Daily Caller
Trump’s Ultimatum To Europe On Russian Oil
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
In a wide-ranging speech delivered at the U.N.’s “Climate Week” on Wednesday, President Donald Trump told the assembly that European nations “immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia” before the U.S. would agree to implement further tariffs on the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Europe’s countries weren’t alone in being called out: Trump began with condemnation of China and India for continuing to be the main buyers of Russian crude.
Here is the relevant passage from the President’s speech:
“China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil. But inexcusably, even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products. Which, as you know, I found out about two weeks ago, and I wasn’t happy. Think of it: They’re funding the war against themselves. Who the hell ever heard of that one?”
“In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the United States is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs which would stop the bloodshed, I believe very quickly. But, for those tariffs to be effective, European nations – all of you are gathered here right now – would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures.”
“You’re much closer to this thing – we have an ocean in between, you’re right there. Europe has to step it up: They can’t be doing what they’re doing. They’re buying oil from Russia while they’re fighting Russia. It was very embarrassing to them when I found out about it, I can tell you that.”
“They have to immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia; otherwise, we’re all wasting a lot of time. So, I’m ready to discuss this, we are going to discuss this today with the European nations all gathered here. I’m sure they’re thrilled to speak about it, but that’s the way it is. I like to speak my mind and speak the truth.”
This is far from the first time in which President Trump has warned Europe’s leaders of the self-destructive nature of their dependence on Russian oil and natural gas. Indeed, during his first G20 conference in July, 2017, Trump warned European heads of state at the time that their dependency could embolden Putin’s expansionist ambitions specifically related to Ukraine.
During a breakfast meeting, the President singled out Germany over its pending approval of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which promised to expand Russia’s energy leverage related to that country and much of the rest of northwestern Europe. His remarks were met with ridicule in a speech delivered during the same conference, with the German delegates openly laughing at him.
Of course, five years later, with a much weaker U.S. president safely in place, Putin ordered his army to invade Ukraine in late February 2022, and both the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were blown up shortly thereafter by still unidentified perpetrators. The ensuing conflict has led to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian deaths and the displacement of millions of Ukrainian citizens, ranking it as one of the largest human calamities since World War II.
Notably, no one in the U.N. assembly audience was laughing at President Trump as he spoke on Wednesday. The disaster he warned Europe’s leaders of eight years ago has come to full fruition, with even more horrific results than even Trump had envisioned, a reality no one in that assembly hall can any longer deny.
Whether European leaders are now finally prepared to end their unhealthy energy dependence on the country they claim to be their mortal enemy is anyone’s guess, but one thing is certain: None among them can ever claim they have not been warned, once again and very publicly, by this President of the United States.
David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
The U.S. is reportedly planning to send troops and intelligence officers into Mexico to target drug cartels, former and current U.S. officials told NBC News Monday.
Training has reportedly already begun for such a mission, two current U.S. officials told NBC News, though no deployment to Mexico is imminent. The plan would deploy both U.S. military and CIA personnel on the ground in Mexico and include drone strikes on cartel targets, according to the report. If put into action, it would be a significant escalation in President Donald Trump’s ongoing campaign against Latin American drug cartels.
“The Trump administration is committed to utilizing an all-of-government approach to address the threats cartels pose to American citizens,” a senior administration official told NBC in response to the news.
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If the mission is approved, the administration reportedly plans to keep the operation secret and not publicize any strikes, unlike the video-documented attacks on cartel boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that Trump has highlighted in the past, according to the report.
The plan calls for drone strikes against drug labs in Mexico as well as top cartel leaders, the officials told NBC News, and is not intended to undermine the Mexican government.
The U.S. troops will reportedly mostly be Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) members, who operate under the authority of the intelligence community, two current officials told NBC News. Pat administrations have deployed the CIA to aid in missions against cartels from the Mexican government, but have never gotten involved directly as the reported plan prescribes.
The CIA and the White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Censorship Industrial Complex
School Cannot Force Students To Use Preferred Pronouns, US Federal Court Rules
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
“Our system forbids public schools from becoming ‘enclaves of totalitarianism.’”
A federal appeals court in Ohio ruled Thursday that students cannot be forced to use preferred pronouns in school.
Defending Education (DE) filed the suit against Olentangy Local School District (OLSD) in 2023, arguing the district’s anti-harassment policy that requires students to use the “preferred pronouns” of others violates students’ First Amendment rights by “compelling students to affirm beliefs about sex and gender that are contrary to their own deeply held beliefs.” Although a lower court attempted to shoot down the challenge, the appeals court ruled in a 10-7 decision that the school cannot “wield their authority to compel speech or demand silence from citizens who disagree with the regulators’ politically controversial preferred new form of grammar.”
Because the school considers transgender students to be a protected class, students who violated the anti-harassment policy by referring to such students by their biological sex risked punishments such as suspension and expulsion, according to DE.
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“American history and tradition uphold the majority’s decision to strike down the school’s pronoun policy,” the court wrote in its opinion. “Over hundreds of years, grammar has developed in America without governmental interference. Consistent with our historical tradition and our cherished First Amendment, the pronoun debate must be won through individual persuasion, not government coercion. Our system forbids public schools from becoming ‘enclaves of totalitarianism.’”
OLSD did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
“We are deeply gratified by the Sixth Circuit’s intensive analysis not only of our case but the state of student First Amendment rights in the modern era,” Nicole Neily, founder and president of DE, said in a statement. “The court’s decision – and its many concurrences – articulate the importance of free speech, the limits and perils of public schools claiming to act in loco parentis, and the critical role of persuasion – rather than coercion – in America’s public square.”
“Despite its ham-fisted attempt to moot the case, Olentangy School District was sternly reminded by the 6th circuit en banc court that it cannot force students to express a viewpoint on gender identity with which they disagree, nor extend its reach beyond the schoolhouse threshold into matters better suited to an exercise of parental authority,” Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and legal fellow at DE, said in a statement. “A resounding victory for student speech and parental rights was long overdue for families in the school district and we are thrilled the court’s ruling will benefit others seeking to vindicate their rights in the classroom and beyond.”
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