Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Anthropic, the maker of the Claude chatbot, accused three of China’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies of creating more than 24,000 fraudulent accounts to tap into its system and train their own models.

The three companies—DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and MiniMax—allegedly used those accounts to send more than 16 million prompts to Claude, siphoning off output to refine their own products, Anthropic said in a Feb. 23 blog post.

“These campaigns are growing in intensity and sophistication,” the San Francisco-based company said.

The tactic, known as “distillation,” involves training a smaller, less powerful “student” model on the outputs, behavior, and knowledge of a much larger, more advanced “teacher” model. This allows the student system to imitate the teacher’s capabilities without the time and money required to develop them independently.

Anthropic said the scale of the three companies’ alleged distillation activities varied. DeepSeek alone generated about 150,000 interactions with Claude, while Moonshot and MiniMax logged more than 3.4 million and 13 million, respectively, according to Anthropic.

Since many China-based models such as DeepSeek’s R1 do not charge a monthly subscription fee, widespread distillation could make it harder for American providers, such as OpenAI and Anthropic, to monetize products they have spent billions of dollars to build and maintain. That imbalance, the company said, risks eroding the United States’ competitive advantage in AI that export controls are designed to preserve.

Anthropic, which emphasizes its focus on AI safety, further warned that it and other U.S. companies build safeguards to prevent bad actors from using AI to, for example, develop biological weapons or carry out cyber attacks. Illicitly distilled models, by contrast, may lack such guardrails.

“Foreign labs that distill American models can then feed these unprotected capabilities into military, intelligence, and surveillance systems—enabling authoritarian governments to deploy frontier AI for offensive cyber operations, disinformation campaigns, and mass surveillance,” the company warned.

If distilled models are later open-sourced, it added, the risk multiplies as those capabilities “spread freely beyond any single government’s control.”

DeepSeek, Moonshot, and MiniMax did not respond to requests for comment by publication time.

DeepSeek leaped into the top ranks of AI makers last year with the release of its R1 chatbot, which it says was built at a fraction of the cost of leading U.S. alternatives. The launch sparked a tech stock selloff of more than $1 trillion, as investors fretted that a low-cost made-in-China model could undercut Silicon Valley’s AI lead.

Since then, China-based firms have flooded the market with relatively affordable text, image, and video models. Moonshot last month released a new open source model, Kimi K2.5, and is seeking a valuation of about $10 billion in a new funding round, while MiniMax also made its public market debut at about $6.5 billion.

Anthropic alleged that the three firms used “fraudulent accounts and proxy services to access Claude at scale while evading detection.” Proxy networks can obscure a user’s true location and allow them to bypass regional restrictions to open large numbers of accounts.

The Claude maker said it identified the actors with “high confidence” based on internet protocol addresses, metadata, and “corroboration from industry partners who observed the same actors and behaviors on their platforms.” MiniMax, for instance, was seen in action as the company allegedly redirected nearly half its traffic to siphon capabilities from the latest Claude model when it was launched, Anthropic stated.

The allegations come as U.S. chip exports to China attract debate over national security concerns.

In January, the Trump administration published a new regulation that loosened restrictions on the export of Nvidia’s H200 chips, a move that federal officials said is justified to foster China’s reliance on lower-tier U.S. chips rather than the most advanced ones. Critics, however, say that any potential boost to China’s AI computing capacity is a risk too big to accept.

Anthropic, which has consistently called for tighter controls on advanced chips to China, did not explicitly blame the U.S. policy for enabling the alleged extraction, but cited such attacks as further justification for stricter export controls.

“Executing this extraction at scale requires access to advanced chips,” the company wrote in its blog post, stating that restricted chip access would limit “both direct model training and the scale of illicit distillation.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to the U.S. Department of Commerce for comments regarding Anthropic’s concerns.

Perhaps it’s destiny – The last time the USA Men’s Olympic Hockey Team won the gold in 1980 they had to first defeat the communist Soviet Union.  It was not the final game of the Olympics, it was the second to final game, but it was the only game that was treated as an epic battle of cultural and political ideals and not just a sports competition.  In 2026, the Team USA finally won again, this time against the increasingly communistic country of Canada. 

Maybe this time around the global audience was not as aware of the political nature of the event, but the woke left was certainly spellbound, poised to exploit the outcome as symbolic of an ideological victory over American conservative principles.  In other words, they expected the Canadians to win, and they planned to gloat about the downfall of the US image at the feet of a far-left country.  Obviously, it didn’t work out that way.

To pour salt on their wounded progressive egos, the men’s team is largely pro-MAGA and says they are excited to attend Trump’s State of the Union Address.  Leftist activists have been pressuring American athletes throughout the Olympics to denounce the Trump Administration.  Particularly, they have called on American representatives to speak against ICE and the mass deportation of illegal immigrants. 

The USA Women’s Hockey team capitulated and chose to snub Trump’s invitation after their gold medal win.  Leftists expected the men to do the same.  Instead, they invited FBI Director Kash Patel and partied with him after the win. Patel is an avid hockey player and was already present in Milan to oversee security for the proceedings.  Donald Trump also made a locker room call to the team to congratulate them.     

You can hear the genuine pride in Donald Trumps voice when he called the Team USA Hockey Team pic.twitter.com/ch6GbXShwh

— Harrison Krank (@HarrisonKrank) February 23, 2026

It all seems like good, clean American patriotism, but that’s the problem.  Now, the establishment media is running a blitz against the men’s team, attacking them in a series of hit pieces and denouncing their support of the President. 

The Nation calls it the “Ugly Underbelly Of The US Men’s Hockey Victory”, asserting that:

“Trump holds incredible nostalgia for the “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey team of 1980. This was the squad that, in one of the great Olympic upsets of all time, defeated the USSR in the semifinals before winning the gold. Pundits turned the victory into a right-wing symbol. It showed that the country had moved away from the social struggles of the 1960s and ’70s and embraced the crypto-fascist variant of patriotism best exemplified in the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan…”

In other words, leftists despair over the loss of the communists and their eventual downfall.  They see the victory of capitalism as “crypto-fascist”.  The Nation attacks the men’s team as if they work for Trump.  This is what leftists do when people don’t submit to their demands and refuse to virtue signal for the woke agenda.

“Unlike other US Olympians speaking out against this regime, men’s hockey players chose to be lickspittles…”

“…The real Olympic heroes were the athletes who stood up for each other – and against Trump.”

They go on to list the handful of Olympic athletes who decided to pull a “Kaepernick” and politicize their sport with activism instead of simply competing and representing their country.  

Slate raged over Kash Patel’s celebration with the team, suggesting he had no reason or right to be at the event (even though he was invited to be there).  The cope and seethe was readily apparent in SBNation’s screeching diatribe in which they argued that:

“Instead of trying to carve off football and basketball viewers, the NHL has been marketing itself to non-sports fans, emphasizing women, supporting the LGBTQ+ community with Pride Nights, and making substantial inroads with Gen Z as a result…”

Yes, and this is a detrimental error because hockey fans generally do not like woke nonsense and mentally ill, sexually degenerate activists.  The LGBT agenda has been forced on hockey fans, they never asked for it.  And, just because Gen Z is more inclined to watch hockey does not mean those particular viewers are more inclined to be gay or woke.  They continue:

“We’re left with a sport that’s at odds with itself, during a time of momentous change. A new generation of young, diverse fans running headfirst into a sport that has often held a reputation for being insular, tribal, exclusionary, and prejudiced. Team USA’s celebration was everything the NHL has been trying to push against, now it’s on full display…”

The Guardian played to the deportation angle and the idea that players might receive “backlash” (backlash that the leftist media often generates and fabricates) if they attend Trump’s State of the Union, suggesting that they avoid political entanglements.

“Some players will face pressure to be “team players” and go along with the propaganda-driven Capitol Hill invitation. But perhaps some will recognize that they are being asked to give tacit approval to an administration that is denying many US residents and citizens a chance to be a part of Team USA writ large…”

No legal American citizens are being denied their citizenship.  Around 10 anchor babies have been deported along with their illegal parents, but this is not necessarily a denial of their citizen’s status.  Regardless, no foreigner is entitled to access the US for any reason. 

Open immigration is a fabrication of the political left, even the “melting pot” narrative was a creation of early socialists.  It is not an integral part of the American tradition.  Migrants have to earn the right to come to the US.  They are not owed anything.

At bottom, hockey has been targeted for co-option by the political left since the early 2020s and they thought they had taken full control of the platform. This is why they are outraged by the behavior of the men’s Olympic team.  The leftists assumed that they owned these guys. 

Beyond that, the media was hoping for a Canadian win as a springboard to bag on the US and Trump.  Instead, they lost, and now journalists are accusing Trump and the men’s hockey team of politicizing the victory that leftists were planning to politicize.  Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Robert De Niro, the actor whose unhinged rants against President Trump have become a staple of leftist media, took his Trump Derangement Syndrome to new heights by bursting into tears during an MSNBC appearance.

De Niro sobbed while discussing Trump’s alleged “division,” prompting host Nicolle Wallace to tear up as well in a display of peak propaganda.

De Niro spluttered “You have to lift people up. You can’t divide people… this thing (Trump) they’re destroying, attempting to destroy this country and maybe not even understanding why. It’s up to us to protect the country.”

?? Robert De Niro breaks down crying about Trump:

“You have to lift people up. You can’t divide people. This thing [Trump] is destroying the country.”

Peak Hollywood sobfest propaganda. https://t.co/VDoDdXbc75

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 23, 2026

Wallace responded: “You’re always about lifting up everybody around you,” and added “You weren’t supposed to make me cry.”

De Niro’s tears underscore the desperation among Hollywood elites as Trump’s America First policies continue to reshape the nation, exposing the hypocrisy of those who claim to champion unity while sowing division themselves.

Robert De Niro crying about “lifting people up” & saying “you can’t divide people”, after for years, calling Trump and his supporters racists, Hitler, fascists, Nazis….is BEYOND INSANE!!

— The Conservative Read (@theconread) February 23, 2026

No actor has been more divisive and disparaging to conservative voters than Robert Deniro over the last 10 years so spare me the crocodile tears BS. He is a state propagandists bc that’s what’s required to be a working actor. Especially when you owe millions in taxes.

— Wokeaholics (@wokeaholics) February 23, 2026

A washed up professional actor doing what he does best: acting

— Rising Eagle (@risingeagleusa) February 23, 2026

Top-tier emotional framing here De Niro taps into fear, empathy, and outrage all at once. Classic media play.

— Valchiz | CLONE (?,?) (@radar_dapp) February 23, 2026

Elsewhere in the interview, De Niro again claimed Trump will “never leave” the White House and has to be gotten rid of.

Robert De Niro says Trump will “never leave” office, so people “have to get rid of him” on their own.

He then calls on people to obstruct Trump’s election integrity measures at the polls in the midterms.

This absolutely warrants a Secret Service investigation. pic.twitter.com/Y170JAOevm

— johnny maga (@johnnymaga) February 21, 2026

This latest meltdown comes just months after De Niro’s explosive tirade where he labeled the Trump administration “Nazis” and urged leftists to “fight it out” with them, insisting the President would refuse to leave the White House.

In that earlier outburst, platformed on MSNBC, De Niro blathered, “We see it we see it we see it all the time, he will not want to leave,” adding “He set it up with, I guess he’s the Goebbels of the cabinet, Stephen Miller.”

“He’s a Nazi. Yes, he is, and he’s Jewish and he should be ashamed of himself,” De Niro asserted about Miller.

He continued, “It’s all nonsense. It’s, we know it’s all racist. It’s all, I mean, that’s what he appeals to that’s what Trump is. Everything is what you see is what you get. It’s not going to change with him.”

“Everything, the point is we have to keep fighting and pushing until he is out, period. There’s no other way. He’s not going to want to leave the White House,” De Niro blurted.

“What is he facing? He’s facing certain things no matter what the Supreme Court, they’re going to find a way to go after him for what he’s done, all the awful, monstrous things that he’s done,” he garbled, without specifics.

“You know, I don’t see anyway, he’s not going to want to leave,” De Niro reiterated, adding “We cannot let up on him because he is not going to leave the White House. He does not want to leave the White House. He will not leave the White House.”

“The Republicans, most of all, because they know, but they’re going along with it. It’s a classic bully situation. We see it, and there’s no other way to face a bully. You have to face him and fight it out and back them off and back him down. That’s the only way this is going to work,” De Niro ranted.

He also claimed Americans outside elite metropolitan areas side with Trump because they lack access to truthful media—said on MSNBC, of all places.

De Niro has peddled the “Trump is a Nazi dictator” line for nearly a decade.

He once declared Trump worse than psychopath killers he’s portrayed, and said he’d disown his children if they resembled Trump’s family.

“I don’t want my kids to take this the wrong way, but if my kids did what [Trump’s] kids did, I wouldn’t want to be related to them. I would disown them.” De Niro raged on The View.

“I would have a serious talk with them.” he continued, adding ”if I disagreed with them on things of principle, I would say, and they felt it, and we do now.” he added.

Ironically, one of De Niro’s sons declared himself transgender, citing influence from Black women: “I think a big part of [my transition] is also the influence Black women have had on me… I think stepping into this new identity, while also being more proud of my Blackness, makes me feel closer to them in some way.”

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Recent reports claim that in November of 2025 during a private meeting with Spanish Bishops, Pope Leo XIV asserted that the “rise of ultra-right ideology” was his greatest concern.  The comments allegedly came in response to widespread criticism of the church by conservatives against its weak response to militant LGBT ideology and its continuing defense of mass immigration.  

The initial claims were published by the Spanish newspaper El País, known as a far-left platform.  The paper says it interviewed some of the Bishops involved in the meeting, and they assert that they were given a directive to “be aware of the intentions of extreme right-wing groups.” 

Skeptics suggest that El País may be fabricating or exaggerating the context of the meeting to serve the purposes of the political left, however, it’s hard to deny that the recent positions of the Vatican have been decidedly left wing. 

Critics of the church argue that the Vatican “cut a deal” with the Spanish Government for compensation of victims involved in clergy pedophilia cases (the cases were resolved this year in a landmark agreement).  They say part of the agreement requires the Vatican to publicly support Spain’s new program giving worker rights to at least 500,000 third world immigrants that entered Spain through open borders over the past several years.

Spanish conservatives believe that this is the first step towards the inevitable creation of a fast-track program (or amnesty) giving all migrants citizenship and legal voting status (which leftist politicians have already called for). 

Spain has suffered a suffocating spike in sexual crime in the past decade, including a 150% increase in assaults since the beginning of the immigration surge.  Spanish citizens assert that the leftist government has attempted to suppress crime data involving migrants in order to push their multicultural agenda forward.  Tensions have triggered a number of riots in the past year. 

The Papacy has a long history of working in tandem with progressive and globalist institutions.  Under Pope John Paul the II and Benedict XVI, globalism became the Catholic Church’s driving political mantra.  They consistently defended mass immigration from the third world into the west.  They also spread the lie that Jesus, Mary and Joseph were migrant “refugees” (They were actually subjects of the Roman Empire and Egypt was a Roman province.  They were not refugees crossing borders illegally).  

The majority of modern Church policies and statements have leaned in support of the leftist, breaking substantially from Christian teachings of the past and putting the western world at risk of erasure.  One has to wonder, whose side are they really on?

In 2021, the Vatican joined with top globalists, world leaders and corporations to announce the Rothschild founded Council For Inclusive Capitalism.  The organization was devised as, essentially, a proto-global government which linked the United Nations, religious institutions, corporation elites and political elites into one body promoting a new global socialism.  With the failure of the covid lockdown plan, they have tried to bury the memory of the council.

A key agenda of the UN and Inclusive Capitalism is open borders, allowing for the easy movement of large groups in and out of otherwise self contained nations.  This is sometimes referred to as the “Immigrant Rights Movement”, an effort which the UN funds and supports, causing chaos in Europe and the US. 

Anyone who opposes this agenda in the name of cultural security is accused of being a “right wing extremist”, and it would seem that the Vatican has joined with the people promoting the narrative.

Authored by Tyler Turman via the American Institute for Economic Research,

President John F. Kennedy once said, “We must find ways of returning far more of our dependent people to independence.”

President Lyndon B. Johnson sought to meet that challenge by launching the War on Poverty in 1964, insisting that its purpose was not to make people “dependent on the generosity of others,” nor merely to “relieve the symptom of poverty,” but to “cure it and, above all, to prevent it.”

Sixty years and some $20 trillion in welfare spending later, that message appears to have gotten lost. Rather than helping the poor climb out of poverty toward self-reliance, government handouts have instead pulled the ladder away by supplanting work as their primary source of income.

According to January’s Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, average total income for the poorest households nearly doubled from 1979 to 2022. But most of that increase was fueled by government wealth transfers.

Cumulative Growth of Income Among Households in the Lowest Quintile of the Income Distribution, by Type of Income. (Congressional Budget Office, using data from the Census Bureau. In 2021 dollars. Shaded areas show recessions.) This is a prior release to the CBO report cited by the author, and includes many temporary COVID-era benefits not reflected in the most recent report.

If the success of America’s social safety net is measured by how much cash the government can dole out, then it’s a testament to the scale and generosity of the welfare state. But that was never the yardstick the architects of the welfare state themselves used when selling their War on Poverty to the public.

Welfare was intended to be a means toward self-sufficiency and independence through work.

Viewed through that lens, the CBO report paints a far more troubling picture: Low-income Americans are receiving an ever-growing share of their financial resources from government transfers instead of work.

In 1979, households in the lowest income quintile earned, on average, about 53 percent of their total income from money income—wages, salaries, business income, and other earnings from private-sector work. Means-tested transfers—government cash and in-kind benefits targeted to low-income households—made up just 26 percent.

Since then, the numbers have gone in completely opposite directions. During the pandemic, income from work plummeted to an all-time low of just 33 percent, while means-tested transfers skyrocketed to 57 percent.

Even after temporary COVID-era benefits expired, about 42 percent of the income of America’s poorest households comes from their own earnings. Government transfers also sit at 42 percent, matching earnings from work dollar-for-dollar.

The means-tested transfer rate—that is, the value of welfare benefits relative to income before government assistance and taxes—tells the same story. In 1979, it stood at 32 percent. By 2022, this figure had more than doubled to 72 percent. In other words, for every dollar a low-income household earned (after counting social insurance like Social Security and Medicare), 72 cents were in welfare benefits. During the pandemic, this reached a staggering 93 percent.

The report’s findings are indicative of a trend that is all too common in America’s “social safety net.” Rather than enabling the poor to rely on their own earnings, welfare traps people in government dependency.

The federal government now spends over $1 trillion each year on welfare programs, and, despite historically unprecedented economic gains for low-income Americans, more of them are dependent on government assistance than at any point in the country’s history. That’s hardly an outcome taxpayers should be proud of in a country that styles itself as the land of opportunity. Indeed, if welfare’s purpose is to provide transitional support, then persistently high caseloads should signal that government assistance has become a destination, not a bridge.

If the federal government is going to be in the business of wealth redistribution at all, taxpayers are entitled to demand that it cultivate a culture of work, as then-senator Joe Biden said before the 1996 welfare reforms. But if taxpayers have been pouring trillions of dollars into a money pit that has failed to achieve its own stated goals for over 60 years, it’s time for a serious reckoning.

It is neither efficient nor compassionate for the government to create a perpetual underclass of citizens trapped in a cycle of dependency at the taxpayers’ expense. No amount of political or moral grandstanding can ever justify this state of affairs.

As Congress floats the idea of a second reconciliation bill going into 2026 amid the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)’s welfare reforms, it would do well to remember that a paying job will always be the best anti-poverty program.

The CBO’s report should be a warning. If the goal is independence, welfare policy must be judged by whether it increases work and reduces reliance on government aid. But if the welfare state has become the narcotic President Franklin “New Deal” Roosevelt himself warned against, then Congress should follow his prescription: “The federal government must and shall quit this business of relief.”

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) has voted in favor of a draft resolution reasserting support for “lasting peace” in Ukraine Tuesday, which marks four years since the 2022 Russian military entry into Ukraine.

The resolution passed with 107 votes in favor, 12 against and 51 abstentions. Perhaps the most interesting aspect to the vote was that it was presented by Ukraine and co-sponsored by 46 countries – and though drafted by Kiev the United States did not vote in favor, but abstained alongside China. Even Israel voted in favor, but not the US, a very rare break showing daylight between these two allies.

Russia, Belarus and Sudan were among the opponents – and this is given that the resolution focused on restoring Ukraine’s territorial borders as part of finding lasting peace. The Kremlin has of course rejected that Ukraine will ever get the four ‘annexed’ eastern territories back.

Likely Washington abstained given the implications for the current Trump-backed peace plan, which seeks to get the Zelensky government to give up land in the Donbass. Indeed this is what was expressed by Ambassador Tammy Bruce:

The United States welcomes, of course, the call for an immediate ceasefire. As we’ve said, this resolution also includes language that is likely to distract from ongoing negotiations, rather than support discussion of the full range of diplomatic avenues that may pave the way to that durable peace. For this reason, the United States called for a vote on the two paragraphs and ultimately chose to abstain on the resolution.

What is needed now to end the war is political will. We believe we are closer to a deal than at any point since this war began. Let this be the last anniversary of an ongoing war that has continued for far too long and at far too great a cost. Let’s end it now.

The resolution expressed “grave concern” about continued attacks by Russia on “civilians, civilian objects, and critical energy infrastructure” – and the dire humanitarian crisis.

It additionally called for “an immediate, full and unconditional ceasefire” and urged “the complete exchange of prisoners of war, release of all unlawfully detained persons, and return of civilians forcibly transferred or deported, including children, as a key confidence-building measure.”

In the end, the US ambassador reportedly didn’t like the wording of resolution, and called for it to be broken up into parts.

Given that ultimately it was more of a symbolic ‘solidarity’ vote, the US abstention says a lot of about Washington’s and Kiev’s visions for how peace will ultimately be finalized.

I welcome today’s adoption of the UN GA resolution “Support for lasting peace in Ukraine” initiated by Ukraine. At defining moments, the international community must be clear. Today, it is.

For us, this is not just another vote. It is a reaffirmation that Ukraine is not alone —… pic.twitter.com/tmd0mG17OU

— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) February 24, 2026

The allies are still far apart, especially on the need for territorial concessions and the Trump insistence on Zelensky holding a national vote very soon.

Panama published a Supreme Court decision, issued in late January, that voided key port operations held by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison. The Balboa and Cristobal terminals have become entangled in a legal dispute involving Washington and Beijing. The timing is important, as it comes about a month before President Trump’s planned late-March trip to China.

On Monday, the ruling authorized the Panama Maritime Authority to take over the Balboa and Cristobal terminals near the Panama Canal, ending concessions held by Panama Ports Company (PPC), a CK Hutchison subsidiary, for more than two decades.

The ruling stated that the Panama Maritime Authority will occupy both ports for “reasons of urgent social interest” and take control of all cranes, vehicles, computer systems, and software.

CK Hutchison said Panama’s move was “unlawful” and threatened national and international legal action against the country, which controls the 50-mile man-made maritime chokepoint connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, allowing more than 13,000 ships to transit annually.

“CKH considers the ruling, the executive decree, the purported termination of PPC’s concession, and the takeover of the terminals to be unlawful,” CK Hutchison said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, adding, “The actions by the Panama State also raise serious risks to the operations, health and safety at the Balboa and Cristobal terminals.”

Hong Kong-listed shares of CK Hutchison closed down 2.7% following the court-ordered takeover. Shares year-to-date have gained about 18%, according to Bloomberg data.

Following the move, Danish shipping company Maersk and Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company were granted temporary licenses to operate both terminals.

In a statement to CNBC, Maersk said temporary operations at the Port of Balboa have already begun and will continue for a period of 18 months.

“One of the main tasks will be the deployment of a new terminal operating system and training the workforce to use this new system,” Maersk said

The saga surrounding the Balboa and Cristobal terminals comes as the Trump administration pursues a Western Hemisphere defense posture, repositioning the Department of War to secure the region and curb the influence of Chinese and other foreign adversaries across the Americas. This also includes purging the region of communist and socialist regimes.

The Northeast is digging out from a historic winter storm that buried Newark Liberty International Airport under nearly 30 inches of snow and left New York City with almost two feet.

Socialist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the blizzard could rank among the city’s 10 worst storms in 150 years, setting up an early test for his army of snow shovelers now tasked with clearing sidewalks and city streets.

They know the warmth of their collectivism will melt the snow https://t.co/LmgY6wuQw0

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 24, 2026

In Boston, there was so much snow that the Boston Globe wasn’t delivering a print version of its newspaper today, explaining that the blizzard “prevented the paper’s printing staff from safely getting to Taunton, now the home of the Globe printing press.”

“Taunton, the surrounding towns, and most of Rhode Island were near the epicenter of the storm, which in some places dumped nearly 3 feet of snow,” the Globe wrote, adding this was an “unprecedented” event to cancel today’s print, the first time in its 153-year run.

With parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast buried under feet of snow, weather observers and meteorologists are warning that more snow could be on the way, along with the potential for another round of cold air.

Max Schuster, the founder of Max Velocity, wrote on X that three more “snow events” are inbound for the Northeast over the next seven days.

“Though these will not be as significant as the Nor’easter, we will have a chance of snow on Wednesday, Friday, and early next week!” Schuster said.

THREE MORE SNOW EVENTS are coming to the Northeast over the next 7 days!

Though these will not be as significant as the Nor’easter, we will have a chance of snow Wednesday, Friday, and early next week! pic.twitter.com/AUaGa3jfvx

— Max Velocity (@MaxVelocityWX) February 24, 2026

Meteorologist Ben Noll wrote on X, “It’s no blizzard, but a clipper system arriving during Wednesday’s morning commute will drop a few inches of nuisance snow across the Northeast. There will be school disruptions!”

It’s no blizzard, but a clipper system arriving during Wednesday’s morning commute will drop a few inches of nuisance snow across the Northeast.

There will be school disruptions! pic.twitter.com/xKWIrcnJA4

— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) February 24, 2026

Meteorologist Ryan Kane posted on X a snowfall forecast map for the Mid-Atlantic for Thursday’s snow event.

Hmm… might see a little quick hitting snow Thursday ❄️. Temps are marginal though so nothing too impactful. #MdWx pic.twitter.com/Xm8DaDTiPl

— Ryan Kane (@ryankanerWX) February 24, 2026

Noll warned of the potential for another major sudden stratospheric warming event that could unleash another round of Arctic air for the eastern half of the U.S. in early March.

There’s potential for *another* major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event in early March — a rare occurrence, as two SSWs in a single season happen only about once per decade.

As polar vortex shenanigans continue, the United States isn’t yet done with Arctic cold! pic.twitter.com/utxQiNwxRA

— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) February 24, 2026

Meanwhile, climate grifter Al Gore continues to sound the alarm on global warming.

Al Gore: “This climate crisis is continuing to get much worse.”

“Mother Nature is staging an intervention.”

“We don’t have much time left to wake up and start taking action.”

“Our very civilisation is at stake.” 🤡 pic.twitter.com/G7zmXzIgtP

— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) February 14, 2026

Al Gore is a broken record. 

Al Gore and Rush Limbaugh debate about climate change in 1992.pic.twitter.com/5vCvVaeqMu

— (news) DOGE (@DOGE__news) February 15, 2026

Global warming one year. The next… 

More climate hyperbole! 😱

Two years ago, The New York Times reported that the lack of snow in parts of the U.S., including NYC, was “A visceral feeling of what climate change looks and feels like.”

Today, they’re reporting on record-breaking snowfall from the blizzard that… pic.twitter.com/NZarPZ1f9O

— Chris Martz (@ChrisMartzWX) February 24, 2026

Yet Democrats and their unhinged left-wing media outlets will tell people not to believe their own eyes, even with all that snow outside, because it’s still “global warming.”

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,

FedEx is suing the United States Feb. 23, seeking a full refund on President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) lacked authorization.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade, seeks to recoup all duties paid by FedEx as a result of IEEPA orders and any interest accrued, plus attorney’s fees.

The Tennessee-based shipping giant focused its lawsuit mainly on the emergency tariffs imposed on Mexico, Canada, and China, and the 10 percent baseline tariff on all imports to the United States, which went into effect on April 5, 2025.

In the Learning Resources v. Trump case, the Supreme Court ruled Feb. 20 that Trump’s tariffs violated the emergency powers law he invoked last year to impose levies on China, Canada, Mexico, and other countries.

Tariffs enacted under other laws were not affected by the ruling.

The president declared a national emergency under IEEPA starting on Feb. 1, 2025, to address the flow of illicit drugs across the northern and southern borders, and to stop the synthetic opioid supply chain from China.

Trump continued taking more steps to implement emergency orders with tariffs last year and earlier this year, addressing global threats. The latest tariffs targeted Iran on Feb. 6.

The president issued an order Feb. 20 ending IEEPA tariff actions.

In a dissenting opinion, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the federal government may be forced to refund billions of dollars to importers who paid tariffs under IEEPA “even though some importers may have already passed on costs to consumers or others.”

Kavanaugh also said he expected it could be a “mess.”

During a press conference Feb. 20 following the Supreme Court’s decision, Trump said the ruling didn’t do enough to address the refund issue, which could tie up the federal government in court for years to come.

“I guess it has to get litigated for the next two years,” the president said.

Ships are docked at the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, Calif., on Feb. 20, 2026. Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo

Other companies have filed lawsuits seeking refunds on the tariffs, including Revlon, Costco, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Toyota, BYD, Patagonia, REI, Trek, Specialized, Shimano, Bell Sports, Osprey, and Dole Fresh Fruit Company.

Since the Supreme Court ruling, Trump has imposed a 10 percent tariff on all countries, which was raised to 15 percent on Feb. 21. The new worldwide tariff level went into effect immediately, the president announced in a post on Truth Social.

President Trump is set to deliver his first State of the Union address of his second term on Feb. 24, when he is expected to highlight his administration’s accomplishments and seize the moment to shore up support for Republicans ahead of the critical 2026 elections.

Historically, the president’s party almost always suffers midterm losses, and the House appears especially vulnerable this year.

Trump, eager to reverse the trend, is set to deliver a lengthy speech promoting the policy wins over the past year.

“It’s going to be a long speech, because we have so much to talk about,” the president said during an event at the White House on Feb. 23.

In fact, as Polymarket odds show, his speech is expected to last 95 minutes…

The address is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET and will be Trump’s second to Congress since returning to office. He previously spoke to a joint session of Congress on March 4 last year. While it was not an official State of the Union address, the speech was the longest on record, lasting nearly 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Below, The Epoch Times’ Emel Akan lays out five key things to watch at this year’s State of the Union:

Midterms Messaging

With eight months until the midterms, Republicans are working to win voters, especially independents who backed Trump in 2024. The majority of voters are still anxious about the high cost of living, according to recent polls. Trump is likely to prioritize the economy in his speech and talk about what he has done to lower gas, housing, and health care costs for American families.

Luke Nichter, professor of presidential studies at Chapman University in Orange, California, believes that Trump’s primary message will be about the midterms.

“He wants to make sure those enthusiastic supporters are still enthusiastic, they still support him, and continue to turn out this fall,” Nichter told The Epoch Times.

The speech comes on the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision last week that struck down tariffs imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

President Donald Trump acknowledges the audience before delivering his State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Feb. 4, 2020. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Trump sharply criticized the justices who supported the ruling and has since pledged to raise global tariffs to 15 percent using other statutory authorities. During a Feb. 20 press conference, Trump said he was “ashamed of certain members of the court.” Hence, his tone and remarks toward the justices in the room will be closely watched during the address.

Trump is expected to make the case for high tariffs, even as some Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns about their economic impact.

Immigration will also be a key topic, as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) remains shut down due to ongoing disagreement between the White House and congressional Democrats. Trump is expected to defend his administration’s policies while adopting a more measured tone in light of two recent fatal shootings by immigration agents in Minneapolis.

Aaron Dusso, a political science professor at Indiana University, believes that Trump will try to shift the narrative during his speech, especially given recent criticism of the domestic immigration crackdown and declining approval ratings.

“This is going to be an opportunity for him to command attention across the entire country,” Dusso told The Epoch Times.

Foreign Policy Questions

Foreign policy is typically not a major focus in the State of the Union addresses, as presidents usually prioritize domestic issues. Trump’s address may be an exception, Nichter said.

In recent weeks, the administration has stepped up the U.S. military presence in the Middle East to exert pressure on Iran to curb its nuclear program. The Pentagon has dispatched another large aircraft carrier to the region. Amid tensions, another round of talks with Tehran is set for Feb. 26 in Geneva. Lawmakers will be closely watching for any new announcements regarding Iran.

Mexican soldiers patrol in armored vehicles in Acapulco in the aftermath of a military operation in which Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” was killed in Jalisco state, in Acapulco, Mexico, on Feb. 22, 2026. Henry Romero/Reuters

In Mexico, a U.S.-aided operation killed Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, a powerful drug cartel leader, on Feb. 22. Lawmakers and foreign policy analysts will be listening for clarity on the extent of the U.S. involvement in the Mexican military’s operation.

Trump is also expected to highlight his broader efforts to broker peace around the world, crediting himself for ending eight wars.

According to Nichter, Trump may also address unresolved foreign policy issues, including Greenland, Cuba, Venezuela, and the golden dome missile defense system.

Guests in the Gallery

The White House and lawmakers will invite special guests to the State of the Union to highlight their political messages.

Over the weekend, Trump invited the U.S. Men’s and Women’s Olympic Hockey teams following their gold medal victories over Canada.

The women’s team declined the invitation, citing scheduling issues. The men’s team is expected to attend.

Jake Guentzel #59, Tage Thompson #72, Jaccob Slavin #74, Kyle Connor #81 and Jake Sanderson #85 of Team United States listen to the national anthem during the medal ceremony for Men’s Ice Hockey following their gold-medal win over Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 22, 2026. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Democratic lawmakers have invited several people who say they were victims of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including Jess Michaels and the family of the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre, to demand legal consequences for those named in the files.

Some Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), will bring constituents to raise concerns about the impact of rising tariffs and health care costs.

Some Republicans are focusing on human rights issues in China. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will host the daughter of Gulshan Abbas, a Uyghur doctor detained in China since 2018. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) will host Claire Lai, daughter of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Reaction

There have been dramatic moments at past State of the Union addresses, most notably in February 2020, when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore up a copy of Trump’s speech after he finished speaking.

This time, the setting will be different. Seated behind Trump will be Johnson and Vice President JD Vance.

Reactions from Democrats in the chamber will be closely watched. As with previous years, some lawmakers are expected to stage symbolic protests, wearing coordinated colors or displaying signs.

Vice President Mike Pence claps as Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi rips a copy of President Donald Trump’s speech after he delivers the State of the Union address at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 4, 2020. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

The official response from the Democratic Party will be delivered by Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who won a landslide victory last November and became the state’s first female governor. Her response will air immediately after Trump’s speech.

Yemisi Egbewole, a Democratic strategist and former Biden White House adviser, said that Spanberger’s selection shows the party is changing its strategy by focusing on affordability and moving away from identity issues.

The response is expected to be measured and aimed at voters who are uneasy about Trump as president, even if they sometimes support Republicans, Egbewole told The Epoch Times.

“That is really where Democrats need to hit,” she said.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs executive orders after being sworn into office at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 17, 2026. Win McNamee/Getty Images

More than a dozen Democrats plan to skip the speech and attend an alternative event, the “People’s State of the Union” rally at the National Mall in Washington.

Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), as well as Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) are expected to skip the address.

Defending the Record

Trump is expected to defend his record and outline his legislative goals in another lengthy address.

He will tout economic milestones, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average surpassing 50,000 points. He will argue that crime is falling nationwide.

He will also likely highlight reductions in immigration flows at the southern border with Mexico. Trump has previously said that illegal immigration along that border has reached near-zero levels.

A banner showing President Donald Trump at the Department of Justice in Washington on Feb. 21, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The address is also considered a prime opportunity for the president to lay out his legislative proposals. This year, Trump is expected to encourage the passage of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, a bill that would require proof of citizenship to vote.

He will also tout his other policies, such as banning male athletes with gender dysphoria from competing in women’s sports.

According to David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University in Minnesota, Trump will have to keep his base energized while deciding whether to adjust his tone and message to win back the independent voters who helped elect him in 2024.

Republicans’ chances of holding Congress depend on retaining those swing voters, he told The Epoch Times.

“His base is still mostly with him,” Schultz said. “The question becomes, does he only pitch to the base, or does he try to alter his language and approach to appeal to the swing voters?”