There are too many unknowns to call it a case closed.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the VA for comment.
Green, R-Tenn., and Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., introduced a provision in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act requiring the Pentagon to complete a study on K2 exposure within 180 days. Four years later, that study remains unfinished.
“This is unjust,” Green told Fox News Digital. “There were repeated warnings that service members were being exposed to toxins, and yet their health and safety were ignored by Pentagon leadership of that day.”
In a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital that went out late Friday, Green is pressing the Pentagon to complete the long-overdue study, a step he argues is essential to ensure K2 veterans receive the care they deserve.
“Because this study has yet to be completed (as far as Congress is aware), many K2 veterans are still waiting to receive much needed care,” he wrote. “This is unjust. There were repeated warnings at Camp Stronghold Freedom that servicemembers (sic) were being exposed to toxins, and yet their health and safety were ignored by the Pentagon leadership of that day.”
The Pentagon told Fox News Digital it would respond to Green privately.
In 2024, the VA moved to expand access to disability for K2 veterans and lower the burden of proof for the veterans to link their illnesses to their service. But advocates say it wasn’t enough.
“The VA is dragging its feet,” Green said. “I think it really purely comes down to cost. I get that the VA wants to be judicious, but my God, the numbers here are so convincing. This is long past due.”
Green has also introduced new legislation requiring the VA to formally recognize links between K2 toxic exposure and diseases like cancer, ensuring affected veterans qualify for care and benefits.
Toxins at K2 included petrochemicals, volatile organic compounds, depleted uranium, burn pits and tetrachlorethylene, all chemicals associated with long-term health risks.
But K2 veterans are not specifically named in the PACT Act, which expanded coverage for other toxic exposures like Agent Orange and burn pits.
Green, a physician and Army veteran, sees disturbing echoes of past delays.
“Bureaucrats come and go, and bureaucrats have their own agendas,” he said. “I want to make sure that it’s written in stone and that these guys are not forgotten.”
Trump fires off Memorial Day message targeting ‘SCUM’ who sought to ‘DESTROY’ the US
President Donald Trump issued one of his signature spicy holiday greetings on Memorial Day.
The president, who posted the all-caps tirade on Monday morning, called out the “SCUM” who he said had attempted to destroy the nation.
“HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS, WHO ALLOWED 21,000,000 MILLION PEOPLE TO ILLEGALLY ENTER OUR COUNTRY, MANY OF THEM BEING CRIMINALS AND THE MENTALLY INSANE, THROUGH AN OPEN BORDER THAT ONLY AN INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT WOULD APPROVE, AND THROUGH JUDGES WHO ARE ON A MISSION TO KEEP MURDERERS, DRUG DEALERS, RAPISTS, GANG MEMBERS, AND RELEASED PRISONERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, IN OUR COUNTRY SO THEY CAN ROB, MURDER, AND RAPE AGAIN — ALL PROTECTED BY THESE USA HATING JUDGES WHO SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY,” he declared in the first portion of the post.
TRUMP SAYS HE’S ‘NOT HAPPY’ WITH PUTIN AFTER MASSIVE UKRAINE STRIKE
Trump, who took office a little more than four months ago, asserted that significant progress has been made.
He also appeared to refer to some judges as “MONSTERS.”
AMERICANS SHOULD HONOR MEMORIAL DAY IN THIS WAY, MILITARY SERVICE MEMBERS SUGGEST
“HOPEFULLY THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, AND OTHER GOOD AND COMPASSIONATE JUDGES THROUGHOUT THE LAND, WILL SAVE US FROM THE DECISIONS OF THE MONSTERS WHO WANT OUR COUNTRY TO GO TO HELL. BUT FEAR NOT, WE HAVE MADE GREAT PROGRESS OVER THE LAST 4 MONTHS, AND AMERICA WILL SOON BE SAFE AND GREAT AGAIN! AGAIN, HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY, AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!” he declared.
The president has been frustrated as aspects of his agenda have been hampered amid legal wranglings.
A little less than an hour before firing off the lengthy Memorial Day greeting on Monday morning, the president issued another post that simply read, “HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!”
Key Trump voting bloc has concerns with MAHA report, as Trump officials give assurances
Despite assurances from Trump administration officials that farmers will not be impacted by its attempts to reduce environmental chemical exposure from foods, agricultural leaders have been expressing concern that the move will explode costs for farmers and more than double the cost of food.
The administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission, made up of many of President Donald Trump’s political appointees and closest policy advisors, released an assessment strategizing how they will tackle childhood chronic diseases, such as obesity and mental health challenges. Part of the report’s focus is on children’s chemical exposure from our foods, which the report says is linked to developmental issues and chronic diseases.
Amid the report’s release, farm groups have expressed concern over the MAHA agenda’s focus on pesticides. They have said that if the administration starts clamping down on widely used pesticides, crop yields would decline, input costs would surge and food costs would more than double.
DOCTOR TAKES AIM AT ‘CANCER-CAUSING’ PESTICIDES IN RESPONSE TO MAHA REPORT
“Farmers are already facing a host of challenges—uncertainty about their access to critical crop protection products shouldn’t be added to the list,” said Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, Executive Director of the Modern Ag Alliance. “Crop protection tools are not only safe, they are essential to food security, affordability, and the survival of family farms all across this country. Losing access to these critical inputs would be a devastating setback to American agriculture.”
Officials from the MAHA Commission sought to reassure farmers at an event releasing their assessment on childhood chronic diseases on Thursday. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that “at the center” of the MAHA agenda is “making American agriculture great again.”
“We love our farmers, and we want to pay respect to our farmers. And we always will,” President Trump added at the Thursday event from the White House. “We won the farmers by a lot in the election, and every election, all three elections – and we won by a lot. I will never forget that. And they are foremost in our thought.”
But some farmers are still expressing concern.
MAHA REPORT LAYS OUT ‘CHRONIC DISEASE CRISIS’ FACING AMERICA
“The Make America Healthy Again Report is filled with fear-based rather than science-based information about pesticides. We are deeply troubled that claims of this magnitude are being made without any scientific basis or regard for a long history of EPA expert evaluations of these products,” the National Corn Grower’s Alliance (NCGA) said. “We call on the administration to respect the existing body of science on pesticides and, moving forward, to include America’s farmers in discussion as this process evolves.”
According to a statement put out by the Modern Ag Alliance, pesticides are “rigorously tested” by the federal government, noting that in the case of glyphosate – mentioned multiple times in the MAHA report – it is one of the most thoroughly studied pesticides of its kind.
They said that if the MAHA report drives future policy decisions it would hurt farmers and more than double the cost of food.
EX-YANKEES COACH RUNS FARM THAT VOWS TO ‘MAKE MEAT GREAT AGAIN’
“Without glyphosate—the most widely used weed-fighting tool by U.S. farmers—crop yields would decline, input costs would surge by 150%, and food inflation would more than double,” the group said. “When Sri Lanka prohibited the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers in 2021, crop yields fell by over 50%, forcing the government to import massive amounts of food just to meet basic needs. We should be focused on moving American agriculture—and the country—forward.”
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been a vocal opponent against the dangerous health impacts of under-regulated pesticides even before he was the MAHA Commission’s leader, said last week in a Senate hearing that “we cannot take any step that will put a single farmer in this country out of business.”
“There’s a million farmers who rely on glyphosate,” he said. “100% of corn in this country relies on glyphosate. We are not going to do anything to jeopardize that business model.”
The MAHA report reiterates the economic importance of protecting farmers, but it also lists glyphosate in an infographic of “Chemical Classes and Common Exposure Pathways” and says research studies have shown it can cause a range of health effects. It also lists atrazine and other chemicals as dangerous to childhood health.
MAHA Commission officials have said that part of the administration’s focus will be a return to the gold standard of science, but the NCGA said the focus on certain widely-used pesticides, such as atrazine and glyphosate, goes against “decades of extensive research and testing.”
“If the administration’s goal is to bring more efficiency to government, then why is the secretary of Health and Human Services duplicating efforts by raising questions about pesticides that have been answered repeatedly through research and reviews by federal regulatory bodies?” the group questioned.
Jennifer Galardi, a senior policy analyst focused on health and wellness issues at the Heritage Foundation, took a more balanced view of the MAHA commission’s strategy towards pesticides like glyphosate, noting that it appeared to thread the needle between supporting farmers and trying to ensure America’s food supply is safe and free of chemicals that could impact child health.
“The MAHA Commission Report seems to carefully examine competing issues in a very complex agricultural debate: the potential that crop protection tools as they’re referred to in the report may cause adverse health outcomes and the desire to protect the economic interests of farmers and the country,” Galardi said. “However, everyone should agree that the companies that manufacture products such as glyphosate and GMO’s shouldn’t have undue influence over the research upon which sound policy is based. The American public should demand transparency around these decisions.”
Galardi posited that, due to the tension around the issue of pesticides, the MAHA Commission may decide to go after “low-hanging fruit,” such as improving children’s diets and lack of physical activity, which, she said, are big drivers of obesity and metabolic dysfunction.
In response to this article, a USDA spokesperson sent the following statement from Secretary Rollins:
“We must do more to improve the health outcomes of our kids and families, and President Trump knows agriculture is at the heart of the solution. America’s farmers and ranchers dedicate their lives to the noble cause of feeding their country and the world, and in doing so have created the safest and most abundant and affordable food supply in the world. We are working to make sure our kids and families are consuming the healthiest food we produce. I look forward to continuing to work with Secretary Kennedy and other members of the MAHA Commission to improve our nation’s health.”
White House spokesman Kush Desai, in a separate statement, echoed Rollins’ sentiment about the importance of agriculture and farmers when it comes to executing the MAHA mission. He also reiterated that the MAHA movement is grounded in “Gold Standard of Science.”
“The guiding principle of President Trump’s movement to Make America Healthy Again is the Gold Standard of Science, and everyone from America’s farmers to everyday parents are critical for the success of this movement,” Desai said. “The MAHA Commission’s report is a historic step by our government to, for the first time, comprehensively review the latest evidence and research of what we know – and what we don’t know – is driving the health crisis afflicting America’s children.”
Fallujah vet turns Medal of Heroism into a healing mission for fellow warriors with service dogs program
Marine veteran Anthony Longo is acutely aware of the inner battles many veterans face long after leaving the combat zone. He has also experienced the healing that can come from having “man’s best friend” as a companion.
That is why Longo, who served in Fallujah, Iraq, and earned the Department of State’s Medal of Heroism in Afghanistan, founded the Warriors Choice Foundation in 2016 with the mission of helping fellow veterans heal.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Longo explained that rather than relying solely on medications or a one-size-fits-all approach to treatment, his foundation tailors care to individual veterans through counseling, wellness retreats and a truly unique treatment called “cognitive K9 rehabilitation.”
Through Warriors Choice K9 rehabilitation program, the group matches veterans with Belgian Malinois breed service dogs specially bred and trained to help people suffering from PTSD and other combat-related mental health challenges.
AMERICANS SHOULD HONOR MEMORIAL DAY IN THIS WAY, MILITARY SERVICE MEMBERS SUGGEST
Since 2018, Warriors Choice has helped 72 veterans and matched 46 with their own service dog.
The group has even bred a service dog named “Trump,” who Longo said was “the best” and the hardest one to let go.” “Trump,” the service dog, is now the companion to a 20-year special operations veteran, and Longo said he feels “blessed” to be a part of “what that dog has helped that man through.”
“You’re seeing complete lives transferring 180 degrees into a new direction,” he said. “It’s man’s best friend for a reason. I can appreciate my dog sometimes a lot more than humans. And to have that connection and the ability to work through complicated issues together, it was a good fit.”
While the K9 treatment program is not for everyone, Longo said that he has seen incredible results, transforming veterans’ lives.
FLORIDA VETERAN NONPROFIT SEES BEST-IN-STATE SUICIDE REDUCTIONS
Sitting by him during the interview was his own K9 companion, “Bourbon,” who he said has “set the tone” in his own healing journey as well as laid the foundation for Warriors Choice’s K9 program.
“That dynamic between handler and canine, I think it adds just a sense of more responsibility beyond ourselves,” he explained. “There are times when I wanted to be just completely left alone and isolated and not have to do anything, but someone’s got to take the dog out. Someone’s got to put food on the table. There are things that have to be done, I have to go do the training, I have to go maintain a level or a standard that I’ve imposed on myself to essentially hold myself accountable for my actions and what I’m doing in my day-to-day.”
Beyond that, Longo explained that Bourbon has helped him gain a “true understanding of what I needed to do for myself.”
Though Longo said that fighting against issues like veteran PTSD and suicide can feel like “trying to move a mountain,” he explained that the need could not be more urgent. According to Warriors Choice, veterans are 1.5 times more likely to die by suicide.
WHAT IS PTSD? SYMPTOMS THAT CAN EMERGE AFTER EXPERIENCING A TRAUMATIC EVENT
“At the end of the day,” said Longo, “you’re here not for yourself, you’re here for your brother.”
“You’re here to provide somebody with an opportunity and a chance who’s reaching out for help. And all you got to do is just grab on, hang on, and give your best effort in assisting them in a time of need because you’ve been there with them. You understand what it’s like to be in those situations. You know the – I hate to say it – the cognitive fog of what it’s like to be overseas and to be here and to be more comfortable overseas than you are at home.”
“I wouldn’t be able to do it unless there was success involved with it. And that’s seeing guys staying out of the ground.”
Longo urged any veteran struggling with PTSD to reach out, saying, “We’ll be happy to communicate with you and assist you in mapping out what is going to be the best path and direction forward.”
‘This Motherf*ker’: Kamala Harris Wasn’t Too Pleased With Anderson Cooper After Post-Debate Grilling, Book Claims
How A ‘Nonpartisan’ Government Budget Office May Be Misleading Lawmakers On Spending As GOP Megabill Looms Large
‘Drooling Moron’: GOP Senator Bernie Moreno Torches Chuck Schumer To Legacy Media
Liberals Suddenly Value Fiscal Responsibility After Budget Office Says More Births Will Increase Deficit
Senate May Kill The Silver Bullet Meant To Save GOP House Majority
Vets groups torch Dems for holding up key VA picks, including memorials chief, on Memorial Day
FIRST ON FOX: A slew of veterans’ groups, along with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, are criticizing Senate Democrats for delaying key agency nominations over what some have called unserious or “DOGE-type” concerns.
One top nominee currently facing the collective procedural roadblock ahead of Memorial Day is wounded warrior Sam Brown, a former Nevada senatorial candidate and Army captain who was burned over more than one-third of his body when the Humvee he was riding in in Helmand, Afghanistan, hit a roadside IED that incinerated its fuel tank.
He was nominated by President Donald Trump as undersecretary for memorial affairs, which maintains cemeteries and facilitates veterans’ burial ceremonies – about 100,000 per year.
A letter from about two dozen veterans’ groups addressed to Senate VA Committee Chairman Jerry Moran, R-Kan., ranking member Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and caucus leaders was obtained Friday by Fox News Digital.
The groups note that they respect the Senate’s advise-and-consent role, but object to the current situation. They note that the VA has the fewest presidentially nominated positions and that other agency nominees receive overnight and weekend considerations at times.
“We will be happy to bring the senators coffee and donuts during such late night and weekend sessions, of course in compliance with the Senate’s gift and ethics rules,” the groups wrote.
Brown and all other nominees since April have been held up by Blumenthal and Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. – but the lawmakers say their move is not personal and instead aimed to halt mass firings and other Trump-era actions.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, indicated that he would join the two Democrats, after a confirmation hearing for Brown, Marine Lt. Col. James Baehr for general counsel and Army veteran Richard Topping for VA CFO, was mooted in April by the procedural hold.
“We’ve had 2,400 firings so far,” King said, according to Stars & Stripes.
Vietnam Veterans of America, in a separate letter obtained by Fox News Digital, demanded Brown, Baehr and Topping be confirmed summarily.
“All three of these veterans received favorable reports following the April 9th nominations process from the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee,” wrote VVA President Jack McManus.
NEW GOP SENATOR TEARS INTO DEMS ‘SEEKING TO DELAY’ PETE HEGSETH DOD CONFIRMATION
McManus said that many Vietnam Vets are concerned about the hold-up and agree that Brown and the others are eminently qualified, blaming “two members of the US Senate Veterans Affairs Committee” for “affecting services to our veterans.”
Another letter from the Independence Fund, which provides resources, including trackchairs, to severely wounded veterans, said a fully staffed VA central office is crucial to its mission.
Last week, when Moran again attempted to confirm Brown by unanimous consent – a voice vote that must have no audible objections – Blumenthal rose to block him.
“The chairman and I share a bipartisan commitment to putting our veterans first. . . . I think we also share a respect for Sam Brown [and] his service to our nation as a decorated veteran,” said Blumenthal.
Blumenthal, whose own service was criticized by Trump with the nickname “Da Nang Dick” after a Vietnamese province, said that Brown’s nomination lacked unanimous support in committee, citing a 10-9 vote.
TRUMP VA PICK DOUG COLLINS ADVANCES TO FULL SENATE VOTE
“This issue is bigger than Sam Brown. It is about information that has been denied to our committee and to us as senators. The secretary of the VA is actively working to undermine our bipartisan oversight efforts.
Blumenthal told Fox News Digital he had a message for Collins: “Before you hire new top VA bureaucrats, you should be rehiring the dedicated veterans you fired.”
“Secretary Doug Collins is denying us essential information that is necessary for our oversight, and we want accountability. All Americans, especially veterans, deserve votes by the full Senate on top nominees—not rubber stamp unanimous consents,” he said, adding Collins can ask the Senate to hold floor-debate on the nominees through regular order.
In comments to Fox News Digital, Collins rejected Blumenthal’s claims and lambasted the delays.
“Imagine how much better off America’s veterans would be if Senators Blumenthal and Gallego cared as much about fixing the department’s broken bureaucracy as they do about preventing wounded combat veterans from coming to work at VA,” he said.
“Despite their obstruction, we will reform the department to make it work better for veterans, families, caregivers and survivors.”
Gallego said he also does not object to Brown personally, and that he is instead seeking agency accountability – saying in a recent statement he wants to reverse “hack-job firings.”
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In a statement to Fox News Digital, Gallego said Collins is “more concerned with three political appointees than the thousands of veterans who are going to lose their jobs and care.”
“I served this country and received care at the VA. I know how important it is for veterans. Abandoning them, like Secretary Collins wants to do, is reckless and un-American. Show Congress the plan on how care won’t be impacted. Anything short of that is political posturing,” he said.
In Gallego’s Arizona, the Phoenix VA hospital is letting go 800 employees, and a 2024 inspector general report found that the site already faced staffing shortages.
Recent surveys of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans show an elevated concern that VA cuts could impact benefits and health care.
Fox News reached out to King for comment for purposes of this story.
Trump endorses House Republican who failed to vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
President Donald Trump backed several House Republicans for reelection in Truth Social posts on Sunday, expressing support for Reps. Andrew Garbarino of New York, Troy Downing of Montana, Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania, and Bryan Steil of Wisconsin.
Each lawmaker received an individual post from Trump, and each post declared that the given lawmaker has Trump’s endorsement.
Republicans currently hold the majority in the House, but the 2026 midterms will determine whether the GOP maintains control of the chamber during the tail end of Trump’s second term in office.
TRUMP ENDORSES JACK CIATTARELLI FOR NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: ‘A WINNER’
Trump’s show of support for Garbarino comes after the congressman failed to cast a vote on the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that passed the House last week.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said that “Garbarino did not make it in time,” but had fallen asleep.
“I am proud to have been the leading voice on Long Island during negotiations on this key reconciliation bill. I fought to lift the cap on SALT and ensure hardworking Long Island families see the benefits of this important legislation. I was moments away from the House floor, to vote ‘yes,’ when the vote was closed,” Garbarino said in a statement, according to reports.
HOUSE GOP LEADERSHIP TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER PASSING TRUMP’S ‘ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’
“While I am frustrated that the vote was closed before I was able to cast my vote, I am proud of the work we accomplished to deliver huge results for Long Island. I congratulate President Trump on getting this bill passed and look forward to voting ‘yes’ when it comes back to the House floor from the Senate,” Garbarino said in a statement.
Fox News Digital reached out to Garbarino’s office on Monday morning but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
BY DAWN’S EARLY LIGHT: BATTLES TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ WILL FACE IN THE SENATE
“Thank you, Mr. President, it’s an honor to serve NY-02,” Garbarino said in a Sunday night post on X in response to the president’s endorsment.
The End of Neoconservatism
Foreign Affairs
The End of Neoconservatism
Trump is cutting a new trail for American foreign policy.
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
In what can be called a victory speech over failed neoconservative foreign policy, President Donald Trump proclaimed the end of 30-some years of existing foreign policy in the Mideast. The ideology dragged the U.S. through pointless wars from Libya to Yemen is now dead.
At an investment conference in Riyadh, in a speech little-commented on by the mainstream media, Trump said, “In the end, the so-called nation builders wrecked far more nations than they built. And the interventionalists [sic] were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand.”
For the first time since the First Gulf War in the 1990s, America is not fighting in the Middle East. Trump arranged a fragile ceasefire with Yemen, where multiple U.S. presidents have waged a proxy war against Iran. Trump is withdrawing American troops from Syria, became the first American president in 25 years to meet with a Syrian leader, and announced alongside his speech the end of sanctions against that country. He is finally negotiating with Iran toward some sort of nuclear deal to replace the one he unilaterally canceled in his first term. Progress has not always been in a straight line, but there has been progress.
One need only to look back on the past decades to see the difference. The United States once overtly supported Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran, leading to thousands of deaths on both sides. Pivoting, the U.S. invaded Iraq in 1991 after Saddam moved into Kuwait. Saudi Arabia was threatened, saved from war by U.S. intervention because of its oil reserves, which the U.S. was then fully dependent on. In the neocon spasms following 9/11, America invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, launching a nation-building plan in both countries to displace national governments with American puppet states and local Islamic traditions with Western ideas on women and society.
Those nation-building actions gave support to warnings issued by Al Qaeda and ISIS that the west sought to neuter Islam and turn the Middle East into a part of a new global empire. Rumors circulated that American troops in Iraq were issued maps of the Syrian border ahead of plans to turn the massive military to sweep west into Syria and Lebanon following the “conquest” of Iraq. As that war brought Iran into the fight, U.S. troops were deployed to Syria, the Turks threatened invasion, and Russian intervention complicated the struggle. ISIS rose to replace Al Qaeda. The U.S. began a war in Libya, overthrowing another ugly but stable government, leading to chaos which continues to this day. Massive streams of refugees flowed into Europe. Yemen dissolved into anarchy and civil war. The Afghan war threatened to spill into Pakistan.
Though actual numbers can never be known, the Costs of War Project estimates over 940,000 people died directly as a result of violence due to American foreign policy in the post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. An additional 3.6–3.8 million died indirectly due to factors like malnutrition, disease, and the breakdown of healthcare systems related to these conflicts. The total death toll, including both direct and indirect casualties, is estimated to be between 4.5 and 4.7 million. The Costs of War Project also highlights the significant displacement caused by these conflicts, with an estimated 38 million people displaced since 2001. Some 7,000 U.S. military service members died. The Project estimates the wars cost the U.S. over $8 trillion. Afghanistan today is again ruled by the Taliban, Iraq by Iranian proxies. Nation-building was a complete failure. The broader neoconservative interventionist policy failed.
Indeed, the best summation of America’s decades long policy in the Middle East is Trump’s.
Words are easy, actions often much harder. So what is next? Trump stated his “fervent wish” that Saudi Arabia follow its neighbors, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in recognizing Israel. He said a nuclear deal is within sight with Iran, adding he “never believed in having permanent enemies.” Both are hard asks.
But in a sign of what may be the most significant change alongside the new foreign policy, Trump met the new leader of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former Al Qaeda jihadist (one makes peace with one’s enemies, not one’s friends) who led a rebel alliance that ousted Bashar al-Assad. Trump posed for a photograph with al-Sharaa and the Saudi crown prince that “dropped jaws in the region and beyond.”
“In recent years, far too many American presidents have been afflicted with the notion that it’s our job to look into the souls of foreign leaders and use U.S. policy to dispense justice for their sins,” Trump added in support of his growing realpolitik approach.
Syria is now at a crossroads. The end of sanctions will give the country its first chance at economic breathing room in 14 years. Al-Sharaa has invited American energy companies to exploit Syria’s oil. But the ball is still in the Syrian court. Syria must decide whether to reject Iranian terrorist support and stop providing a safe haven for those fighters. Gulf leaders have rallied behind the new government in Damascus and want Trump to do the same, believing it is a bulwark against Iranian influence. Pressure will come from the United States for Syria to cut its ties with Russia and dismantle the Russian bases and enclaves there. Although al-Sharaa has confirmed his commitment to the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, Trump will no doubt seek his support for the Abraham Accords. He’ll also want Syria to assume responsibility for ISIS detention centers in Northeast Syria.
There is a lot to talk about and many difficult steps ahead, but a start is a start. With Trump making clear that the goals of fostering human rights, nation-building, and democracy promotion have been replaced by a pragmatic emphasis on prosperity and regional stability, Syria has its opening. “I am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for a better and more stable world, even if our differences may be profound,” Trump said.
The post The End of Neoconservatism appeared first on The American Conservative.
How China’s Propaganda Machine Reinforces Its Power
Foreign Affairs
How China’s Propaganda Machine Reinforces Its Power
Washington can’t afford to ignore Beijing’s information advantage.
(Xinhua/Xie Huanchi via Getty Images)
In the arena of great power rivalry, where arsenals are inventoried and economic output meticulously weighed, one domain remains undervalued yet quietly decisive: information.
Different states manage the flow of information differently. The United States, with its devotion to pluralism, prizes a cacophony of voices—free, unfiltered, and often discordant. China, by contrast, composes a coherent national message with the precision of a single baton, wielding a centralized propaganda apparatus not merely as a mouthpiece, but as a pillar of statecraft.
This is not merely a cultural divergence; it is a strategic asymmetry. While it may be tempting to cast this contrast in moral terms, policymakers must resist the comforts of ideological certainty. The ability to manage perception at scale shapes power itself. Realpolitik demands we recognize that before the clash of armies or the contest of markets, there is a quieter battlefield—one that conditions and partially determines the fate of the former contests.
In moments of geopolitical tension—be it tariff escalation or regional brinkmanship—Beijing’s informational cohesion acts as a force multiplier, enabling it to act with velocity and unanimity. Washington, meanwhile, must navigate a democratic din, where competing narratives dilute momentum and fracture resolve. The United States must begin to factor this asymmetry into its calculus. Decisions cannot be measured by economic or military rationale alone—they must be filtered through the structural realities of informational coherence and the political will it enables.
The truth is, even when strategies make perfect sense on paper—militarily calibrated or economically sound—they often falter if divorced from considerations of public reception. Take the tariff war, for example. Zoom in on the raw numbers, and the case seems airtight: The U.S. could inflict disproportionate pain on China by restricting access to its market. After all, it’s far easier to reroute supply chains than to repurpose an entire industrial ecosystem built around outbound trade (we should know this!). As interdependent as the relationship might be, if we forget about information, the U.S. seems able to punch hard. But strategy, like architecture, must rest on solid terrain—in this case, the ground of public opinion. And here, the unstable foundation is one that policy technocrats tend to overlook. America does have the tools to strike, but do we have the scaffolding to sustain such contests? Less so.
When push comes to shove, the Chinese government doesn’t flinch—it steers. How long did it take for the U.S. to unravel? Before the tariff truce, when China’s commerce ministry spokesperson told the world that “China will fight to the end if the U.S. side is bent on going down the wrong path,” a classmate of mine scoffed, reading the statement as a sign of hyper-ideological posturing. What he, and many dismiss, is that such a posture was incredibly logical. Even if China was set to economically suffer more, they knew that the U.S. was more likely to budge.
For the China-watchers who are obsessed over maritime maneuvers, this may not be quite perceptible. But for those who know about Xi Jinping’s ambitious securitization efforts, as well as the use of the propaganda machinery to temper reform under Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao, this all makes sense. Especially after the Tiananmen trauma, weiwen—“stability maintenance”—has been not just a slogan but a governing obsession. “Without a stable environment, we can accomplish nothing and may even lose what we have gained,” Deng told President George H.W. Bush in 1989.
As much as we may resist the thought, the uncomfortable reality is this: Even when facing less material pain, the United States is more likely to blink — because it lacks the narrative cohesion to endure. Acknowledging this isn’t defeatism; it’s realism. The real kind. For all the virtues of our political system—and they are many—invoking democratic ideals does little when the terrain shifts beneath us.
Just consider what this might mean militarily. We couldn’t sustain Vietnam once public opinion turned. And yet, many of today’s leaders speak with unwarranted confidence about weathering a protracted conflict over Taiwan. What’s needed now isn’t bravado, but calm reflection. What we can do to reduce the cohesion/information gap should command as much attention, if not more, than fighter jets.
When I asked about the challenge China’s propaganda system poses to U.S. policy formulation, Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt—arguably the most vocal proponent of an America First foreign policy—brushed off the concern. “I think they are very vulnerable, actually,” he told me after stepping off stage at POLITICO’s Security Summit. “Forty percent of the world’s consumers live in the United States. Their entire economy is based on selling to us. We’ve got a lot of leverage.” Schmitt continued, “They’re worried. You’ve seen protests in the streets, youth unemployment is high—I actually think President Trump is doing the right thing.”
Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the hawkish Chairman Emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, struck a similar tone. In response to the same question, he said, “The tariffs are going to open more markets in China. If they’re a stick for better behavior, to deescalate tensions, that’d be a good thing. I’m not totally optimistic that’ll happen, given Xi’s ambitions.” He added,
“I do think he looks at Ukraine—and that it hasn’t gone so well for Putin—and that factors in. But they have a long-term plan, and it’s very clear to me what that is. We need to provide deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, especially through the AUKUS program…”
We’ve heard some of that before. Although I completely understand why these answers would be given to a journo, we should hope this isn’t all our leaders are thinking about—maybe the tone changes in the SCIF room?
As America Firsters rightly search for measures to better compete with China, we should take a high dose of prudence. As it stands, China’s elites know us better than we know them. Alexis de Tocqueville and Edmund Burke, for instance, are widely read by senior CCP cadres. Our leaders, on the other hand, may (or may not) be able to recite a Sun Tzu quote or two.
Whenever someone dares to say there’s something to learn from China—or, heaven forbid, expresses a glimmer of intellectual respect—some will cry “China sympathizer.” Ignore them. That happened to Henry Kissinger too, and he was no fool. The U.S. shouldn’t abandon its commitments to free speech and open debate. But if America wants to stay strong, we must shed the arrogance that has long dulled our strategic edge.
Knowing our adversary isn’t appeasement. Caution isn’t cowardice. We are stumbling blind into a contest we claim to be ready for. And China may be more ready than many assume.
The post How China’s Propaganda Machine Reinforces Its Power appeared first on The American Conservative.
Joe Biden, Rex Nemorensis
Politics
Joe Biden, Rex Nemorensis
For how much longer will the former president be king of the wood?
Not long before the presidential election, I wrote a column in these pages characterizing Joe Biden as a “temporary king” in the tradition of J.G. Frazer’s Golden Bough. The idea was that just as in ancient Babylonian society where, to avoid catastrophe, the real king temporarily abdicated the throne to a foolish imposter who was sacrificed at the end of his short reign, the Democratic party had given over the presidency to Biden until it could find a more permanent leader. Evidently, the Kamala Harris mumbo jumbo in November didn’t work—Biden is still at the center of the party—and I find my mind returning once again to Frazer.
These days though I see Biden less as a temporary king and more as the Rex Nemorensis, the priest of the sacred grove of Diana at Nemi. Anyone who has dipped into The Golden Bough is probably already familiar with the most famous figure in Frazer’s study of magic and religion, so I will be brief. This king, whose job it was to guard a sacred tree near Lake Nemi, held one of the most precarious offices in the ancient world. “He was a priest and a murderer,” Frazer writes. And he was perpetually in fear for his life: “A candidate for the priesthood could only succeed to office by slaying the priest, and having slain him, he retained office till he was himself slain by a stronger or a craftier.”
Frazer has it that this barbarous office was a relic of a time when the rites of magic preceded the practice of religion. But, he adds, that collapsed world of belief is not so different from our own; indeed, ours was built on its ruins. In 12 mad, fascinating, and frankly sometimes unreadable volumes, he holds forth on the subject, attempting to demonstrate that the motives behind an institution such as the Rex Nemorensis “have operated widely, perhaps universally, in human society, producing in varied circumstances a variety of institutions specifically different but generically alike.”
Now, that is casting a very wide net, but there’s something undeniably attractive about this whole Key to All Mythologies exercise, even if Frazer’s facts are sometimes goofy. And I think it is fair to say that he is not only on to something about the past, but also the present. The office of Rex Nemorensis still exists, more or less, to this day. Its current occupant is Joe Biden.
For how much longer, who can say. Biden became king of the wood in a strange manner. The former king, Barack Obama, abandoned the sacred tree after plucking its bough in 2008 and slaying Hillary Clinton (who, as the events of 2016 made clear, did not understand what had occurred). Obama’s departure left the grove open to a band of robbers and ruffians who aspired to the sacred priesthood. None was stronger or more brutish than Biden, who, right up until early 2020, hacked away at his competitors for the royal title. Of course, once he became king, no crowned head ever lay uneasier.
All throughout his presidency, Biden fought off challengers for the title. Some hoped that senility would be his downfall, but even the insane can hold a sacred office. When Biden was forced to drop out of the race last summer—and it appeared as if Harris had finally dealt him the death stroke—fate intervened, and the defeat was not to be. Biden is still the king, and his party (along with its camp followers) are still trying to cut him down—to replace with a new king. But Biden is a tough old man, and the fight will likely continue beyond the grave. (Ronald Reagan, for example, was still the Republican Rex Nemorensis well into Donald Trump’s first term.) Even in Biden’s enfeebled state, someone stronger or craftier than he has yet to show his face in the wood.
“It is a sombre picture, set to melancholy music,” Frazer writes of the aged priest’s struggle to maintain his kingship, “the background of forest showing black and jagged against a lowering and stormy sky, the sighing of the wind in the branches, the rustle of the withered leaves under foot, the lapping of the cold water on the shore, and in the foreground, pacing to and fro, now in twilight and now in gloom, a dark figure with a glitter of steel at the shoulder whenever the pale moon, riding clear of the cloud-rack, peers down at him through the matted boughs.”
I can almost see it now: Joe Biden, stalking through the old-growth forest just outside Wilmington, trembling and carrying a drawn sword, peering warily about him as if at every instant he expects to be set upon by an enemy. Such is the reward of the priesthood.
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