Posts on Friday, July 4, 2025

President Trump said he was preparing to set unilateral tariff rates of up to 70% that would kick in Aug. 1, delaying the levies while putting pressure on global trade negotiations. The European Union will hold crunch talks with the U.S. over the weekend in an effort to secure a tentative trade agreement that avoids the higher levies. Officials from the European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, told the EU’s member states on Friday that they are nearing the outline of a potential deal with the U.S. that would leave the current 10% tariffs on most European imports in place, people familiar with the matter said.

Black New York isn’t buying it. A slew of black Big Apple residents fumed Friday over mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani’s claim on an Ivy League college application that he is African American — with them raging the socialist pol is a “fraud” and “trickster.”[snip] Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, had checked off the “black or African American” and “Asian” boxes on his 2009 Columbia University application regarding his race, the New York Times reported last week.

A video published by a San Antonio television station shows a Texas National Guard Blackhawk helicopter aircrew delivering seven girls rescued from the Independence Day Guadalupe River flood near Kerrville. The helicopter lands near Ingram High School and seven young girls run for safety. At least 23 girls were reported missing from Camp Mystic near Hunt, Texas, in Kerr County. It is not clear if the seven girls rescued by the Texas National Guard are from the list of missing girls. The video shows the TNG Blackhawk landing near Ingraham High School. Seven girls quickly exit the aircraft and run to the shelter.

President Donald Trump signed the GOP’s “big, beautiful” tax and spending package at a White House ceremony on Friday, fulfilling his wish to enact the biggest domestic policy legislation of his term by July 4. Trump triumphantly signed the GOP megabill after months of hard-fought, interparty negotiations that, earlier this week, culminated in contentious House and Senate votes for the legislation. Passing the megabill is a major victory for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.), who had to navigate deep political and ideological differences between different GOP factions within their chambers.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a phone call earlier in the day with Vladimir Putin resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war in Ukraine, while a Kremlin aide said the Russian president reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict’s “root causes.”(snip)Within hours of the call’s conclusion, Russia launched a drone attack on Kyiv that injured 14 and sparked multiple fires. Witnesses reported explosions and sustained heavy fire overnight into Friday as air defence units battled drones over the capital. Damage was recorded in six of Kyiv’s 10 districts

The Hamas terrorist group said Friday it has issued a "positive response" to a U.S.-mediated ceasefire proposal in its war with Israel. In a post to Telegram, Hamas said it "submitted a positive response to the mediators' latest proposal." It added that it was "fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework," according to a translation of the post. On Tuesday, President Trump announced that Israel had agreed to a proposal for a two-month ceasefire. At the time, neither Israel nor Hamas confirmed Mr. Trump's statement.

The first six months of the Trump administration have not been kind to the experts and the degree-holding classes.Almost daily during the tariff hysterias of March, we were told by university economists and most of the PhDs employed in investment and finance that the U.S. was headed toward a downward, if not recessionary, spiral.[snip] Instead, recent data show increases in tariff revenue. Personal real income and savings were up. Job creation exceeded prognoses. There was no surge in inflation. The supposedly "crashed" stock market reached historic highs.

The mainstream media has often been out with some pretty outrageous takes, including and especially when it comes to President Donald Trump's best issue, immigration. ABC News may have truly outdone themselves this week, though, with their framing of dangerous MS-13 gangs. In an article about a violent MS-13 gang member leader, who was facing federal racketeering case involving eight murders, as well as a post shared over X about the article, ABC News used the term "MS-13 clique." "The leader of an MS-13 gang clique in the New York City suburbs is facing sentencing in a federal racketeering case involving eight murders,

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of California has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), demanding an immediate halt to what it describes as “unlawful immigration raids” across the Los Angeles area. The left-leaning nonprofit accuses the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of carrying out unconstitutional raids and targeting “migrants with brown skin.” The plaintiffs allege that DHS and ICE have carried out unconstitutional arrests in order to meet arrest quotas allegedly set out on June 6 by the Trump administration. The suit specifically claims that officials have based arrests and detentions on race and ethnicity with no articulable reasonable suspicion.

Multiple fatalities have been confirmed and frantic water rescues and searches were underway Friday as a "catastrophic" flooding emergency unfolded in Texas on the Fourth of July, caused by heavy rains that overwhelmed the Guadalupe River. Authorities haven't said how many people were killed and were still trying to identify the dead in Kerr County. Dozens of swift-water rescues had already been performed by late morning, and rescue operations were still underway in the afternoon in Kerrville, a city of 25,000 people about 60 miles northwest of San Antonio. Local news outlets reported that widespread searches were launched to find missing people, including children at a summer camp along the river.

It’s been known for quite some time that liberals don’t read all the polling data or dismiss it when it doesn’t comport with their narrative. That’s how arrogant the Left has become: we think ‘x’, therefore it’s right. Nope. That’s not how this works, and you saw that as congressional Democrats whined and threw a tantrum about the reconciliation package, which, among many things, gave a windfall to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. No doubt, making the Trump tax cuts permanent angered the Left, but it’s that the southern border being secured is what drives them up the wall the most.

Camp Mystic, a girls-only camp on the Guadalupe River, was evacuated on Friday due to heavy flooding in the west of Kerrville in Kerr County. This comes as multiple deaths were reported in Texas after heavy rain caused flash flooding. Over 10 inches (25 centimeters) of heavy rain fell in just a few hours overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River. The Kerr County sheriff's office confirmed fatalities but did not provide additional details. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said that an unknown number of children are missing from summer camps. He further added that at least six people have died.

Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a 21-year-old congressional intern from Granby, Massachusetts, was killed in a shooting Monday night outside a Washington, D.C., metro station. Tarpinian-Jachym was killed by a stray bullet from targeted gunfire near the intersection of 7th and M Street at around 10:28 p.m., according to The Metropolitan Police Department. The shooting occurred when multiple suspects emerged from a vehicle and began shooting at a group of people, police said. Tarpinian-Jachym was one of three victims shot, alongside an adult female and a 16-year-old male.

Donald Trump has never been one to shy away from a fight, but this time, he’s done more than just rattle the Democrats—he’s practically handed Republicans the keys to a midterm landslide in 2026. The playbook was simple, the execution flawless, and the results devastating for the opposition. Here’s what happened. When Zohran Mamdani, the antisemitic socialist, won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, many Democrats were less than thrilled. Last month, the Associated Press reported that his victory “exposed anew the fiery divisions plaguing the Democratic Party as it struggles to repair its brand nearly half a year into Donald Trump’s presidency.” Many progressives cheered

July 4, 1776, is considered the birthday of America. It is the day on which the Declaration of Independence was approved for public release, founding a new nation on liberty, equality, and justice. The world would never be the same. King George III of Britain and Parliament had for years been infringing on Americans’ rights, unjustly taxing and penalizing them, ignoring all pleas for reform, and sneering disdainfully at those colonists who murmured about independence. Finally, American Patriots had had enough. The Continental Congress voted for independence, Patriots across the colonies cheered the move, the colonial army took up their cause with renewed vigor, and a new nation was born.

Just one day after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrapped up his self-indulgent “magic minute” marathon, the truth is starting to surface: Even many Democrats weren’t impressed. His hours-long fauxibuster—meant to stall the inevitable passage of the GOP’s One Big, Beautiful Bill—ended up accomplishing absolutely nothing for the Democrats’ cause. The only minds that were changed were Republicans who flipped from “no” to “yes.” Let’s not kid ourselves. This wasn’t some bold act of resistance or savvy legislative tactic. It was performative grandstanding, plain and simple—a desperate attempt to look like he’s fighting while doing absolutely nothing to stop the bill. [Video] The bill passed 218-214

Two hundred forty-nine years ago. Fifty-two men gathered in Independence Hall to sign the Declaration of Independence — a defiant ultimatum to King George III, risking death and treason to demand God-given rights: life, liberty, and self-governance. It offered the crown a choice: Honor the natural rights of free men, or face their unshakeable resolve to break away. In signing it, they signed their own death warrants — for surely if they failed, the gallows awaited them. The Declaration was a message writ upon the hearts of men by God Himself — a sermon steeped in biblical truth and republican virtue. “Give me liberty or give me death!”

What could have been. A year ago this month, Democrats were scrambling for their footing. A few months before that, Joe Biden had been awakened from his afternoon nap, handed a script and told to read some words. It took fifteen takes to complete the video. When it was done, Team Autopen had produced a video challenging Donald Trump to a debate. Bad move. Trump quickly accepted. [snip] On this July 4th, I am most thankful for a Trump presidency because of the cultural implications of a Harris presidency would have been, well, a Harris presidency.

Joe Biden has always been a fabulist. Since he first stepped onto the national stage, he has woven myths about his life. Joe needed the gravitas of good grades and a solid academic background to move up the ladder of national politics, so he invented a student who never existed. Joe threatened to fight a man who asked about his academic chops and claimed he went to law school on “a full academic scholarship.” Except, he didn’t. He claimed he had three degrees from college. Except, he doesn't. He claimed he was in the “top half” of his law school class. Nope. He was in the “steerage” section

WINDSOR HEIGHTS, Iowa — It is big and it is beautiful, President Donald Trump says. But for many Democratic leaders, the tax break and spending cut package passed by Trump’s Republican allies in Congress on Thursday represents the key to the Democratic Party’s resurgence. Even before the final vote, Democratic officials were finalizing ambitious plans for rallies, voter registration drives, attack ads, bus tours and even a multiday vigil, all intended to highlight the most controversial elements of Trump’s “big beautiful” bill: deep cuts to the nation’s safety net that will leave nearly 12 million more people without health coverage

Democrats suffering from severe cases of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) are now displaying another symptom: staging ill-conceived confrontations to get street cred with their antifa progressive base. Some recent headlines: North Carolina state Rep. Julie von Haefen attended a “No Kings” protest and was photographed holding what appeared to be an effigy of the decapitated heads of Trump and his senior policy advisor, Stephen Miller. U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver was charged in a three-count indictment for forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officers—all seen on video. New York City Mayoral candidate Brad Lander got the publicity he desired by trying to help illegal alien criminals by allegedly assaulting a federal law enforcement officer.

"Kilmar Abrego Garcia suffered psychological and physical torture in El Salvador prison, attorneys say" reads the headline from NBC. "Abrego Garcia says he was severely beaten in Salvadoran prison," says NPR's headline. "Kilmar Abrego Garcia says he was beaten and subjected to psychological torture in El Salvador jail," reports the Associated Press. You get the idea. This all stems from the fact that attorneys for "Maryland Dad" — and alleged MS-13 member, human smuggler, and domestic abuser — Kilmar Abrego Garcia claim that he was "subjected to severe mistreatment upon arrival" at El Salvador's Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, aka CECOT, "including but not limited to severe beatings,

The conversation about how divided we are here in the United States of America is a never ending one now. Twenty or thirty years ago, talk about "two Americas" was about economic status. Now it is about the great Red/Blue divide. It's a bit much when people blather on about us being more divided than ever before, but that's what you get when public schools stop teaching real American history. A lot of participants in this conversation bring up the specter of a new civil war breaking out here in the Republic. I am not a big fan of throwing around "civil war" like that, but it is being

Last week I visited New York City, a place that for generations has represented the magnificence of the American experiment. The economic dynamism of Wall Street, the fine arts of Broadway, and the sports sanctuaries of Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium have all made the city exceptional. My early-morning walks downtown along the Hudson River, with the Statue of Liberty in sight, reminded me why America is a beacon of opportunity for people from every corner of the world — including my grandparents, who came to escape religious persecution in Eastern Europe. But as I returned home to Auburn, Ala., I learned New York Democrats had chosen Zohran Mamdani,

One year from now, you will not be able to turn around without receiving notice of America’s semiquincentennial jubilee. The jollity of the occasion will not change the fact that it will be seven years premature. The historical significance assigned to July 4, 1776, the date the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress, is befuddling. Without victory in the Revolutionary War, which began over a year earlier, any declarations regarding American independence made during the summer of 1776 would have the same significance today as the “declarations of independence” made by the 11 Confederate States in 1860-61.

Republicans muscled President Donald Trump’s tax and spending cut bill through the House on Thursday, the final step necessary to get the bill to his desk by the GOP’s self-imposed deadline of July 4th. At nearly 900 pages, the legislation is a sprawling collection of tax breaks, spending cuts and other Republican priorities, including new money for national defense and deportations. Democrats united against the legislation, but were powerless to stop it as long as Republicans stayed united. The Senate passed the bill, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tiebreaking vote. The House passed an earlier iteration of the bill in May with just one vote to spare.

U.S. immigration officials have arrested famous Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. — days after his high-profile fight with Jake Paul — for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application, officials said Thursday. Chávez was detained in front of his home on Wednesday and will be deported to Mexico, where he faces organized crime charges, authorities said. Here’s what to know about this arrest: The 39-year-old boxer is a former middleweight champion hails from Mexico. His father, Julio César Chávez, is one of the most beloved athletes in Mexican history and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of prisoners might be at risk of executions." — Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam, director of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization, June 26, 2025. Iran... has reportedly executed 1,700 people in 2025 alone -- and it is not even August. US President Donald J. Trump deserves every credit for bombing the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan uranium enrichment plants. However, forcing Israel to terminate its "Operation Rising Lion," just as it was finally giving the Iranian people a glimpse of hope for freedom in the course of destroying Iran's nuclear program and its key institutions of oppression, was a terrible move.

President Trump is finally getting his “big, beautiful” bill. The GOP-led House of Representatives passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in a 218-214 vote Thursday following 29 hours of arm-twisting and deliberation that included the longest floor speech and longest procedural vote in the body’s 236-year history. (snip) “With this bill, every major promise I made to the people of Iowa in 2024 became a promise kept,” Trump said. “We had a national decline. We were a laughing stock all over the world. We had a man as president who shouldn’t have been there,” he said.

Last September, in the waning months of the election, the NY Times published a story titled "How the False Story of a Gang ‘Takeover’ in Colorado Reached Trump." Mike Coffman, the conservative Republican mayor of Aurora, Colo., said he was at home on Tuesday night watching the presidential debate and bracing for the worst... “They’re taking over buildings,” Mr. Trump said. “They’re going in violently.” Mr. Coffman was contrite on Thursday as he told that story. After all, he had helped create the tall tale now sullying his city’s reputation.