Tech mogul Elon Musk believes “Only the AfD can save Germany,” referring to the populist, anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany party. The Donald Trump and Nigel Farage ally offered this endorsement in response to a video posted by Naomi Seibt, a Geman conservative commentator previously dubbed “the anti-Greta Thunberg.”
“Dear Elon, thank you so much for your note,” said AfD co-chairwoman Alice Weidel in a video response to the statement by Musk, who is of partly German descent.
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“The Alternative for Germany, the AfD, is indeed the one and only alternative for our country; our last option, if you ask me,” she continued, wishing Musk, President-elect Donald J. Trump, and the American people “a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
Currently, the AfD is polling well ahead of Germany’s ruling Social Democrats, their junior coalition partners, the Greens, and their former coalition partners, the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP). However, the AfD is behind the notionally center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), formerly led by Angela Merkel. Additionally, all of Germany’s establishment and far-left parties enforce a so-called cordon sanitaire against the AfD, barring any cooperation with the populist party.
❓WHAT HAPPENED: Acting Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Director Jeff Clark has been recommended for disbarment in a politically motivated case brought before the District of Columbia Bar. The complaint against Clark dates back to the 2020election when he drafted an unpublished letter outlining legal paths for certain lawmakers to challenge the election results.
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👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Jeff Clark, the D.C. Bar, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the former Biden government.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The Bar Association determination was issued Thursday, 31, 2025.
💬KEY QUOTE: “A majority of the Board recommends that Respondent be disbarred. We recognize that there are no factually comparable prior disciplinary cases.” — The D.C. Bar’s Board of Professional Responsibility
🎯IMPACT: Unless the District of Columbia Court of Appeals intervenes, Clark will face the suspension of his ability to practice law within 30 days as his case continues to proceed.
IN FULL
President Donald J. Trump‘s Acting Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) director, Jeff Clark, has been recommended for disbarment in a politically motivated case brought before the District of Columbia Bar. The complaint against Clark dates back to the 2020 election when he drafted an unpublished letter outlining legal paths for certain lawmakers to challenge the election results. At the time, Clark was serving at the Department of Justice (DOJ) as Assistant Attorney General.
“A majority of the Board recommends that Respondent be disbarred. We recognize that there are no factually comparable prior disciplinary cases. But that is not surprising given the underlying facts. In making this recommendation, we are mindful of the need to maintain the integrity of the legal profession and deter the respondent and other attorneys from engaging in similar misconduct,” the D.C. Bar’s Board of Professional Responsibility wrote in their recommendation, issued on Thursday.
“Lawyers must observe the highest standard of professional conduct. At a minimum, they must be honest. While dishonesty is always intolerable, the facts here are significantly aggravating to warrant disbarment: Respondent was prepared to cause the Justice Department to tell a lie about the status of its investigation of an important national issue (the integrity of the 2020 Presidential election),” it continues.
“Lawyers cannot advocate for any outcome based on false statements, and they certainly cannot urge others to do so. Respondent persistently and energetically sought to do just that on an important national issue. He should be disbarred as a consequence and to send a message to the rest of the Bar and to the public that this behavior will not be tolerated,” the D.C. Bar recommendation concludes.
Critics soundly argue that the recommendation is a clear and disturbing attempt to punish an attorney for simply stating their legal opinion, a point that was repeatedly brought up and acknowledged by the board during a hearing last year. Even more troubling, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)—under the former Biden government—never provided a reason for their raid on Clark’s home, an incident some contend was thinly veiled political harassment.
Unless the District of Columbia Court of Appeals intervenes, Clark will face the suspension of his ability to practice law within 30 days as his case proceeds. Notably, former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who lied on a FISA warrant targeting the Trump campaign, only received a sentence of 12 months’ probation and 400 hours of community service, along with only losing his law license for one year. Clinesmith is currently an “active member” in “good standing” with the Bar.
Curiously, it was controversial U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg who issued the unusually light punishment to Clinesmith.
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❓WHAT HAPPENED: Researchers in Japan have engineered a new strain of bird flu, combining genetic material from two wild viruses to create a pathogen known as Vac-3.
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👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Japanese scientists, U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)- funded researchers, and U.S. institutions such as the University of Georgia, Mount Sinai, and Texas Biomed.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The study was published last week in NPJ Vaccines, involving experiments conducted in Japan.
🎯IMPACT: The research raises biosecurity concerns over gain-of-function experiments and the potential for man-made pandemics.
IN FULL
A recent study published in NPJ Vaccines reveals that Japanese scientists have engineered a novel strain of bird flu by combining the genetic components of two different wild influenza viruses. The synthetic virus, designated Vac-3, was created in the lab, propagated in chicken eggs, and inactivated with formalin for use as a whole-particle vaccine in long-term tests involving nonhuman primates. This strain—formally named A/duck/Hokkaido/Vac-3/2007 (H5N1)—was artificially assembled and does not occur in nature.
This development comes in the wake of disclosures about U.S. government-funded experiments involving lab-created H5N1 bird flu variants. Some of those strains reportedly caused 100 percent mortality in exposed mammals. In those cases, scientists employed synthetic DNA to construct the viruses and, under a $59 million federal contract, deliberately infected live cows. Japan has also been cooperating with U.S. researchers on additional influenza-related projects, including hybrid viruses combining horse and human flu genes that reportedly replicate much faster than naturally occurring strains.
The Japanese research team emphasized that Vac-3 stimulated more robust immune responses than current flu vaccines, mainly because it retained its full genetic content, including viral RNA. Their approach, called whole-particle vaccination, is designed to activate the body’s innate immune sensors and “rewire” immune responses.
Though the term “gain-of-function” is not used in the study, the methodology behind Vac-3 fits the criteria. The virus was produced by merging genes from different influenza viruses to enhance its immunogenic properties. According to a 2025 Executive Order from the White House, gain-of-function research includes work that alters a virus’s interaction with the immune system, such as increasing its ability to evade or overactivate immune defenses.
The research also introduces significant biosecurity concerns. In their testing, scientists exposed macaques to a deadly H5N1 strain to evaluate how long immunity from Vac-3 would last. This involved constructing a virus that had never previously existed, infecting primates with it, and later challenging them with a lethal strain, all conducted within a biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory. While the stated goal was vaccine development, such experiments could trigger future pandemics.
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❓WHAT HAPPENED: Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) is backing the British government’s Online Safety Act—a censorship law which critics argue stifles free speech and is aimed at harming U.S.-based social media and technology companies—after a blow-up with Reform Party leader Nigel Farage.
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👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Reps. Jamie Raskin, Eric Swalwell, Jasmine Crockett, and Jim Jordan; Nigel Farage, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and British Technology Secretary Peter Kyle.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Raskin’s embrace of the Online Safety Act came during a congressional delegation trip to the UK this week.
💬KEY QUOTE: “We thought there were some very good things in the Online Safety Act…” — Rep. Jamie Raskin
🎯IMPACT: The Democratic Party’s embrace of UK-style censorship is well outside the American legal mainstream regarding free speech rights and appears to be driven almost entirely by Raskin and others’ desire to undermine President Donald J. Trump.
IN FULL
Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) is backing Britain’s far-left Labour Party government on the Online Safety Act—a censorship law that stifles free speech and harms U.S.-based social media and technology companies. The Maryland Democrat’s embrace of British censorship came this week as American lawmakers traveled to Great Britain on a congressional delegation led by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH).
“We thought there were some very good things in the Online Safety Act, and there might be some problematic things,” Raskin said during an interview with the press in London. The staunchly anti-Trump Democrat added: “I think the intervention of Democrats who don’t have a dog in that fight was maybe too much for [Nigel Farage] to handle, but we did want to make some general points about the freedom of speech.”
Raskin’s reference to Reform Party leader Nigel Farage stemmed from an argument that broke out between Congressional Democrats and the Brexit leader during a meeting with British lawmakers. Farage was responding to off-topic remarks Raskin made, accusing U.S. President Donald J. Trump of being a threat to free speech. Raskin states that Farage injected during his remarks, stating, “We’re not here to talk about Donald Trump.” The Marland Democrat continued: “[Farage] said that I am a guest here, and I should act like a guest. And I told him that he was a host, and he should act like a host.”
House Democrats claim Farage accused Raskin of being “the most pig-headed person he’d ever met,” while Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) alleges, “Farage just looked unhinged and like a giant manbaby.”
For his part, Raskin defended his own outburst by dismissing Farage’s valid concerns regarding his own experience being the target of politically motivated censorship, such as debanking, by stating the incident was an “explosive reaction of one British politician who obviously didn’t want any challenge to his view that he’s a free speech victim.”
Notably, Farage has been the target of political smears because of his pro-British stances. The National Pulse reported earlier this year that Farage successfully resolved his long-standing debanking dispute with NatWest Group, nearly two years after the closure of his accounts at the bank’s Coutts subsidiary. The settlement, which includes an apology from NatWest, brings closure to a saga that led to the resignation of the bank’s former chief executive, Dame Alison Rose, in 2023.
Additionally, Farage was smeared as being “on the side” of pedophiles and extreme pornographers in comments made by British Technology Secretary Peter Kyle over the Reform leader’s pledge to repeal the Online Safety Act. The National Pulse reported Wednesday that the office of the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, approved the remarks by Kyle.
Texas Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, often accused of taking her duties as a lawmaker less than seriously, quipped, “There was a little bit of drama, and somehow it did not involve me or Swalwell.”
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❓WHAT HAPPENED: Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accused Germany of reverting to Nazism following comments by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on recognizing a Palestinian state.
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👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Itamar Ben Gvir, Johann Wadephul, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
📍WHEN & WHERE: July 31, 2025, during Wadephul’s visit to Jerusalem.
💬KEY QUOTE: “80 years after the Holocaust, and Germany is returning to supporting Nazism.” – Itamar Ben Gvir
🎯IMPACT: The accusation highlights tensions between Israel and Germany concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
IN FULL
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has charged Germany with reverting to National Socialism in response to comments by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. Wadephul had observed at a recent United Nations (UN) conference on a so-called two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians that “Israel is finding itself increasingly in the minority.”
Ben Gvir quickly condemned the statement, posting on X (formerly Twitter), “80 years after the Holocaust, and Germany is returning to supporting Nazism.” His remarks coincide with Wadephul’s visit to Jerusalem for meetings with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Wadephul recently said that “in view of the open threats of annexation [of Palestinian territories] by some in the Israeligovernment, a growing number of European countries are ready to recognize a state of Palestine without previous negotiations.”
Ben Gvir and his Otzma Yehudit party are staunch supporters of West Bank annexation, a stance echoed by other figures in Netanyahu’s coalition—although a complete annexation is not the official policy of Netanyahu and his Likud party, which have held varying, usually more moderate stances on annexing Jewish settlements in the West Bank over the years.
The clash reflects escalating tensions between Israel and Germany, as well as shifting European views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
France has already signaled its intention to recognize a Palestinian state at a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in September, with Britain saying it will do the same unless Israel meets certain demands on aid.
However, President Donald J. Trump, while increasingly critical of Netanyahu, believes such recognition would amount to “rewarding Hamas” for its October 7, 2023, terror raid against Israel. He has even warned the Canadian government that, if it moves to recognize Palestinian statehood, it could derail U.S.-Canadian trade negotiations.
❓WHAT HAPPENED: A whistleblower revealed that a supervisor threatened them to comply with an Obama administration Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)-orchestrated Russia hoax intelligence assessment, despite knowing it was not credible.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The whistleblower, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard, former President Barack Obama, former DNI James Clapper, and other unnamed intelligence officials.
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📍WHEN & WHERE: Events tied to the crafting of the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on election security, following the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Whistleblower reveals how they were threatened by a supervisor to go along with the Obama-directed Russia hoax ‘intelligence’ assessment, even though they knew it was not credible or accurate. The Whistleblower refused.” – Tulsi Gabbard
🎯IMPACT: Raises concerns about the integrity of intelligence assessments and highlights efforts by whistleblowers to expose political manipulation at the highest levels of government.
IN FULL
President Donald J. Trump‘s Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, has released declassified whistleblower testimony. The whistleblower asserted that, within the Barack Obama-era Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), they were “threatened by a supervisor to go along with the Obama-directed Russia hoax ‘intelligence’ assessment, even though they knew it was not credible or accurate.” According to Gabbard, the whistleblower “refused” to comply despite the pressure.
“Yesterday we released the Whistleblower’s firsthand account of what happened in the crafting of the January 2017 ICA, their yearslong efforts to expose the egregious manipulation and manufacturing of intelligence carried out at the highest levels of government and the IC (detailed in our previous releases) and how they were repeatedly ignored,” Gabbard wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday. She thanked the whistleblower and others coming forward to “defend our democratic republic” and “ensure the American people know the truth.”
The whistleblower, who led the production of the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on cyber threats to the 2016 Presidential Election, reported that the task was specifically ordered by then-DNI James Clapper. Clapper had stated during a secure video call that then-President Obama “had urgently requested a comprehensive analysis on election security.” However, the name of the supervisor who directly pressured the whistleblower remains redacted in the now-declassified written testimony.
“I was directed by [redacted] to focus on Russian attempts to access U.S. election-related infrastructure. IC reporting suggested many Russia-attributed IP addresses were making connection attempts that the IC could not explain the purpose of,” the whistleblower wrote. “Later, when presenting [redacted] with our findings, [redacted] directed us to abandon any further study of the subject, saying ‘it’s something else.’ In light of later development in open source reporting, I came to have concerns about this Russia-attributed cyber activity and the abrupt dismissal of the study effort.”
According to the written testimony, other nations that were identified as having attempted to influence the 2016 election were purposefully left out of the final report. “Key context was not included, and I was pressured to alter my views on the 2017 ICA’s Key Judgements, with the expressed intent by [redacted] that my concurrence was sought to enable [redacted] to sway the views of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA),” the testimony states.
❓WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump secured a historic settlement with Brown University to restore fairness, merit, and safety in higher education.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Donald J. Trump, Brown University, and state workforce development organizations.
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📍WHEN & WHERE: The agreement was announced on Wednesday, July 30, 2025.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Congratulations to Brown University on the settlement made with the United States Government. There will be no more Anti-Semitism, or Anti-Christian, or Anti-Anything Else! Woke is officially DEAD at Brown.” — President Donald J. Trump
🎯IMPACT: The agreement ensures compliance with anti-discrimination laws and restores federal grants to Brown University.
IN FULL
Another major Ivy League university has entered into a settlement agreement with the Trump White House to end unlawful racial discrimination in admissions and university programming. The settlement with Brown University will see the Ivy League institution provide the federal government with extensive data on admissions and hiring practices to ensure compliance with the Trump administration’s merit-based academic policies.
“Congratulations to Brown University on the settlement made with the United States Government. There will be no more Anti-Semitism, or Anti-Christian, or Anti-Anything Else!” President Donald J. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Thursday morning. He added, “Woke is officially DEAD at Brown. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
In another major policy coup for President Trump, Brown says it will adopt the definitions of “male” and “female,” laid out in Executive Order 14168. This will, in effect, bar biological males at Brown from competing in women’s athletics, using women’s facilities and housing, or participating in female-specific programming. Importantly, the Ivy League school also says its medical institutions will no longer perform gender reassignment surgeries on minors or prescribe puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.
Additionally, the university has agreed to pay $50 million over ten years to help fund state workforce development organizations. These groups must comply with anti-discrimination laws and support regional economic growth and career opportunities.
Brown has also pledged to “improve the campus climate for Jewish students and combat anti-Semitism.” Consequently, the Trump White House will restore the university’s federal grants and reinstate its eligibility for future government funding. The settlement agreement also establishes a three-year monitoring period, ensuring Brown’s compliance.
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❓WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump announced plans for a new White House State Ballroom to address the need for a larger event space on the White House complex.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Trump, McCrery Architects, Clark Construction, AECOM, White House Staff, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Secret Service.
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📍WHEN & WHERE: Construction is set to begin in September 2025 on the site of the East Wing of the White House.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Presidents in the modern era have faced challenges hosting major events at the White House because it has been untouched since President Harry Truman. I am honored that President Trump has entrusted me to help bring this beautiful and necessary renovation to The People’s House.” – Jim McCrery, CEO of McCrery Architects.
🎯IMPACT: The new ballroom will provide a 650-person seating capacity, significantly improving the White House’s ability to host major events while preserving its historic and architectural integrity.
IN FULL
President Trump’s White House has announced a solution to what it calls a 150-year-old problem: the Commander-in-Chief’s inability to host large-scale events on the White House complex. President Donald J. Trump and his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, announced today the construction of a new state ballroom.
The proposed White House State Ballroom will be approximately 90,000 square feet and accommodate 650 seated guests—a significant increase from the East Room’s 200-person capacity. President Trump has met with White House staff, the National Park Service, the White House Military Office, and the U.S. Secret Service to finalize design and planning details.
“The White House Ballroom will be substantially separated from the main building of the White House, but at the same time, its theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical. The site of the new ballroom will be where the small, heavily changed, and reconstructed East Wing currently sits. The East Wing was constructed in 1902 and has been renovated and changed many times, with a second story added in 1942,” reads a White House statement.
McCrery Architects, known for their classical designs, will lead the architectural efforts. CEO Jim McCrery expressed his gratitude for the opportunity, stating, “Presidents in the modern era have faced challenges hosting major events at the White House because it has been untouched since President Harry Truman. I am honored that President Trump has entrusted me to help bring this beautiful and necessary renovation to The People’s House.” Clark Construction and AECOM will head construction and engineering, respectively.
The project is expected to begin in September 2025 and will be completed well before President Trump’s term ends. The ballroom will be funded through donations from President Trump and other patriotic donors, with the U.S. Secret Service overseeing necessary security enhancements. The structure will replace the East Wing, maintaining architectural harmony with the White House while addressing the needs of future administrations.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles remarked, “President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail. The President and the Trump White House are fully committed to working with the appropriate organizations to preserving the special history of the White House while building a beautiful ballroom that can be enjoyed by future Administrations and generations of Americans to come.”
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❓WHAT HAPPENED: A 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck Southern California on Thursday morning, shaking the Los Angeles region.
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👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), residents of Southern California
📍WHEN & WHERE: California, July 31, 2025
🎯IMPACT: While felt widely, the quake caused no reported injuries or structural damage.
IN FULL
Southern California experienced a magnitude 4.4 earthquake Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The seismic event was recorded roughly four miles west of Muscoy, California, about 50 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. It occurred at 9:32 AM. Pacific Time and had a depth of just over three miles.
Although the quake was relatively moderate in magnitude, it was widely felt throughout the Los Angeles metro area. Residents from several communities reported mild to moderate shaking.
No injuries or property damage were immediately reported following the earthquake. Emergency response officials confirmed no significant transportation or infrastructure disruptions across the affected zones.
Southern California sits along several active fault lines and experiences frequent seismic activity, making preparedness a constant concern.
❓WHAT HAPPENED: Two Federal Reserve governors dissented on holding interest rates, marking a break from an over 30-year-old norm.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Federal Reserve Vice Chairman of Supervision Michelle Bowman, Fed Gov. Christopher Waller, and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
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📍WHEN & WHERE: The decision was made during a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday, July 30, 2025.
💬KEY QUOTE: “But we had two dissenters…. you want that clear thinking—expression of your thinking, and we certainly had that today,” said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
🎯IMPACT: The dissent highlights internal disagreements on monetary policy amid ongoing economic uncertainty.
IN FULL
Two members of the Federal Reserve‘s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), in a historically rare event, broke with the central bank panel’s decision to keep its benchmark lending rate at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent on Wednesday. FOMC members Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller both voted to reduce rates by 25 basis points, setting expectations on Wall Street that the cost of borrowing will finally begin to fall after the committee’s next meeting in September.
A total of nine FOMC members voted to maintain interest rates at their current levels. However, the dissent by Bowman and Waller is significant, as the committee rarely sees disagreement among its members—having not occurred in at least three decades. Even more notable is that Waller and Bowman have both been publicly critical of the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell, for their reluctance to begin another rate-cutting cycle.
“We should not wait until the labor market deteriorates before we cut the policy rate,” Waller, a member of the central bank’s board of governors, said in a speech earlier in July.
However, some Fed observers are dismissing the significance of the Waller and Bowman dissent against Wednesday’s FOMC rate decision. They contend that both committee members are merely engaging in public politicking to garner favor with President Donald J. Trump in the hope of being tapped to replace Powell as chairman when his term expires next year—or if he is potentially removed earlier.
Last week, President Trump made a rare visit to the Federal Reserve’s headquarters, where he met with Powell and toured renovations being made to the central bank’s offices. Despite the strained relationship between Trump and Powell, the America First leader has recently indicated that he is content to allow the Fed chief to serve out his term.
“This was quite a good meeting all around the table. People thought carefully about this and put their positions out there,” Powell said on Wednesday following the conclusion of July’s FOMC meeting. He continued: “The majority of the committee was of the view that inflation is a bit above target. Maximum employment is at target. That calls for modestly restrictive [interest rates] in my way of thinking.”
The Federal Reserve chairman added: “But we had two dissenters …. you want that clear thinking—expression of your thinking, and we certainly had that today.”
Responding, President Trump said, “Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell has done it again!!! He is TOO LATE, and actually, TOO ANGRY, TOO STUPID, & TOO POLITICAL, to have the job of Fed Chair,” indicating he may be considering removing him once again.
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❓WHAT HAPPENED: Nearly one million Afghan migrants without proper documentation in Iran have been deported back to Afghanistan in recent weeks, with another million deportations targeted.
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👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Afghan illegal immigrants, Iranian authorities, and the Taliban.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Iran, ongoing since 2023, with significant escalations in recent weeks.
💬KEY QUOTE: “We’ve always striven to be good hosts, but national security is a priority.” – Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani
🎯IMPACT: The deportations show that mass deportations are perfectly possible over a short timeframe, in countries with far fewer resources than in the West.
IN FULL
Iran has initiated a sweeping deportation campaign targeting Afghan migrants without legal documentation, resulting in the removal of nearly one million illegal immigrants over the past month alone. According to Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, this figure represents approximately half of the estimated two million Afghans currently residing in the country.
The sudden surge in deportations comes in the wake of recent national security incidents linked to Iran’s conflict with Israel. Iranian authorities claim that some Afghan refugees were involved in serious security breaches, including piloting drones, collecting classified intelligence, and executing acts of sabotage. In one report aired on June 26, state-run television broadcast a confession from an Afghan national allegedly involved in a plot to bomb a power station located in southeast Tehran.
“We’ve always striven to be good hosts, but national security is a priority,” stated Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani. However, some critics argue the crackdown is being used to shift blame for intelligence failures onto the Afghan refugee population.
The Taliban has publicly urged its western neighbor to reconsider the pace of these expulsions, proposing a slower, more structured process. Afghans have already been returned to their homeland en masse from Pakistan, to its east.
The speed and scale of the removals appear to prove that mass deportations are not a logistical impossibility, as anti-deportation activists in the U.S. and other Western countries often contend. Notably, Afghans appear to be a disproportionate threat to public safety wherever they go, with British crime statistics indicating that they are over 22 times more likely to be convicted of sex crimes than locals, for instance.
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