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Wednesday, January 7, 2026
12 minutes ago
Economy

Trump Moves to Ban Corporations From Buying Up Single-Family Homes.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump announced steps to ban large institutional investors from purchasing additional single-family homes.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Trump, large institutional investors, and Congress.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Announcement made Wednesday, January 7, 2026; further discussion planned in two weeks at Davos, Switzerland.

💬KEY QUOTE: “For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American Dream. But now, because of the Record High Inflation caused by Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress, that American Dream is increasingly out of reach for far too many people.” – Donald Trump

🎯IMPACT: Trump seeks to address housing affordability issues and is urging Congress to codify the ban into law.

IN FULL

President Donald J. Trump announced on Wednesday that his administration is taking immediate action to bar large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes. The President contends that the practice, utilized by alternative asset management firms like Blackstone, has contributed to housing affordability issues facing many Americans.

“For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American Dream. It was the reward for working hard, and doing the right thing, but now, because of the Record High Inflation caused by Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress, that American Dream is increasingly out of reach for far too many people, especially younger Americans,” President Trump wrote in a post shared to Truth Social on Wednesday.

The America First leader continued, “It is for that reason, and much more, that I am immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes, and I will be calling on Congress to codify it. People live in homes, not corporations.”

“I will discuss this topic, including further Housing and Affordability proposals, and more, at my speech in Davos in two weeks,” he added.

The National Pulse reported in June of 2024 that under the former Biden government, mortgage costs began to once again creep up—mostly due to inflation—and caused a spike in foreclosures. This resulted in a flood of residential property sales that drew significant interest from alternative asset management firms, such as Blackstone, which purchased these properties to generate a steady stream of rental revenue for their investors.

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43 minutes ago
William Upton
NatSec

Trump Vows to Block Dividends, Stock Buybacks for Defense Firms.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump announced restrictions on defense companies’ financial activities, including dividends and stock buybacks, until they address production and compensation concerns.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Trump, defense contractors including General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The announcement was made on Wednesday via a Truth Social post.

💬KEY QUOTE: “This situation will no longer be allowed or tolerated!” – Donald Trump.

🎯IMPACT: Defense company stocks fell approximately two percent following the announcement.

IN FULL

President Donald J. Trump announced on Wednesday that U.S. defense contractors will “no longer be allowed or tolerated” to issue massive dividends or engage in stock buybacks. Citing slow production, delayed delivery, and substandard follow-up maintenance, Trump slammed the defense industry’s exorbitant salaries given to corporate executives and its lack of investment in new production facilities and equipment.

“All United State Defense Contractors, and the Defense Industry as a whole, BEWARE: While we make the best Military Equipment in the World (No other Country is even close!), Defense Contractors are currently issuing massive Dividends to their Shareholders and massive Stock Buybacks, at the expense and detriment of investing in Plants and Equipment,” President Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “This situation will no longer be allowed or tolerated!”

“Also, Executive Pay Packages in the Defense Industry are exorbitant and unjustifiable given how slowly these Companies are delivering vital Equipment to our Military, and our Allies,” the President stated, while adding: “Salaries, Stock Options, and every other form of Compensation are far too high for these Executives. Defense Companies are not producing our Great Military Equipment rapidly enough and, once produced, not maintaining it properly or quickly.”

In response to the defense industry’s complacency, which Trump characterizes as a threat to U.S. national security, he announced, “From this moment forward, these Executives must build NEW and MODERN Production Plants, both for delivering and maintaining this important Equipment, and for building the latest Models of future Military Equipment.” Additionally, the Trump administration will move to cap defense industry executive pay to $5 million, which the President says “is a mere fraction of what they are making now.”

“I am demanding that maintenance be ‘spot on, on time,'” Trump wrote. Until the situation is deemed rectified by federal officials, President Trump says he “will not permit Dividends or Stock Buybacks for Defense Companies.”

Notably, Lockheed Martin‘s stock value fell significantly in response to the announcement.

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1 hour ago
William Upton
News

Tim Walz Says He’s ‘Angry’ That ICE Officers Defended Themselves from Being Run Over.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) is demanding federal immigration agents leave his state after a woman was shot and killed while attempting to run over a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D), ICE officers, and anti-ICE protestors.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Late Wednesday afternoon on January 7, 2026.

💬KEY QUOTE: “To Minnesotans, I say this: I feel your anger, I’m angry.” — Tim Walz

🎯IMPACT: Footage of the incident shows the woman’s vehicle first blocking the roadway, then, as federal agents approach, she accelerates into the officer directly in front of her car, prompting him to open fire in self-defense.

IN FULL

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D)—who has abandoned his reelection bid in the wake of a massive fraud scandal tied to his administration and the state’s Somali immigrant community—is demanding federal immigration agents leave his state after a woman was shot and killed while attempting to run over a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. “What we’re seeing is the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines, and conflict,” Walz said at the opening of a press conference late Wednesday afternoon.

“It is governing by reality TV, and today that recklessness cost someone their life,” the Democrat governor argued. “Let me be clear, Donald Trump and his administration may not care much about Minnesota—that’s been pretty evident—but we love this state, we won’t let them tear us apart, we won’t turn against each other. To Minnesotans, I say this: I feel your anger, I’m angry.”

“They want a show, we can’t give it to them,” the scandal-embroiled Walz declared, while urging protesters to remain peaceful. He added, “To Americans, I ask you this: please stand with Minneapolis. To Minnesotans, please know this: our administration is going to stop at nothing to seek accountability and justice.”

Earlier on Wednesday, a 37-year-old woman was shot and killed after impeding a federal law enforcement exercise and ignoring a lawful order, before attempting to run over an ICE officer with her car in a failed getaway attempt. Footage of the incident shows the woman’s vehicle first blocking the roadway, then as federal agents approach, she accelerates into the officer directly in front of her car, prompting him to open fire in self-defense.

The National Pulse subsequently reported that far-left Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) had declared it is “bulls**t” and “garbage” that the federal officer acted in self-defense, claiming, “I have seen the video myself.” Despite the assertion, the footage clearly supports the self-defense claims made by federal officials.

Image by Gage Skidmore.

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2 hours ago
Immigration
News

BREAKING: Trump Blames ‘Radical Left’ for Attacks on Law Enforcement After Minneapolis ICE Shooting.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump has reacted after a woman was fatally shot while driving a car at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: ICE officers and two women, one of whom was driving the car.

📍WHEN & WHERE: January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

💬KEY QUOTE: “The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator.” – Donald Trump

🎯IMPACT: The incident highlights ongoing threats towards law enforcement involved in upholding immigration law.

IN FULL

President Donald J. Trump has responded to a fatal shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which saw a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer open fire on a woman who drove her car at him. The event was captured on video, which Trump described as “a horrible thing to watch.”

“The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense,” the President wrote on his Truth Social platform, referring to the woman who was shot and another woman who can be heard shouting from the street.

“Based on the attached clip, it is hard to believe he is alive, but is now recovering in the hospital. The situation is being studied, in its entirety, but the reason these incidents are happening is because the Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis,” he said, stressing: “They are just trying to do the job of MAKING AMERICA SAFE. We need to stand by and protect our Law Enforcement Officers from this Radical Left Movement of Violence and Hate!”

Democrat politicians are already attempting to inflame the situation, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey arguing it is “bulls**t” that the officer acted in self-defense, despite the video evidence.

Since President Trump’s inauguration, there have been over 100 reported vehicular attacks against federal law enforcement, more than twice the 47 incidents during the same period last year.

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2 hours ago
The National Pulse
Analysis

DATA: Vehicle Attacks Against ICE Skyrocketed 1300% in One Year.
PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: Vehicle attacks against DHS law enforcement have more than doubled this year, with nearly 100 incidents reported so far.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and criminal suspects, including illegal aliens and U.S. citizens.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Since January 20, 2025, across various locations in the United States, including Maryland, Illinois, and Florida.

💬KEY QUOTE: “We are seeing the results of the Left’s constant demonization of the men and women of law enforcement. Dangerous criminals – whether they be illegal aliens or U.S. citizens – are turning their vehicles into weapons to attack ICE and CBP.” – Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin

🎯IMPACT: A significant increase in risk to law enforcement officers and the public, with federal authorities vowing to prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law.

IN FULL

The men and women of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are facing a surge in vehicle attacks, a trend attributed to inflammatory rhetoric from sanctuary politicians, leftist activists, and the mainstream media. The latest attack in Minneapolis this morning is just the latest in a long line of vehicle attacks against law enforcement in America.

Since January 20, there have been over 100 reported vehicular attacks against federal law enforcement, more than double the 47 incidents during the same period last year.

Attacks against CBP have risen 58 percent, with 71 incidents reported this year compared to 45 last year. ICE has seen an even more dramatic rise, with 28 vehicular assaults compared to only two during the same period in 2024 – a 1,300 percent increase.

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin remarked, “We are seeing the results of the Left’s constant demonization of the men and women of law enforcement. Dangerous criminals – whether they be illegal aliens or U.S. citizens – are turning their vehicles into weapons to attack ICE and CBP. Still, the brave men and women of DHS will not be deterred and will continue arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens. Anyone who attacks law enforcement, especially using their vehicles, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Some of the most recent examples of vehicular assaults against law enforcement include:

  • November 13: Ever Gabriel Alvarez-Campos, a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador with pending criminal charges for second-degree assault, intentionally rammed his car into an ICE vehicle and fled the scene, endangering officers and members of the Adelphi, Maryland community. Alvarez then hit another vehicle and fled the scene on foot before being apprehended by ICE officers.
Car involved in ramming of an ICE vehicle where the suspect fled the scene and was later captured
  • November 8: While conducting immigration enforcement operations in Chicago, Border Patrol faced four different vehicular ramming attacks in just one day. Four suspects were arrested, while one was thwarted by a Controlled Tire Deflation Device, and another remains at large.
Wagoneer Car Damage from Targeted Violence Against Law Enforcement
  • October 22: On a day in which Border Patrol agents faced numerous attacks throughout Chicago, there were three different vehicular attacks against law enforcement. Several of the arrested suspects had criminal histories, including a Latin Kings gang member with convictions for unlawful possession of a firearm, destroying evidence, and DUI.
  • October 14: During an immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, an illegal alien rammed CBP vehicles with his own and attempted to flee. Border Patrol pursued the suspect and managed to bring him to a stop using an authorized precision immobilization technique maneuver. The driver and his passenger, both illegal aliens from Venezuela, were arrested for assault on a federal agent and accessory to assault, respectively.
  • October 2: ICE officers were targets of two different vehicular assaults in Illinois on the same day, with one in Bensenville and the other in Norridge. The suspects in both cases were criminal illegal aliens who were arrested.
SUV used by criminal illegal alien was weaponized in a deliberate attempt to ram and injure officers carrying out their sworn duty to upload the nation's immigration laws.
Car used by criminal illegal alien was weaponized in a deliberate attempt to ram and injure officers carrying out their sworn duty to upload the nation's immigration laws.
  • September 14: An ICE officer was injured in a vehicular assault in Homestead, Florida. The driver, an illegal alien from Guatemala, reversed his car into the officer during a traffic stop in an attempt to flee, hitting the officer in the leg and nearly crushing him. The suspect rammed into multiple ICE vehicles and then sped away into incoming traffic, colliding with a utility van. The driver and three other illegal aliens were arrested.
On September 14, an illegal alien resisted arrest and drove his car into an ICE officer nearly crushing him, hitting two government vehicles, and sped into oncoming traffic hitting another innocent bystander’s vehicle.
Utility van damaged in accident with vehicle involved in a vehicular assault on an ICE officer in Florida, on September 14,

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3 hours ago
Immigration
News

Minneapolis ICE Shooting: Dem Mayor Calls Self-Defense Claim ‘Bulls**t’—Despite Video Evidence.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: A female suspect attempted to run over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents with her car, leading to an ICE agent fatally shooting her.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: ICE, Mayor Jacob Frey (D), Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, and the 37-year-old female suspect.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday, Minneapolis, near Portland Avenue between 33rd and 34th streets.

💬KEY QUOTE: “To ICE, get the f**k out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here.” – Mayor Frey

🎯IMPACT: The incident has sparked heightened tensions between local officials and federal authorities, as well as leftist outrage over the shooting.

IN FULL

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) has said it is “bulls**t” and “garbage” that a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who fired shots at a woman who attempted to ram agents with her vehicle was acting in self-defense. During a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, the Democrat mayor claimed that “I have seen the video myself.”

However, video footage of the shooting posted to social media appears to clearly show the woman impeding a federal law enforcement exercise and ignoring a lawful order, before attempting to run over an ICE officer with her car in a failed getaway attempt. The woman, who was 37 years old, was blocking Portland Avenue between 33rd and 34th streets with her vehicle, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara.

Notably, O’Hara—during Mayor Frey’s press conference—appears to admit that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) only arrived on the scene after the shooting. This seemingly confirms claims by federal officials that the MPD ignored ICE agents’ requests for assistance with a large group of around 100 agitators gathered to try and shut down an immigration enforcement operation.

“At some point, a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot, and the vehicle began to drive off. At least two shots were fired, the vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway,” O’Hara stated. He added that when Minneapolis officers arrived, they found the woman had sustained a gunshot wound to the head, and despite lifesaving measures, she was pronounced dead at Hennepin County Medical Center.

Near the conclusion of the press conference, Frey moved to inflame tensions further with an angry message at federal officers, shouting, “Long-term Minneapolis residents that have contributed so greatly to our city, to our culture, to our economy, are being terrorized, and now somebody is dead. That’s on you. And it’s also on you to leave. It’s on you to make sure that further damage, further loss of life and injury, is not done.”

“We are better than a bunch of ICE agents being deployed to cities around the country and ripping apart families and communities. We’re better than that, and so we are going to meet that hate with love. We are going to meet that despair with hope. We are going to meet that injustice with constitutional justice ourselves,” he concluded.

Image by Chad Davis.

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4 hours ago
NatSec
TECH

China Directs Tech Companies to Stop Purchasing Nvidia H200 Chips.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: Beijing has reportedly instructed some Chinese tech firms to halt orders for Nvidia’s H200 chips while considering domestic AI chip mandates.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Nvidia, Chinese tech companies, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and U.S. officials.

📍WHEN & WHERE: January 2026, with reports emerging from Beijing and international sources.

💬KEY QUOTE: “China is committed to basing its national development on its own strengths, and is also willing to maintain dialogue and cooperation with all parties to safeguard the stability of global industrial and supply chains,” said Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S.

🎯IMPACT: The move reflects ongoing U.S.-China tensions over semiconductor trade and could reshape the global chip industry landscape.

IN FULL

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is officially moving to restrict the import of some Nvidia H200 chips. In December last year, The National Pulse reported that it was likely that Chinese officials would soon announce chip restrictions as the communist government weighs a potential domestic semiconductor subsidy plan that could see upwards of $70 billion in state money invested in China’s chipmaking industry.

“China is committed to basing its national development on its own strengths, and is also willing to maintain dialogue and cooperation with ​all parties to safeguard the stability of global industrial and supply chains,” Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., said on Wednesday.

Specifically, Chinese government officials are ordering a group of critical domestic technology companies to pause all pre-orders for Nvidia’s H200 chips. In early December of last year, U.S. President Donald J. Trump moved to permit the export of chips—which lag about 18 months behind the company’s cutting-edge models—to China, undoing a previous export ban.

However, shortly after the export ban was lifted, the CCP—which has long sought to increase its access to cutting-edge semiconductor technology—abruptly determined it no longer wanted increased chip imports. While critics of Trump’s lifting of the export ban worried that the Chinese would use the access to quickly reverse engineer Nvidia technology, the CCP has instead realized that an influx of near-cutting-edge U.S. chips could flood its technology market and crush its domestic semiconductor industry.

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5 hours ago
Crime
Immigration

BREAKING: Domestic Terrorist Who Tried to Run Down ICE Agents Shot and Killed.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: Federal law enforcement was involved in a shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday, reportedly linked to a protest against immigration enforcement.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Federal law enforcement, a woman allegedly involved in a vehicular attack, and local officials, including Governor Tim Walz (D) and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D).

📍WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday morning near East 34th Street and Portland Avenue in Minneapolis.

💬KEY QUOTE: “The presence of federal law enforcement agents is causing chaos in our city,” complained Mayor Jacob Frey, appearing to blame the ICE agents who were attacked.

🎯IMPACT: The incident has exacerbated tensions between federal and local authorities, with Democrat leaders demanding that federal agents leave the city despite ICE agents being the target of political violence.

IN FULL

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were involved in a shooting on Wednesday morning in Minneapolis. The incident occurred near East 34th Street and Portland Avenue, prompting officials to urge residents to stay away from the area.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated that the incident was allegedly “vehicle ramming related,” and footage emerging online clearly shows a protester impeding a federal law enforcement exercise, before attempting to run over a law enforcement officer with her car in a failed getaway attempt.

Federal authorities reported that a woman rammed her car into an officer with the intent to cause harm, though McLaughlin noted that details are still being gathered. The woman was later announced to have died from gunshot wounds.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) commented on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “My public safety team is working to gather information on an ICE-related shooting this morning. We will share information as we learn more. In the meantime, I ask folks to remain calm.”

Meanwhile, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) is siding with the attacker and far-left agitators, demanding that ICE agents “leave the city immediately.” In a post on X, he stated, “The presence of federal law enforcement agents is causing chaos in our city. We stand rock solid with our immigrant and refugee communities.”

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5 hours ago
NatSec
Politics

Who is Morgan Ortagus, and Why MAGA Cares About Her Divorce and Foreign National Fiancée.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: Morgan Ortagus—one of the least trusted foreign policy officials in the Trump administration due to her fervent neoconservative views, ties to the Deep State, and past public criticism of the President’s America First agenda—has separated from her husband and entered a relationship with Lebanese banking tycoon Antoun Sehnaoui, according to divorce filings.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Morgan Ortagus, her estranged husband Jonathan Weinberger, and Lebanese financier Antoun Sehnaoui.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The separation was filed in November 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee, with initial details of the new relationship emerging in December 2025.

💬KEY QUOTE: The divorce petition, filed by Weinberger, cites “irreconcilable differences” for the separation.

🎯IMPACT: The revelation of Ortagus’s divorce and subsequent relationship with Sehnaoui—a foreign national—raises ethical and security concerns regarding her current role as Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

IN FULL

Divorce records have now confirmed that Morgan Ortagus—a former State Department press official in the first Trump administration and current Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations—has separated from her husband, Jonathan Weinberger, and entered into a relationship with controversial Lebanese banking mogul and film producer Antoun Sehnaoui. The divorce petition, filed by Weinberger in November 2025, cites “irreconcilable differences” as the grounds for the divorce.

During President Donald J. Trump‘s first term, Ortagus served a brief tenure as the Spokesman for the United States Department of State under then-Secretary Mike Pompeo.

The National Pulse has previously reported on a number of concerning details regarding Ortagus, including a revelation that she attempted to leverage her friendship with Democratic Party foreign policy figures to secure a role in the former Biden government. Emails obtained by The National Pulse show Ortagus pledged to “faithfully serve the Biden administration” in a goodbye email sent to State Department colleagues.

In a private 2021 email, Ortagus  stated that Ned Price, her replacement tapped by former President Biden, was “fantastic,” and that she decided to seek a continued role at the State Department “no matter what happened with the election.”

Before joining the Trump administration, Ortagus co-founded Global Opportunity Advisors—a consultancy firm—alongside her “best friend,” Samantha Vinograd, a former foreign policy adviser to the Biden and Obama governments and a CNN contributor with an extensive history of criticizing President Trump, including comparing the America First leader to Adolf Hitler.

Meanwhile, during Ortagus’s short-lived 2022 congressional run in Tennessee, she aligned herself with several outspoken anti-Trump GOP figures, including former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, Jeb Bush foreign policy advisor John Noonan, disgraced former State Department official Gabriel Noronha, and former Republican National Committee (RNC) chief counsel Charlie Spies, who was fired after just months on the job and was revealed to maintain close ties with infamous Democrat election fixer and attorney Marc Elias. The National Pulse reported that Ortagus quickly scrubbed all references to President Trump from her campaign website as her congressional bid collapsed.

During the 2024 presidential primary, Ortagus backed Pompeo, Mike Pence, and Nikki Haley in succession against Trump for the Republican nomination. Despite numerous instances of backing efforts aimed at undermining the President and his America First foreign policy, Ortagus was welcomed back into the second Trump administration—first as a deputy to Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and now as Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the UN.

Weinberger and Ortagus were wed in 2013 in a ceremony presided over by the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a prominent left-wing jurist. However, her new romantic partner is likely to draw significantly more controversy. Sehnaoui has faced a number of legal battles over his career, including allegations that his bank provided material support to Hezbollah—an accusation he denies.

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5 hours ago
News
War

U.S. Seizes Oil Tanker Under Russian Protection.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: The United States seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker, the Marinera, after a two-week pursuit across the Atlantic.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The U.S. military and U.S. Coast Guard, Russian warships, and the Icelandic Coast Guard.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The operation took place near Iceland in international waters, with the Marinera entering Iceland’s exclusive economic zone at 4 AM local time.

💬KEY QUOTE: “If Americans seize our ship and we limit ourselves to rhetoric about ‘red lines’, it will convince Trump that we are just a very large Venezuela, that Russia can be pushed around without any real consequence.” – Russian commentator Alexander Kots

🎯IMPACT: The seizure could escalate tensions between the U.S. and Russia.

IN FULL

The United States has seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker after a two-week pursuit across the Atlantic Ocean, escalating tensions over sanctions enforcement and maritime security. The vessel, the Marinera, was intercepted as it entered Iceland’s exclusive economic zone around 4 AM local time during an operation involving the U.S. military, the U.S. Coast Guard, and Icelandic authorities.

The tanker was previously known as the Bella 1 and had been monitored for weeks after evading a U.S. maritime blockade of sanctioned vessels. According to U.S. officials, the ship resisted earlier attempts by the Coast Guard to board it while operating near the Caribbean before changing its name and flag and heading toward northern waters.

Russian state media reported that Russian naval assets, including surface ships and at least one submarine, were operating nearby during the seizure. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the Marinera, now flying the Russian flag, was traveling in international waters in compliance with maritime law and accused Western nations of violating freedom of navigation. It called on them to respect the rights of civilian shipping.

Alexander Kots, a pro-government Russian commentator, warned on Telegram that the incident could have wider consequences for Moscow’s global standing. “If Americans seize our ship and we limit ourselves to rhetoric about ‘red lines’, it will convince Trump that we are just a very large Venezuela, that Russia can be pushed around without any real consequences,” he wrote.

The seizure comes amid an aggressive expansion of U.S. sanctions enforcement targeting oil shipments linked to Venezuela. In December, President Donald J. Trump announced a full blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers under U.S. sanctions, ordering interdictions of vessels suspected of carrying crude that finances the government of President Nicolás Maduro—now in U.S. custody.

U.S. authorities have also intercepted other tankers connected to Venezuelan oil exports in recent weeks, part of a broader effort to dismantle networks accused of evading sanctions by reflagging vessels, disabling tracking systems and transferring oil at sea.

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