Putting NATO On Notice

 

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave our NATO allies a reality check in Brussels today. He clearly outlined America’s security interests, and he put NATO members on notice that they must do more for their own defense, instead of expecting “Uncle Sam” to pay the bill.

 

Hegseth explained that “stark strategic realities prevent the United States from being primarily focused on the security of Europe.” He told NATO leaders:

 

“The United States faces consequential threats to our homeland. We must -- and we are -- focusing on securing our own borders. We also face a peer competitor in China with the capability and intent to threaten our homeland and core national interests in the Indo-Pacific.

 

“The U.S. is prioritizing deterring war with China in the Pacific, recognizing the reality of scarcity, and making the resourcing tradeoffs to ensure deterrence does not fail. As the United States shifts its attention to these threats, European allies must lead from the front.”

 

Secretary Hegseth told them President Trump wants NATO nations to increase their defense spending to 5% of their GDP, not the current target of 2%.

 

Hegseth emphasized that while the United States “remains committed to the NATO alliance,” we “will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependency.”

 

Let’s hope and pray they hear his message.

 

 

 

End The War

 

The primary concern at the NATO meeting was the ongoing war in Ukraine. Hegseth did not mince words. He told them:

 

“President Trump has been clear with the American people -- and with many of your leaders -- that stopping the fighting and reaching an enduring peace is a top priority. . . We want a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective.”

 

Restoring Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders had been one of President Zelensky’s demands for peace. Russia would have to surrender the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized in 2014. That simply isn’t going to happen. Crimea contains military installations that Russia considers vital to its national security.

 

Hegseth was equally clear when he told them, “The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.”

 

Secretary Hegseth added that “any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops,” but not as part of a NATO mission covered under Article 5’s defense commitment. In other words, the United States will not get dragged into a war with nuclear-armed Russia.

 

“To be clear,” Hegseth said, “as part of any security guarantee, there will not be U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine.”

 

Just before noon, President Trump confirmed that he had a “lengthy and highly productive phone call with President Vladimir Putin” to begin negotiations to end the war.

 

President Trump directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to lead the negotiations.

 

 

 

The Party Of Corruption

 

President Trump has assigned Elon Musk to help expose the unbelievable waste and corruption in the government. The left is in full-blown panic mode. Democrats and left-wing groups are rushing to the courts trying to stop it. They have filed dozens and dozens of lawsuits, and every one of them is being decided by a left-wing Democrat judge.

 

How bad are these judges? One of them sentenced Paula Harlow, a 75 year-old pro-life activist with extensive medical issues, to two years in prison. When Paula’s husband begged for mercy due to her poor health, this judge mocked Harlow’s Catholic faith, telling her to “make every effort to stay alive” since life is one of the “tenets of your religion.”

 

So, a bigoted judge like this is supposed to have authority over what the president of the United States can and cannot do to fight corruption in our government.

 

These judges are asserting that Donald Trump has virtually no authority as president of the United States to run the government. That’s ridiculous!

 

Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, no right-wing bomb thrower, said, “The courts are intruding significantly into the core areas of presidential authority.”

 

George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley said, “I’m still a bit baffled by what the court is doing here. . . I’m not, even today, certain what the constitutional problem is.”

 

These are corrupt judges making corrupt decisions. President Trump should ignore them until the Supreme Court takes a case on presidential authority.

 

The left knows exactly what is at stake here – EVERYTHING. Their decades-long experiment in big government neo-Marxism is on the chopping block. They know how furious the American people will be as more waste and corruption are exposed.

 

These corrupt judges are stalling so that leftist bureaucrats have the time to erase the evidence of waste and corruption.

 

President Trump and Musk’s DOGE team are completely transparent. These rogue judges, Democrat politicians, and the media are the ones demanding secrecy because they want everything to stay hidden!

 

 

 

Is Wheaton Gone?

 

Wheaton College is a private Christian college founded in 1860. Its motto is “For Christ and His Kingdom.” Notable alumni include Billy Graham, Josh McDowell, John Piper, and Todd Beamer, the 9/11 hero.

 

Sadly, it has been drifting away from anything Billy Graham would have wanted for decades. It was obvious something was wrong at Wheaton when Christians United for Israel found it impossible to find a single Wheaton professor willing to be the sponsor of a CUFI on Campus club.

 

Here’s the latest evidence of Wheaton’s weakness.

 

Russ Vought was just confirmed to be director of the Office of Management and Budget after a brutal battle. He graduated from Wheaton College. After his confirmation, Wheaton congratulated Vought and urged prayers for him in this difficult job.

 

By the way, after he got through the ordeal, Vought himself said, “God be praised. . .  Incredibly thankful for all the many who prayed me through. Now. Let’s. Go.”

 

Then the “evangelical left” attacked Wheaton for merely congratulating an alumnus for receiving a high government appointment. Colleges and universities usually like to brag about their former students. But Wheaton caved and removed the congratulatory note from its website.

 

Maybe we should call it “Judas College.” Here’s why.

 

A number of years ago, a Christian professor at Wheaton decided to demonstrate her solidarity with Muslims by wearing a hijab. She said she consulted CAIR first. That organization is led by a radical Islamist who said the October 7th attacks on Israel made him “happy.”

 

The professor also expressed her belief that Christians and Muslims are “people of the book” and “worship the same God.” There was a backlash to her comments and actions, and Wheaton suspended her. The left came down on Wheaton like a ton of bricks.

 

In an editorial, Russ Vought publicly defended the college and explained why the professor’s views were mistaken. Vought’s article was used against him during his 2017 confirmation hearings. Bernie Sanders and others labeled him an “Islamophobe” for defending the Christian faith and Wheaton College. And now Wheaton throws Vought to the leftist mob.

 

Wheaton has lost his way.

 

 

 

Going on Offense

 

Here’s an excellent example of what conservative governance should look like.

 

The Trump Department of Education is demanding that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) strip wrongly won medals from men who cheated women in sports competitions and award those medals to the top-performing women in those events.

 

That means William Thomas, who “won” the 2022 NCAA Division I women’s national swimming championship, would be stripped of the title, and it would be awarded to Emma Weyant, who finished second.

 

The NCAA, which is led by a former Republican governor, has been completely gutless over the last four years. It adamantly refused to do anything to protect women and women’s sports. After President Trump’s executive order banning men from women’s sports, the NCAA is reluctantly coming around and embracing common sense.

 

But the Trump Education Department made it clear that merely changing the policy isn’t enough. Candice Jackson, the department’s deputy general counsel, said:

 

“The next necessary step is to restore athletic records to women who have for years been devalued, ignored, and forced to watch men steal their accolades. The Trump Education Department will do everything in our power to right this wrong and champion the hard-earned accomplishments of past, current, and future female collegiate athletes.”

 

 

 

Welcome Home, Marc

 

Pennsylvania history teacher Marc Fogel is back in the United States after three and a half years in a Russian jail. While working at a school in Moscow that caters to the children of American diplomats, he was arrested for possessing medical marijuana and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

 

On the campaign trail last year, Donald Trump met Marc’s 95 year-old mother. She begged him to help free her son. Trump said, “We’ll get him out.”

 

Last night, as bureaucrats across Washington were tucked snugly in their beds, President Trump walked out of the White House into the snow to welcome this former American hostage home. You can watch the video here. Fogel told reporters, “I want you to know that I am not a hero in this at all. And President Trump is a hero.”

 

Promises made, promises kept.

 

 

 

Bidenflation Bites Again

 

Inflation figures for January were released this morning, and they were hotter than expected. Of course, Democrats are blaming Donald Trump for rising inflation.

 

Again, these were January’s figures. Donald Trump was president for just 11 days.