Make America Safe and Prosperous (News Review Week 4)

During President Trump’s fourth week in office, exciting events took place around the Beltway region. First, the CPAC 2025 Conference is being held February 19-22nd at the National Harbor. The GOP Republican Governor Convention also took place in Washington, D.C. with President Trump delivering the keynote speech on Thursday, February 20th.

Just a few days earlier, on February 18th, a historic summit was held in Saudi Arabia between Russia and the United States. At the historic meeting, a pathway to peace for Ukraine has emerged. The new administration does not want to support Ukraine in its futile war that since 2022 has cost over one million lives inside Ukraine, alone. It has burdened Europe with millions more refugees than have already flooded its territory with migrants from Africa and the Near East. Terms will have to be discussed between the U.S. State Department and President Zelensky of Ukraine, about which the failed state has little choice than to concede.

One significant outcome is the restoration of diplomatic ties between Russia and the United States, with preparations now underway for a future meeting between President Putin and President Trump. Certainly this is a significant development in light that over the past two months, the previous U.S. President seemed intent upon accelerating the conflict by supplying Ukraine with drones, defense contractors, promise of advanced fighter jets, and over 64 billion dollars in supplies and equipment and monetary assistance. This forced the Russians to monitor 24/7 for drone and unmanned sea-vehicle attacks on buildings and bridges on Russian territory, with some strikes reaching Moscow. This unacceptable combat tactic (striking civilians and civilian infrastructure) incensed the Russians to the extent that they launched some of their most devastating bomb attacks using advanced offensive missiles, such as the Oreshnik hypersonic IRBM. It was becoming clear that unless the West desisted, Russia would use such missile, with a 7-minute reach to many European cities and bases, fearlessly.

Now, even though sanctions are still in place, and NATO in Europe is agitated over the sudden turn of events, even though it was clearly one of Trump’s campaign promises, Europe may be spared its bleak economic demise. Europe, within easy reach of Russia, access to China’s high-speed rail, and just across the pond from the United States, can become a hub for the multipolar world. They just have to face another stark reality pointed out by U.S. Vice-President JD Vance at the recent Munich Conference: they will go bankrupt if they keep trying to accommodate waves and waves of migrants from outside nations who sponge off of their national social welfare systems.

Inside the United States, although a majority of the population are happy with the work that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is doing, clearly the establishment Left and mainstream media are trying desperately to portray Trump as they always have: an untrustworthy populist aspiring to become a fascist dictator. There are reports by Hal Turner Radio Show that they have tried to use judges to roll back Trump’s Executive Orders, such as for ending transgender operations, teaching and/or incorporating DEI ideologies, trying to ban access by DOGE to the Treasury Department electronic records, and even trying to reverse the actions of DOGE with regard to ending payments transfers by agencies like FEMA to illegal migrants.

Those are staying in place, however, after several things took place. After investigation, the judges, such as John McConnell, were found to have basically been bought because of embezzlement. Also appellate judges found favor with Trump’s DOGE policy because they view the agencies being under the care of the Executive Branch, with the President as CEO. However this view did not sit well with Democrats in Congress. There was a House Hearing on February 11th the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.), chaired by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), in which arguments were heard before several panelists on why DOGE needs to have access to the Treasury Department, since they are not federal workers. The argument was rebutted by Greene stating that those workers are operating as consultants would because the federal government had not audited themselves thoroughly, and these were especially appointed by the President.

Representative Greene stated that this was a mandate from Trump’s campaign promising to cut down on waste, fraud, and abuse in government. DOGE is paring down the administrative state, paring down a debt crisis that threatens the social safety net, because trillions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse have been uncovered. There have been hundreds of billions in fraud discovered in Medicare, Medicaid, Earned Income Credit, Payment Protection Program, SNAP, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, FEMA, and Social Security. But the public has also learned of massive amounts of fraud at USAID, and also even in issuance of government credit cards, that over $40 billion dollars had been spent via 4 million credit cards. Nevertheless Greene asserts that the mission of DOGE is nonpartisan, and that they are there to solve a crisis:

“DOGE will do its job. This is not a Democrat problem, not a Republican problem, but an American problem. $36trillion and compounding interest is growing out of control. Next year’s interest payments will total $952 billion dollars—more than the entire defense budget. Americans are in debt slavery. Crippling debt and interest will destroy all of us together, and it drives inflation and cripples small businesses. Our children will be in chains and shackles for generations to come. We must be brutally honest about how this debt came about from past administrations…Betrayal gave birth to DOGE. Americans voted for DOGE. Ordinary Americans must work efficiently and pay their debts. Private businesses only survive on hard-earned income. Small businesses are not bailed out—they only survive from smart customer management and savings…”

It is unclear if there are possibilities for government workers laid off to appeal the decision or to transfer or to be rehired in another agency; usually they have a reinstatement period where they can apply for other government jobs and/or be given higher consideration. Meanwhile another battle that the Trump Administration is facing lies in immigration and deporting of illegals. The White House’s “America is Back — And President Trump is Jut Getting Started” Press Release provided Press Secretary Leavitt with talking points during her February 20th White House Press Briefing. At the top of the list of Trump’s first month accomplishments is “Securing Our Homeland” where it is reported that border crossings have declined by 95%. (This was confirmed in a speech by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Thom Homan at CPAC 2025). Illegals are not only turning around, but also beginning to self-deport as well; however President Trump has a harsh stance especially on foreign gangs, which he has now labeled as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs):

“The Trump Administration officially declared Tren de Aragua, MS-13, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the United Cartels, the Gulf Cartel, the Northeast Cartel, and the Michoacan Family as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.”

As Thom Homan and other officials stated, the overwhelming focus of the administration is on criminally convicted illegal aliens; and as of last week, over 21,000 illegals have been deported. There are news video of the illegals being flown back to their home country or even to Guantanamo Bay for holding in transit to their home country. Trump’s seriousness about this matter stems from the types of gang activities these cartels are trained to conduct on American soil including special ops, sabotage, kidnap, rape, murder, extortion rackets, selling drugs, drug manufacture, marijuana grows, sex trafficking, child trafficking. People in Georgia were incensed when a young nursing student, Laken Riley, was attacked and murdered by an illegal alien. One of the first actions of the incoming 119th Congress was to finally pass the Laken Riley Act, and signed into law by President Trump.

No more “catch-and-release” policies so popular among the Democrats. Now, those type of lenient policies will be reversed, because the Laken Riley Act “requires illegal immigrants arrested or charged with theft or violence to be detained — honoring the legacy of Laken Riley, a Georgia college student brutally murdered by an illegal alien released into the country.” What made the case so tragic was that the perpetrator had previously been arrested and was known to belong to Tren de Aragua, yet was repeatedly released.

President Trump made clear that countries that are not willing to accept the deported aliens back into their country will face swift retaliatory measures, such as 50% tariffs on coffee beans from Colombia. However negotiating with Mexico on actual enforcement of its “Remain in Mexico” policy may not be as easy. On the face of it Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum exudes an air of cooperation and calmness about curbing the flow of illegal aliens from Latin America through Mexico into America (or by airplane or boat). She knows that Border Czar Thom Homan is rebuilding the border wall as quickly as possible, and that U.S. troops and National Guard are now working to secure the border. She has even promised to deploy 10,000 troops to combat illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking; however Mexico investigative journalists are not so sure.

For instance “Ironclad” podcast journalists don’t believe that the gangs and drug cartels will give up easily: there is too much money to be made selling drugs, trafficking labor, and other forms of human trafficking. Gangs on both sides of the border, but even corporations and agribusinesses rely on cheap labor. Cartel journalist Katarina Szulc speaking with “I_Came_With_Fire_Podcast” about CJNG (Jalisco New Generation Cartel) and the cartel influence in Mexico describes how many of Mexico’s states have been taken over by the cartels. The previous president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), caved into organized crime interests, and now they have infiltrated the political networks, military, social services, education, etc. Claudia Sheinbaum was selected for her pliability: she was not going to fight back against them. She likely will only appear to cooperate, even though the United States is now flying surveillance drones over northern Mexico. Mexico’s politicians evidently have seen too many assassination attempts and successful assassinations to want to “fight back.”

In fact, even if the border walls are completely built up, many agree that the borders will never be secure. The number coming across from Canada (where there are no walls) cannot be controlled. Even between northeast Washington and Canada where there are national parks and forest boundaries, there is hardly any fencing. And small border towns such as Nogales have huge storm sewers built to pass between both sides from Mexico into Arizona—it’s like an inside joke. Nevertheless controls on these cartels and the CCP is essential to curb their eventual stranglehold and takeover of the economic and political systems of Canada and the United States. This could be also why Trump has also reinstated the death penalty for federal capital crimes. Rather than deport an alien, it may be better to just send them to death row.

The border crisis intersects with the homelessness and catastrophic fires situation in Los Angeles, California, and is a case-study for what tolerance of crime, DEI policies, and what author/historian Victor Davis Hanson calls “de-civilization” results in. In an interview with California Insider, local property magnate John Alle speaks with host Siyamak Khorrami about the ever-present dangers for his leases near historic MacArthur Park. The Westlake neighborhood has become the inner city’s most dangerous drug-and-gang infested neighborhood, and filled with drug addicts, homeless people, outdoor campers, and worse. Since coming to office in 2022 neither the City Mayor (Karen Bass) nor District 1 Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez has been willing to seriously address how to get these people off the streets. Watching the proceedings of the LA City Council meeting is like seeing a light theater performance, where there is even singing, poetry reading, and whatnot, while the council members are scarcely paying attention, they are often busy chatting amongst themselves.

Mr. Alle describes the fire-house nearby as the “smallest but busiest in the nation” because a firetruck or emergency vehicle is sent out every 15 minutes. The fires are usually at MacArthur park: the people build bonfires at night, flaming up to 7-10 feet high, while for cooking they are about 1 to 2 feet high. Multiple fires have to be put out throughout the day, because the people inside the park are too drugged out to know what they are doing. Along the sidewalk across from the park where Alle owns several properties, the rat infestation is quite severe, so severe that every morning the owners have to flush out all the fesces. Every morning also, the owners and leasors have to repaint the walls to remove the gang grafitti that is spray painted by the next day. The sidewalks are viewed as “gang-owned” to the extent that they are “side-walk rents” enabling an extortion racket against the interests of the shop owners. Because of the lax culture, law enforcement is nonexistent, while the historic park is run like an outdoor shelter 24/7. Law enforcement is nearby but the officers are extremely reluctant to do anything, maybe because they have accepted cartel money. The sidewalk vendors are believed connected to cartels based in El Salvador and Venezuela.

The Mayor is on tape saying that she knows the situation is dangerous, however, “I will take the criticism before I do a publicity stunt, and frankly, a press conference at this point in time, which would be just publicity.” Bass basically admitting that addressing the growing safety issues in MacArthur Park is not her “area of expertise.” She recently told Fox 11 News that until experts at The Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) have complete their research study, no one can tell what the cause of the LA Wildfires is or why they grew out of control. She is probably hoping that the expert investigative fire studies will save the Mayor and the City of Los Angeles from the harmful class action lawsuits brought on by Pacific Palisades and Altadena residents. Other concerns that California Insider exposed is that around inner city Los Angeles, many of the street lights are out—so it is completely dark at night. The City has stated they are transitioning into solar-generated lighting and so it will take 2-3 years to fix. Obviously these kinds of unlit streets are neither safe nor healthy for the local residents.

LA’s culture of low standards, low expectations, tolerance of crime, drug abuse, illegal aliens, gangsterism, sex-trafficking, transgenderism, drug peddling, vandalism, theft, and rotten public health is so distracting for the general population that as noted by civil rights attorney James Breslo, it detracts from the larger mission of the City staff to take care of the city infrastructure, the basic needs of the average tax paying LA resident, such as “water, power, sanitation, safety, security, roads, sidewalks, traffic, parks, beaches, schools, firefighting, and fire prevention.”

This is why President Trump’s “America is Back — And President Trump is Just Getting Started” article also includes “Bringing Back Common Sense” and “Restoring Accountability” and “Empowerment” to help improve America’s cultural reputation and standing. It will no longer be illegal to pray in schools. Censorship is ordered to be curbed. Parents should have optimal choices for school vouchers and home-schooling. Among the actions Trump has taken in his first month:

•  President Trump ordered an end to the radical indoctrination of children in K-12 schools that receive federal funding
• President Trump reinstated press privileges for roughly 440 journalists who the Biden Administration sought to silence
• President Trump eliminated discriminatory DEI offices, employees, and practices across the bureaucracy alongside a return to merit-based hiring — including at the Federal Aviation Administration, where the Biden Administration specifically recruited individuals with intellectual disabilities and psychiatric issues.
• President Trump ended the unfair, demeaning practice of forcing women to compete against men in sports — which resulted in the NCAA changing its rules.
• Health systems across the nation stopped or downsized their sex change programs for minors following President Trump’s “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation” executive order.
• President Trump banned COVID-19 vaccine mandates at schools that receive federal funding.

There are totally indoctrinated segments inside various industries within the Unites States right now. They view their investments in Diversity Equity Inclusion, Critical Race Theory, 1619 Project, Euthanasia, Covid 19, Transgendering, and DSM V diagnoses as profitable and self-sustaining. Professional organizations like the American Libraries Association, the NIH, the National Education Association, the American Medical Association, the American Association of University Women, and the American Psychological Assocation, and so on, have incorporated these doctrines into their perspective to such an extent that it has reduced the logic and reasoning functions of children, visible in lower national test scores.

Many students, para-professionals, parents, teachers, union laborers have also become so indoctrinated by these ideologies and concepts, that it will take time to get rid of reverse-racist concepts such as “born with” or “white-guilt” and transition back toward the concept that everyone has a race, ethnicity, and culture to be equally proud of and inclusive about.

By fostering new discussions, hopefully it will lessen the overall resistance and destabilizing effects of incitement to riot, march, conduct violent acts, and unmitigated hatefulness.