Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

American soft power operations in this new era that’ll likely follow USAID and USAGM’s far-reaching reforms under Trump 2.0 will be more creative, appealing, and effective than all that came before.

Trump’s Executive Order last week eliminating the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the rationale of which was explained here as regards to stopping the state’s funding of ideologically radical propaganda, has been condemned by critics as a deathblow to American soft power. 

That body is responsible for Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Radio Free Asia, among several other foreign-focused outlets. 

It’s therefore understandable why some are concerned about the consequences.

The reality though is that their operations will probably resume after some time, albeit through what’ll likely be public-private partnerships abroad instead of purely state-run enterprises inside the US, and only with like-minded partners that share Trump 2.0’s populist-nationalist worldview. To elaborate, the $950 million that the USAGM requested for this year could be put to more effective use funding foreign experts, influencers, media, etc. who are from the places whose public the US wants to influence.

That was already happening through USAID, which is also being gutted and transformed as was explained here in early February, so it’ll either return to its original focus on physical development projects or divide information warfare responsibilities with whatever remains of USAGM. In any case, the point is that USAGM’s influence operations and USAID’s more direct meddling ones are expected to be less centralized than before and outsourced to a much greater degree as a result of Trump 2.0’s reforms.

They’ll also be optimized by replacing their ideologically radical agenda with his team’s much more pragmatic one, which resonates with a much wider audience, and relying a lot more on informed figures abroad who have a better sense of the local pulse than DC-based bureaucrats do. The end result is that American soft power will be less visibly connected to the US, more effectively fine-tuned for targeted audiences, and promoted by what can be described as many more “agents of influence” than before.

It’s this final point that captures the essence of Trump’s reforms. As a successful businessman, Trump appreciates the free market, ergo why he envisages liberating the so-called “marketplace of ideas” from what he considers to be USAID and USAGM’s overbearing influence. Instead of keeping that marketplace “unfree” by letting them continue dictating editorial preferences, he wants to reduce their roles mostly to funding and supervising like-minded foreign contractors who’ll then function as “agents of influence”.

The problem though is that their host countries could replicate the US’ FARA like Georgia recently did to identify which broadcasters, influencers, media, etc. are receiving foreign funding and then obligate them to inform their audience of this so that they can keep it in mind when consuming their content. Additional responsibilities could also be mandated to make such arrangements too onerous for many to agree to, such as regular and detailed reporting of their activities, thus hamstringing this plan.

It’s here where the Georgian precedent is one again relevant since this example shows how aggressively the US will push back against even friendly governments that use the US’ own FARA as the model for their respective foreign agents legislation. Of course, it goes without saying that such a reaction strongly suggests that America is indeed guilty of intending to clandestinely fund foreign figures for influencing their societies, but not all targeted governments are as strong as Georgia’s to resist this pressure.

Moreover, USAID and USAGM’s ties to the CIA can lead to their successors indirectly funneling money to these same figures to help them evade scrutiny if they live in countries that have their own version of FARA, which can occur via crowdfunding as well as ad revenue from US platforms like YouTube and X. Governments could legislate that crowdfunding sites restrict foreign donations for their nationals if they want to still operate in their jurisdiction, however, and produce the names of donors upon court order.

By contrast, cracking down on US funding that might be indirectly funneled to foreign figures by the CIA via YouTube and X ad revenue at USAID and/or USAGM’s behest is more difficult, with the only realistic option being to legally treat all influencers above a certain number of followers as foreign agents. Under those circumstances, the US might encourage its “agents of influence” to flee abroad on the pretext that this infringes on their freedoms, after which they’ll continue producing their content with impunity.

The aforesaid pretext might be sufficient for the targeted audience not to negatively judge the figures who leave to avoid complying with their government’s FARA-like legislation, thus ensuring that they still retain most of their supporters despite living abroad and therefore saving the influence operation. In that case, it wouldn’t matter if the authorities requested that YouTube or X ban those figures’ accounts from being accessed within their jurisdiction since their audience could then just use free VPNs instead.

By hook or by crook, the US’ “agents of influence” – some of whom might even operate as such without their knowledge if the CIA indirectly funnels funds to them via YouTube or X to financially incentivize them to continue creating their content – are expected to expand their audience and sway. American soft power operations in this new era that’ll likely follow USAID and USAGM’s far-reaching reforms under Trump 2.0 will therefore be more creative, appealing, and effective than all that came before.

A Bloomberg article dropped yesterday and it suggests that the new tariffs on April 2 are poised to be more targeted than originally feared; this is helping spark a risk on move across global markets, and push US futures about 0.7% higher late on Sunday. 

According to the report, “Trump is preparing a “Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2, unveiling so-called reciprocal tariffs he sees as retribution for tariffs and other barriers from other countries, including longtime US allies. While the announcement would remain a very significant expansion of US tariffs, it’s shaping up as more focused than the sprawling, fully global effort Trump has otherwise mused about, officials familiar with the matter say.

Trump will announce widespread reciprocal tariffs on nations or blocs but is set to exclude some, and — as of now — the administration is not planning separate, sectoral-specific tariffs to be unveiled at the same event, as Trump had once teased, officials said.”

So while we wait for more color about what Trump will unveil on Liberation Day, below we share the latest thoughts from Goldman trader John Flood on where we stand right now:

* * *

S&P clawed back 51bps last week for its first positive week since Valentine’s Day. After listening to Jay Powell on Wednesday I got the sense that the Fed Put is creeping back into the market. It is worth noting that we ended last week with Thursday (3/20) as the lightest trading volume session of the year (13.1b shares traded across all US exchanges) followed by Friday (3/21) as the highest (21.03b shares as a result of triple-witch). Friday’s MOC of +$8.1b to buy was outsized and hints at footprints of CTAs (short covers) and Pensions (+$30b Q end rebal getting started early).

I am watching for the S&P 500 to trend towards its 200dma of 5750 this week. It will be difficult to break significantly higher from the 200dma until we see longer duration investors step in as buyers (which is unlikely to happen before 4/2). Looking at aggregated 1-delta flow executed across our franchise last week the Long Only community finished with a net sell skew of -430bps (80th percentile of last 1 yr….AKA still not buyers).

This stat from our weekly PB data stood out to me: US-listed ETF shorts decreased -4%, the largest week/week covering in nearly 4 months, led by covering in Small Cap Equity, Large Cap Equity, Corporate Bond, and Sector ETFs.

Much has been made of US Fundamental L/S Gross Leverage remaining stubbornly high (204% …82rd percentile on 1 yr look back and 96th on 5 year). However, Net leverage has moved SHARPLY lower (49%….2yr low and 8th percentile on 5 yr look back). Aggregate Long/Short ratio – the ratio of longs over shorts held US Fundamental L/S (in MV terms) – has fallen to the lowest level in more than 5 years (see “Sentiment Will Swing Day-To-Day Until Investors Clear The April 2 Tariff Hurdle“)

Our PB data shows HFs as sellers of international equities: both European and Chinese equities saw risk unwinds in the past month, led by long sales, suggesting HFs have been taking profits after the sharp price outperformance in those markets. China (onshore and offshore combined) was the most notionally net bought market globally on the Prime book thru mid-February but is now modestly net sold YTD.

Last week HFs also net sold European equities for the 2nd consecutive week, driven entirely by short sales, primarily in Single Stocks. The region has now been net sold in 4 of the last 5 weeks and is net sold on a YTD basis. Gross/Net allocations to European equities now stand at 18.3% / 21.6% of total Prime book exposure, which ranks in the 66th / 75th percentiles vs. the past year and in the 93rd/94th percentiles vs. the past five years.

This chart caught my eye and I think we will see some meaningful reversion on both legs here. Per GSPB data Net allocations to North America and Europe are at their respective 5-year lows and highs…

Another great note from our portfolio strategy research team revisiting the role of foreign investors in the US equity market. Long-term data from the Fed show foreign ownership of US equities stands at an ATH. Foreign investors owned just 2% of US equities in 1960 and 7% in 2000 but 18% of US equities at the start of 2025. 49% of foreign holdings are from investors in Europe.

The sharp downgrade in the pricing of US economic growth and the underperformance of the S&P 500 (-3% YTD) relative to Europe’s STOXX 600 (+9%), China’s CSI 300 (+1%), and Japan’s TOPIX (flat) have prompted investors to inquire about the potential for foreign investor outflows.

We forecast foreign investors will remain buyers of US equities this year. The weaker USD and relative underperformance of US stocks lead us to forecast foreign investors will buy $300 billion of US equities in 2025 compared with $304 billion in 2024. In 2025, we forecast corporates will be the largest buyer of equities (+$675 billion) followed by households (+$425 billion). Mutual funds will be the largest seller of US equities (-$550 billion) followed by pension funds (-$250 billion).

More in the full Goldman note available to pro subs.

Police in Alexandria, Virginia are investigating after a top US attorney was found dead inside her home Saturday.

Police responded to reports of an unresponsive woman at 9:18 a.m., only to find former US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), Jessica Aber, dead at the age of 43. Aber was nominated to her post by former president Joe Biden in 2021 – and resigned one day before President Donald Trump was sworn in in January.

Abner’s cause of death is currently unknown, as the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia is currently conducting its own investigation.

“We are heartbroken beyond words to learn of the passing of our friend and former colleague, U.S. Attorney Jessica Aber,” said Erik Siebert, the current U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of Virginia. “She was unmatched as a leader, mentor, and prosecutor, and she is simply irreplaceable as a human being. We remain in awe of how much she accomplished in her all too brief time in this world. Her professionalism, grace, and legal acumen set the standard.

“Though we are devastated by this loss, each of us in the Eastern District of Virginia will look to her example and endeavor to live up to that standard. Jess was a proud Virginian from high school through college and throughout her career. She loved EDVA and EDVA loved her back. We remain committed to her life’s work, a commitment to seeking justice, as she would have wanted.”

Aber began her service for the EDVA in 2009. In 2015, she served on a detail assignment as counsel to the assistant AG for the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice until 2016, after which she served as the deputy Chief of EDVA’s criminal division.

* * *

You can support ZeroHedge with the purchase of a high-quality, sharp, ZeroHedge Multitool.

While Jeff Bezos is trying to rebrand the Washington Post as a more moderate rag – causing mass resignations last month at the thought of being less partisan – he might want to check in with the paper’s new Opinion editor after his last one rage-quit as part of the February freakout.

To wit, a transgender man wrote an op-ed with an absolutely retarded analogy, suggesting that  transgender individuals are like the bad guy at the end of “Scooby-Doo” that gets unmasked as his true self.

The terrible analogy continues…

The key word in this revelation is “really,” the adverb that means “what something is in actual fact, as opposed to what it might have been appearing, or pretending, to be.”

I’m willing to accept the fact that Mr. Withers was not who he had been pretending to be. But in other instances, “really” has (as the “Scooby-Doo” theme song goes) “some work to do now.” Is Clark Kent “really” Superman? Is Bob Dylan “really” Robert Zimmerman? Was Mark Twain “really” Samuel Clemens?

Is a butterfly “really” a caterpillar? -WaPo

The author of course then jumps into “the Trump administration’s attacks on us,” and insists “transgender women are not “really” men. We are women. We may have different histories than other women, but then, every woman has her own history.”

Make it stop…

Readers have had it…

At the bottom of the article, the comments section was absolutely lit up – as leftist WaPo readers made it clear that they’re over it, and this is exactly why they lost the election.

Let’s take a look…

“Left-of-Center Moderate” (in the 4th highest ‘recommended’ comment) writes:

Democrats are always accusing the Republicans of being the ones who “bring up trans issues”. But yet we get essays like this. And it’s not Republicans who created and regularly deploy such vocabulary as “gender assigned at birth”, “pregnant people” . . . or who put their pronouns in their email signatures. And it was at the DNC a couple of months ago that a big brouhaha developed around “adequate trans representation” on the committee.

The pendulum went way to far on this gender fluidity madness, and probably played a role in ushering in the craziness of “Trump: The Sequel”. So, like, hey, thanks trans activists and to Democratic operatives and leaders who refused to stand up to it.

“Professor Duh” writes:

The Pronoun Police cost Democrats vast numbers of votes in 2024, thanks to all their pointless preening and posturing.

They helped put Trumpolini back in office, god helps us all.

 “Mrs Sinkins” writes:

Well, here we are, straight back at the definition. What is a woman? The problem starts with the idea you present of “ a lifelong sense of myself as female”. But tellingly, you don’t say why you sense that you are female. What do you believe makes you feel female when you never inhabited a female form? I have never yet seen an explanation of this from any trans-identifying person.

Ask most natal women what makes them a woman and I would bet they would be hard pressed to tell you. Most of us never think about it, we just are. But as well as our “own history”, we share a world-wide commonality of body, of puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, motherhood, menopause, and because of those physical factors, vulnerability, which are an integral part of being a woman and which someone born male will never understand.

 “Philly Boston” writes:

In this instance, I would say it’s a matter of semantics. A woman is an adult female human just as a sow is an adult female pig and a hen is an adult female chicken. It’s a matter of biology, not identity. A person can ignore gender stereotypes about clothing and names, going so far to utilize medical intervention to make physical changes to the body, but that doesn’t change one’s biological sex.

I don’t mean any of the above to justify discriminating against anyone, simply looking to clarify the meaning of words. A biological male may be a trans woman, but that person is not actually a woman.

“Che Lastima” writes:

This has become so absurd. Let any Democratic politician take the position that “a trans man or woman is an actual man or woman” and watch them lose so badly.

Almost 80% of Americans (and 2/3 of Dems) are against trans athletes in women’s sports. This issue has been litigated to death.

“Relemtless75” writes:

This author does not understand the seriousness of the issue.

By capturing the Democratic Party, a small but powerful minority of closeted LGBTs, has managed to focus the Party’s attention to small percentage of American population, to the detriment of everything important to Average Americans, resulting in the devastating loss to Trump.

This has resulted in a severe backlash with devastating consequences to the LGBT movement from which recovery is nigh impossible.

 And the list goes on… But hey, at least they’ve identified a major problem with their party.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (former chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald) appeared on the All-In podcast to discuss everything from President Trump’s transition team to creating DOGE with Elon Musk, fixing GDP, the tariff strategy driving the ‘America First’ agenda, immigration ‘Gold Cards,’ government software strategies, and much more.

All-In’s Chamath Palihapitiya and David Friedberg joined Lutnick in the White House in a long-form podcast (something Democrats consistently struggle with) to discuss his three-decade relationship with Trump and how he ultimately found himself in politics, backing the president.

Lutnick highlighted his role in leading Trump’s transition team and offered behind-the-scenes insight into creating DOGE with Musk: 

So I’m in the car with him [Trump]… And I said, “We’re going to balance the budget.” And I said, “I have one favor to ask of you If we can balance the budget for you – will you agree to wave all income tax I see for every person who makes less than $150,000 a year for the United States of America, which by the way is about 85% of America.

And the reason you want to work for Donald Trump is he looks at me, he goes, “Sure.” You realize the president of the United States said, “If you balance the budget, sure.” And he’s not lying. He’s not kidding. He’s like, “Yeah that seems that seems like a great idea.” Right and so and then I tell him “Okay I’m going to go recruit Elon because Elon’s all in…” 

Here are the highlights from the conversation: 

1. (0:00) chamath and friedberg welcome commerce secretary howard lutnick!

2. (1:10) howard describes his 30+ year relationship with president trump and his road from business to politics

3. (14:44) running trump’s transition team, doge origin story, what it’s like working for trump (38:01) balancing the budget and fixing gdp

4. (52:21) tariff history and strategy, global trade

5. (1:10:34) trump cards, building better government software, ai thoughts

6. (1:22:49) sovereign wealth fund strategy

7. (1:37:16) how his family reacted to his new role

Full interview here: 

🇺🇸 all-in takes dc part 2!@chamath and @friedberg sit down with @CommerceGov secretary @howardlutnick for another long-form interview 🔥

— insights from running trump’s transition team

— creating @DOGE with @elonmusk

— fixing gdp

— tariff strategy

— how to sell 1m+… pic.twitter.com/mfmCdxhQvG

— The All-In Podcast (@theallinpod) March 20, 2025

This was one of the most entertaining and scoop-filled interviews from All-In.

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

In a decision that could well find itself before the Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld California’s ban on “large capacity” magazines. In a rare move,  Judge Lawrence Van Dyke offered a video dissent to the majority opinion.The en banc panel previously upheld the state’s magazine ban, but the Supreme Court vacated that decision and remanded the case in light of the Bruen decision in 2022. The Ninth Circuit then returned the case to U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez.Benitez again ruled that the law was unconstitutional, a prior position that he viewed was strengthened by the Bruen decision.

The Ninth Circuit then, again, overruled the lower court.

In a 7-4 decision authored by senior circuit Judge Susan Graber, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, the majority wrote that “a large-capacity magazine has little function in armed self-defense, but its use by mass shooters has exacerbated the harm of those horrific events.” She added:

“First, the Founders protected the right to keep and bear ‘Arms,’ not a right to keep and bear ‘Arms and Accoutrements,’ a common expression at the time of the Founding,” the opinion said. “Large-capacity magazines are optional accessories to firearms, and firearms operate as intended without a large-capacity magazine. A large-capacity magazine is thus an accessory or accoutrement, not an ‘Arm’ in itself. Possession of a large-capacity magazine therefore falls outside the text of the Second Amendment.”

In a belt-and-suspenders approach, the court further ruled that, even if large-capacity magazines were covered by the Second Amendment, “California’s law falls neatly within the Nation’s traditions of protecting innocent persons by prohibiting especially dangerous uses of weapons and by regulating components necessary to the firing of a firearm.”

Three judges appointed by President Donald Trump wrote stinging dissents. 

Judge Ryan Nelson wrote that his colleagues flouted the standard set by the Bruen ruling and in so doing “(butchered) the Second Amendment and (gave) a judicial middle finger to the Supreme Court.”

Judge Lawrence VanDyke went further to include an actual video in which he handles guns and accessories to show why he believes the distinction between a gun and an accessory is illusory:

The judge emphasized that he was not offering the video as new factual evidence. However, it sounds much like the testimony that an expert witness would give at trial. That brought an objection from his colleague, Judge Berzon:

“True, the prejudice to the parties here is arguably minimal because Judge VanDyke has prepared his video in support of a dissent. But if a dissent can rely on a judge’s recorded factual presentation, nothing prevents a majority opinion from doing the same thing. I therefore write separately in the hope that in the future my colleagues, whether in the majority or dissent, will do exactly and only that: write. And, although I am surprised that it is necessary to do so, I write to reemphasize that as judges, we must decide cases as they are presented to us by the parties, leaving advocacy to the attorneys and testimony to the witnesses, expert and otherwise.”

The inclusion of the video is highly irregular and many judges would likely look dimly at the use of such demonstrative evidence in an appellate dissent.

The case offers another opportunity for the Court to address the outward limits of the Second Amendment. Blue states are moving to limit a variety of devices or components deemed “accessories.” If allowed to stand, it could prove a significant area of contraction for the protections for gun ownership.

The case can now be appealed to the Supreme Court, again. It will join another magazine ban case in Ocean State Tactical v. Neronha, which is awaiting a decision on whether it will be picked up by the Court.

Here is the opinion: Duncan v. Bonta

In what could prove to be a momentous development, the new top lawyer at the ever-overreaching Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is a Second Amendment proponent and scholar who clerked for the Supreme Court’s foremost gun-rights advocate. “Good news from the DOJ today,” said the National Association for Gun Rights. “This one could be HUGE.” 

The move came without any official publicity. Robert Leider‘s name and photo simply appeared on the ATF Leadership page last week, indicating he now holds the title of Assistant Director/Chief Counsel. Leider fills a vacancy created by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s February firing of previous Chief Counsel Pamela Hicks. 

At the time, Bondi told Fox News, “Yesterday I fired the general counsel from ATF. These people were targeting gun owners. Not gonna happen under this administration.” Continuing to shake things up last month, Trump also made the unusual move of giving Kash Patel control of the ATF as well at the FBI. 

Leider comes to his new role from an associate professor post at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. Earlier in his career, he clerked for Clarence Thomas when Thomas was a Seventh Circuit and then a Supreme Court justice. He has a blog encouragingly titled Standing His Ground, and has written about gun control, self-defense law and what he calls the “constitutional allocation of military power.” 

In an April 2024 blog post about gun control targeting AR-15’s and other rifles, Leider assailed a lower-court ruling that upheld an Illinois AR-15 and “high capacity” magazine ban, with judges claiming the Supreme Court’s Heller ruling asserted the Second Amendment only applies to self-defense against crime. “The Seventh Circuit’s rule…that arms most useful in military service are constitutionally unprotected is a complete perversion of the traditional understanding of the Second Amendment,” Leider wrote. In an August 2024 article published at SSRI, Leider championed the idea that the Second Amendment protects “an individual right for common defense.” 

👀 WATCH: Pam Bondi chastises ATF and celebrates the firing of former Chief Counsel Pamela Hicks. ⁰⁰“These people were targeting gun owners. Not going to happen under this administration,” the Attorney General says. pic.twitter.com/0sXm2RggSG

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) February 22, 2025

Leider’s writing has also appeared at The Reload, a gun-rights-friendly outlet that provides detailed perspectives on developments in the realm of firearms law and related political developments. In a December essay there, Leider argued that gun-rights advocates should set aside fever dreams of a Trump-era dismantling of the ATF in favor of effecting desired regulatory reforms from inside an intact ATF: 

Most regulations that burden gun owners and dealers come directly from federal firearms laws… Shutting down ATF would do nothing to relieve the legal restrictions imposed by federal gun-control laws. These restrictions stem directly from laws passed by Congress, and only Congress can change or eliminate them. Gun advocates are unlikely to find sixty votes in the Senate to repeal or reform most federal gun laws…If ATF did not exist, the Attorney General would either need to handle these functions personally or delegate the functions to another bureau. 

Congrats to @LeiderRob!

This selection inspires renewed confidence and hope of a 2A restoration under the Trump administration.

Professor Leider understands the right to keep and bear arms as it was originally intended, and I am confident he will do great things at ATF.

— Kostas Moros (@MorosKostas) March 19, 2025

While Leider’s hiring hasn’t been reported by major media, word is ricocheting around independent and social media, with gun-rights advocates expressing preliminary enthusiasm:

•  “Huge!” said Georgetown Law’s Randy Barnett.  “Rob was a Visiting Scholar of the @GUConstitution Center doing important work on the militia. His recent paper on the individual right to arms for common defense is important.”
• “Leider has an extensive written record of his duty to and reverence for the United States Constitution and the Second Amendment,” wrote Darwin Nercesian at The Truth About Guns. 
• “[Bondi] has made an incredibly important and — we believe — very positive hiring,” said Washington Gun Law President William Kirk on the entity’s YouTube channel.  

That said, advocates of armed self-defense will have to wait and see if this is truly the game-changer they’re hoping for. 

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Federal authorities arrested 68 members of the notorious gang Tren De Aragua this week, according to a new report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“In less than 100 days, the Trump Administration has arrested 394 members of the Tren De Aragua—a vicious gang known for human trafficking, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and other heinous acts terrorizing American communities,” DHS stated.

Tren De Aragua originated in the Venezuelan state of Aragua and later spread to other South American nations and the United States. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed a presidential action which called for designating transnational organizations as terror groups. The State Department officially designated Tren De Aragua as a terrorist organization last month.

“This has allowed a whole of government approach to dismantle this criminal terrorist gang,” the agency said.

“Members of this vicious terrorist gang are responsible for the brutal assault and murder of nursing student Laken Riley and 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray,” DHS said.

Riley was murdered in February last year by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who illegally entered the United States in 2022. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Nungaray was killed in Houston in June last year, and two illegal immigrants from Venezuela were charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder.

“Tren De Aragua is a terrorist organization whose members are rapists, drug traffickers, and murderers. We will continue to make sure these dirtbags are removed from America’s streets and face justice,” said a DHS spokesperson.

This week, a coordinated effort from multiple law enforcement agencies led to the arrest of Ricardo Gonzales, 32, a high-ranking member of the Tren De Aragua, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a March 21 statement.

Gonzales had an arrest warrant for kidnapping and he is wanted for first-degree murder—charges stemming from a Jan. 28 incident in which he is accused of kidnapping three females, taking them to an alley, and shooting them in the head. Two of the victims died, while the third survived.

“This defendant’s crimes against American women are horrific, and he is exactly the type of Alien Enemy the Trump administration is fighting to remove from this country in order to make America safe again,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

Judicial Action

Trump recently issued a presidential proclamation invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations of Venezuelans aged 14 and above who are members of the gang and are not citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States.

Just hours before the proclamation was issued, a lawsuit was filed by five Venezuelans who were being processed for deportation, following which, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia blocked their deportation.

Later, Boasberg also issued an order granting class action certification for all noncitizens in the United States who would be subject to Trump’s presidential proclamation.

The Alien Enemies Act is a rarely used law that allows foreigners to be quickly deported from the United States during an invasion or war.

According to the proclamation, “evidence irrefutably demonstrates that [Tren De Aragua] has invaded the United States and continues to invade, attempt to invade, and threaten to invade the country; perpetrated irregular warfare within the country; and used drug trafficking as a weapon against our citizens.”

In a restraining order issued by Boasberg, the judge said the Act “does not provide a basis for the president’s proclamation given that the terms invasion, predatory incursion really relate to hostile acts perpetrated by any nation and commensurate to war.”

On March 18, a coalition of 26 Republican state attorneys general filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, supporting the president’s efforts.

The brief called for lifting the restraining order, arguing that Trump’s decision to invoke the Alien Enemies Act was grounded in clear statutory and constitutional authority.

During a hearing on the case on March 21, Boasberg said the Act’s invocation to deport Tren De Aragua members has “incredibly troublesome” policy implications.

“Why was this law essentially signed in the dark and these people essentially rushed onto planes?” he asked Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign, referring to Venezuelan nationals being deported.

Ensign said the deportations were in accordance with U.S. laws, and the illegal immigrants were free to challenge the legality of their arrests. Almost 300 Venezuelan nationals suspected of being Tren De Aragua members were deported last week under Trump’s proclamation.

Authored by Melanie Sun via The Epoch Times,

Venezuela has said it will once again accept U.S. repatriation flights carrying its nationals deported for illegally entering the United States.

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro announced that a deal had been reached in a televised address on Saturday.

“Tomorrow, thanks to the government’s perseverance, we’ll resume flights to continue rescuing and freeing migrants from prisons in the United States,” Maduro said.

Venezuela’s Parliament President and chief negotiator with the United States, Jorge Rodriguez, said in a statement on social media, “We have agreed with the U.S. government to resume the repatriation of Venezuelan migrants with an initial flight tomorrow, Sunday.”

This will prevent illegal immigrants who are Venezuelan nationals from being deported to detention centers in El Salvador, as well as guarantee “the return of our compatriots to their nation with the safeguard of their Human Rights,” he said, referring to Venezuelan gang members currently detained in El Salvador.

“Migrating isn’t a crime, and we won’t rest until everyone who wants to return is back and we rescue our kidnapped brothers in El Salvador,” Rodriguez added.

The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened on March 18 further harsh sanctions after Maduro on March 8 suspended taking in repatriation flights in response to the U.S. Treasury Department’s withdrawal of Chevron’s license to participate in Venezuela’s oil

A diplomatic spat erupted, with the United States threatening to send criminal illegal immigrants from Venezuela to El Salvador for detention if Caracas would not accept them.

Some 350 Venezuelan nationals had already been deported back home as part of Trump’s rapid deportation program that prioritizes removing illegal immigrants who are violent criminals or terrorists. Among them were some 180 alleged to be Tren de Aragua members who spent up to 16 days at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Tren de Aragua originated in a Venezuelan prison. Members have accompanied an exodus of millions of economic immigrants and political refugees from Venezuela seeking better living conditions after their nation’s democracy and economy came undone last decade.

In February, President Donald Trump had already designated Tren de Aragua, alongside the transnational organization Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and several drug cartels, as terrorist organizations that “threaten the security of United States nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.”

As Maduro’s freeze continued, the Trump administration on March 15 invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act that allows a president to detain and deport noncitizens of hostile nations without the necessity of a judicial hearing. The Act is applicable to wartime or when there is a “predatory incursion,” or attempt or threat to invade U.S. territory. The White House said that Tren de Aragua was an invading force, and that it would act to deport gang members.

Around 250 Venezuelan illegal immigrants said to be linked with Tren de Aragua were then deported to a high-security prison in El Salvador.

Venezuela’s interior minister has denied that the deportees were members of Tren de Aragua.

Their families and lawyers say they have not been able to reach them, and have demanded Maduro secure their return to Venezuela. They argue that the Trump administration has not provided evidence that the deportees committed any crime in the United States. The Trump administration said it has the right to deport illegal immigrants, and has been prioritizing criminals and others found in their vicinity.

Maduro, in his televised address, said he held El Salvador President Nayib Bukele responsible for imprisoning his nationals, repeating that they hadn’t committed crimes in the United States or El Salvador.

“You have to guarantee their health and sooner rather than later, you have to free them and hand them over,” he told Bukele.

Court Challenge

A federal judge in the District of Columbia had issued an order temporarily barring the deportation of five Venezuelans but the administration said flights were already in the air by the time of the ruling.

The planes landed in El Salvador and Bukele posted on social media that the intervention came “too late.”

The White House has faced allegations of defying the judge’s order, which it refutes.

Judge James Boesberg has ordered the Trump administration to submit more information on its officials’ claims that they did not violate his order temporarily blocking the expulsions in a March 25 hearing.

The Democratic Party launched a full-scale propaganda blitz in a desperate attempt to sway public opinion as its favorability ratings plunged to record lows. True to form, the party of leftist radicals prefers to bend reality—relying on rent-a-protesters or, in this case, inorganic crowds—to create a false perception of popularity. And that’s exactly what unfolded on Friday in Denver. 

Drone footage shows a large crowd as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, spoke at Denver’s Civic Center. The outspoken socialist wrote on X: “34,000 people out in Denver. Largest political rally there since 2008.” 

Sanders attempted to explain that the large turnout reflected what voters are saying: “No to authoritarianism. No to oligarchy. No to Trumpism.”

The video speaks for itself.

34,000 people out in Denver. Largest political rally there since 2008.

The message is clear:

NO to authoritarianism. NO to oligarchy. NO to Trumpism.

We are ready to fight back.

Now it’s on to Tucson. pic.twitter.com/LICIDzrWTZ

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 22, 2025

However, leftist corporate media failed to fact-check the socialist for misinformation or disinformation. Others did—using a sophisticated algorithm to analyze data from all smartphone devices at the event—and found the numbers were severely overinflated. 

Many of the attendees were probably bussed in and had a history of participating in Antifa/BLM, pro-Hamas, and pro-Palestinian protests. The Democratic Party is known for bussing activists through NGO networks to events to fill seats—a tactic repeatedly used throughout Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign trail to create fake hype. 

Data analyst Tony Seruga exposed just how staged the latest Democratic Party rally was, revealing their ongoing attempts to manipulate public perception with inorganic crowds made up mainly of DEI activists rather than genuine grassroots supporters:

GPS—Here we go again, there were 20,189 devices. Still a large crowd but not even close to the 30,000 quoted in Denver newspapers nor the 34,000 quoted by Bernie Sanders and AOC.

84% of the devices present had attended 9 or more Kamala Harris rallies, antifa/blm, pro-Hamas, pro-Palestinian protests, 31% had attended over 20.

For more insight into what data we also look at in addition to GPS location data would be demographic and psychographic data using over 6,000 different databases, i.e., like the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Pew Research Center, market research firms like YouGov, Experian, specialized tools like ESRI’s Tapestry Segmentation, consumer surveys, social media platforms like 𝕏, Facebook, Linkedin.

Demographic data includes basic characteristics like age, gender, income, education level, occupation, marital status, family size, ethnicity, and where people live (e.g., city, state).

Psychographic data dives deeper into people’s lifestyles, values, attitudes, interests, personality traits, social class, activities, and how they make purchasing decisions. For example, it might show if someone values sustainability, enjoys outdoor activities, participates in community activism.

While demographic data is straightforward, psychographic data can reveal sensitive personal details, like beliefs even life goals.

Additionally, by cross pollinating each device with other devices regularly within close proximity to the target device we are able to build a detailed profile for each target.

90% of those in the above 84% were likely working with one of these five groups and is the reason for their presence.

Once again, this is based a very sophisticated algorithm that looks at the behavioral metrics for each device, including the physical 1:1 proximity to leaders and paymasters from these groups in the past.

Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project, Troublemakers and the Democratic Socialists of America.

Each receives money from ActBlue and at least three, via USAID.

Disruption Project: Legal status is unclear, likely operating illegally. Rise & Resist: 501c4 non-profit Indivisible Project: 501c4 non-profit Troublemakers: Legal status is for profit. Democratic Socialists of America: 501c4 non-profit

GPS—Here we go again, there were 20,189 devices. Still a large crowd but not even close to the 30,000 quoted in Denver newspapers nor the 34,000 quoted by Bernie Sanders and AOC.

84% of the devices present had attended 9 or more Kamala Harris rallies, antifa/blm, pro-Hamas,… https://t.co/zQuvc0ATx5

— Tony Seruga (@TonySeruga) March 23, 2025

The timing of the inorganic event—clearly an attempt to sway public opinion—comes just days after the Democratic Party’s favorability rating among Americans hit a record low, according to a new CNN poll. This is also a ploy by the imploding party to create momentum in public polling data that’s favorable for Democrats ahead of the color revolution against Elon Musk that could begin very shortly. It’s the same Dem playbook used with BLM riots in the 2020s, yet this time around, the NGOs won’t have USAID funding to unleash domestic color war operations.

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The inorganic production in Denever only suggests that if the game is all about optics, it might be time to counter with rallies in support of ‘America First.’