Authored by John Mills via The Epoch Times,

After decades of being a forgotten relic of American history, Panama and its canal are front and center as President Donald Trump defines a new era of America First involvement in the world.

At his joint session of Congress on March 4, Trump said, “Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple of other canals.”

The president continued:

“The Panama Canal was built by Americans for Americans, not for others, but others could use it. But it was built at tremendous cost of American blood and treasure.

“Thirty-eight thousand workers died building the Panama Canal. They died of malaria. They died of snake bites and mosquitoes. Not a nice place to work.

“They paid them very highly to go there, knowing there was a 25 percent chance that they would die. The most expensive project, also, that was ever built in our country’s history, if you bring it up to modern-day costs.”

Trump’s closing remarks on the topic explained this administration’s future plans: “It was given away by the Carter administration for $1, but that agreement has been violated very severely. We didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”

BlackRock Makes Port Offer

The company that Trump was referring to was BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, with around $11.5 trillion under management. The timing of the announcement was likely not coincidental.

According to The Wall Street Journal, there was communication and interaction between BlackRock and the Trump administration about the deal; hence, the administration appeared to have some advanced knowledge that a deal was in play.

The current port company with a multi-year concession from Panama to operate container terminals at each end of the canal is the historic CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., which was known as Hutchison Whampoa until 2015. This company traces its roots to Hong Kong in 1863 and was sold to billionaire Li Ka-shing of Hong Kong.

When asked about the planned sale at a press briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, CNN reported that she said, “I would like to emphasize that China has always firmly opposed the use of economic coercion, hegemonism and bullying to infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of other countries.”

It is interesting that this comment cannot be found in the transcript of the press briefing on the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation’s anti-monopoly division said they are now reviewing the sale.

“We are aware of the comments made by China,“ U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said. ”It’s also no surprise that the CCP is upset at this acquisition, which will reduce their control over the Panama Canal area.

“We are also glad to see U.S. investors acquire a controlling stake in the Panama Ports Company, which owns and operates the ports at Balboa and Cristóbal at either end of the Panama Canal.”

The New Great Game

It is important to note that the proposed CK Hutchison sale to Black Rock for $22 billion was not only for its two Panama ports, but also its worldwide array of ports.

The Epoch Times talked to Ann Vandersteel and Michael Yon, two journalists who have spent extensive time in Panama. The author of this article also spent several days in Panama in late 2023 with these two journalists, conducting a comprehensive survey of the Panama Canal, and did live reporting from the canal for NTD News, the sister media outlet of The Epoch Times.

Vandersteel pointed to her recent article on the port sale drama and noted:

“The deal would have given BlackRock operational control over 43 ports in 23 countries, including 199 berths across key maritime chokepoints. This would have instantly wiped out about one-third of the PRC’s global port reach, dealing a colossal blow to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure.”

Yon said the Balboa Port on the Pacific end of the Panama Canal was at an extremely constrained point on the canal, which is little more than a ship’s length across.

He said this exact point at the Balboa Port that Hutchison is under long term concession to operate “is quite a chokepoint” that could very quickly block the canal if there was a similar incident to the 2024 Baltimore Bridge ship allision or the 2021 Suez Canal incident where a Taiwanese super-size container ship, the Ever Given, unexplainedly wedged itself in the Suez, totally blocking traffic for six days.

There have been past incidents, Yon noted, such as the 2020 ship collision in the Panama Canal that destroyed the railway bridge across the canal.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

A towering 45-foot statue of a nude woman now looms over San Francisco’s Embarcadero Plaza, drawing equal parts awe, ridicule, and criticism, according to Fox News.

The sculpture, R-Evolution, originally created for Burning Man in 2015 by Marco Cochrane, was unveiled Thursday with lights, music, and performance art. Designed to “breathe” using internal motors, the statue is meant to symbolize strength and compassion.

Instead, it’s ignited backlash from residents and commentators who see it as a tone-deaf installation in a city still grappling with homelessness, open-air drug use, and economic decay.

“Nothing says ‘reviving downtown’ like a 45-foot naked lady getting rear-end surgery,” one user quipped after viral footage showed a cherry picker being hoisted awkwardly between the statue’s legs. Another commented, “This picture kind of embodies the spirit of San Francisco — head up a–.”

NEW: San Francisco has erected a statue of a woman with no clothes on which will be greeting visitors in front of the Ferry Building.

The 45-foot-tall statue was installed to “jazz up downtown” according to CBS News.

One worker was seen doing a “surgical procedure” on the… pic.twitter.com/QjxhbiYEpn

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 10, 2025

While some have praised the sculpture as empowering, others view it as a misplaced priority. “I don’t know where to begin about the misplaced priorities for the city of San Francisco,” said Bruce Lou, a recent Republican challenger to Rep. Nancy Pelosi. “They seem like they are focused on absolutely everything except the things that matter.”

John Dennis, former San Francisco GOP chair, offered a sharper critique: “A giant, naked woman blocking the proud, iconic Ferry Building is a perfect metaphor for San Francisco these days.”

Even left-leaning voices have joined the chorus. KQED arts editor Sarah Hotchkiss wrote, “As I gazed up at this monumental steel and mesh sculpture on Thursday, I felt embarrassed for the city of San Francisco… we are all the audience for this thing, and no one asked us if we wanted it.”

The statue’s installation comes amid a homelessness crisis affecting over 8,300 residents, according to city data. While San Francisco plans to spend nearly $690 million on housing and homelessness in the next fiscal year, encampments remain widespread.

Crime stats show a mixed bag: violent crime is down 14% and car break-ins are at a 22-year low, but gun violence has edged up 5%. Drug-related arrests are up nearly 40% over early 2024, yet critics argue enforcement without treatment only displaces the problem.

Fox News writes that R-Evolution is expected to remain on display for six months to a year. Rep. Pelosi has not commented on the installation.

Authored by Elaine Donnelly via RealClearDefense,

Ten years have passed since the Department of Defense initiated a social experiment with women in the military. Pentagon officials promised that female trainees headed for previously all-male combat arms units would have to meet the exact same standards as men.  Has the experiment played out as promised?

We are about to find out. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s March 30 Memorandum calls for a 60-day review to achieve high, uncompromised standards in combat arms units such as the infantry, Special Operations, and other occupations with extraordinary physical demands. 

Thanks to a series of Executive Orders that President Donald Trump has issued since January, Hegseth’s 6-month implementation period should proceed without equivocation or distractions related to percentage-based diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) quotas.  Wrote Hegseth, “[I]t is essential to identify which positions require heightened entry-level and sustained physical fitness.”

An honest review of contemporary policies regarding women in the military should reflect sound priorities unrelated to DEI. Career opportunities are important, but if there is a conflict, the needs of the military must come first.

Direct Ground Combat Goes Beyond “In Harm’s Way”

As the Center for Military Readiness stated in this CMR Policy Analysis, implementation of Hegseth’s order must begin with clear definitions of terms, starting with “direct ground combat.” (DGC). Direct ground combat arms units such as the infantry, armor, artillery, and Special Forces in all branches of the service are trained to seek out and attack the enemy with deliberate offensive action.

Physical demands in DGC units typically are greater than those in units and military occupational specialties (MOSs) that serve “in harm’s way” in war zones. Men and women serving in such roles are at risk of contingent or incident-related combat, and those that come under fire are trained to fight back and return to base. Their mission, however, is not to seek out and engage the enemy with deliberate offensive action.

Medical technicians, truck drivers, intelligence teams and other support troops serve with courage, and all must be prepared for wartime contingencies. More than 150 military women died during war operations in the Middle East since 9/11, including two female Marines who were killed by a suicide bomber during America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

It is not necessary, however, for all personnel to meet the same physically demanding standards as infantry, armor, artillery, or Special Operations forces. Nor should tough standards in those units be lowered or “redefined” to meet DEI goals.

Empirical Data Ignored

Secretary Hegseth’s review of contemporary training requirements also requires an honest review of recent history. In 2015, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter elevated “equity” above reality when he opened to women all units and military occupational specialties, including previously all-male infantry, Air Force Special Forces, Army Green Berets and Navy SEALs.

In doing so, Carter disregarded empirical data indicating that his egalitarian policies would compromise standards and effectiveness in close combat units.

From 2012-2015, the Marine Corps conducted a scientific study of the issue, which included nine months of field tests overseen by the University of Pittsburgh. The purpose of the research was to prove a simple hypothesis: “An integrated unit under gender-neutral standards will perform equally as well as a gender-restricted unit.” 

However, as CMR wrote in a Statement for the Record of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on February 2, 2016, despite positive expectations for field tests conducted with well-qualified female and average male volunteers, USMC field test data disproved the hypothesis.  A Summary of empirical data and still relevant findings gathered by the Marine Corps’ Ground Combat Element Integrated Task Force (GCEITF) during that study reveals facts that are very relevant to discussions today. 

For example:  All-male task force teams outperformed their mixed-gender counterparts in 69 percent (93 of 134) of ground combat tasks. Physical differences were more pronounced in “specialties that carried the assault load plus the additional weight of crew-served weapons and ammunition.”

In gender-mixed units, physical deficiencies had negative effects on the unit’s speed and effectiveness in simulated battle tasks, including marching under heavy loads, casualty evacuation, and marksmanship while fatigued. Significant differences also were noted in the mixed-gender units’ ability to negotiate obstacles and evacuate casualties, and musculoskeletal injury rates were double – 40.5% for females, compared to 18.8% for men.

These results supported a Memorandum from then-Marine Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford to keep some close combat units all-male.  Secretary Carter ignored the Commandant’s rational request and opened all close combat positions to women for purposes of “equity.”

When “Equality” is not Equal

Secretary Carter also promised to maintain sex-neutral (identical) training standards for the combat arms, but that promise proved impossible to keep.

In 2019, the army began trials with a more challenging six-event Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) to replace the long-standing Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). The ACFT was supposed to have sex-neutral (identical) requirements and scoring systems for both male and female trainees.

However, due to high failure rates among the women, officials tried to improve pass rates by           removing the most demanding elements of the ACFT, altering scoring systems, or making some events optional.   

Women’s scores improved, but DoD contractor RAND acknowledged in its December 2024 report that tougher standards for combat arms units “may be too high to achieve the Army’s desired pass rates for various ‘subgroups’ (the largest being women). Ultimately, the Army reinstated sex-normed (different) standards while pretending that nothing had changed.

Physical realities shattered unrealistic theories about sex equality in the combat arms. This is why Secretary Hegseth is correct in directing the various services to clearly define combat arms occupations and provide tough training that saves lives and missions.

Standards for these roles, Hegseth noted, “should emphasize the ability to carry heavy loads, endure prolonged physical exertion, and perform effectively in austere, hostile environments. Service members in these roles must exhibit speed, strength, agility, and endurance to navigate the demands of combat situations.”

All branches of the service should produce honest evaluations of entry-level and advanced training requirements needed in close combat units and MOS’s. Officials also should determine realistic requirements for other troops who must be prepared for wartime contingencies or hostile incidents while serving “in harm’s way.”   

The goal should be to strengthen combat effectiveness, not to advance individual careers or percentage-based demographic quotas.

Elaine Donnelly is President of the Center for Military Readiness (CMR), founded in 1993, following her service on the 1992 Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces. CMR is an independent public policy organization that reports on and analyzes military/social issues.

Below is yet another reason why a joint US-Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities would serve to divide the region, sparking broader destabilization and likely putting American troops stationed in the Middle East in harm’s way…

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman Al Saud arrives in Tehran on an official visit, where he is formally received by Major General Mohammad Bagheri, the Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces pic.twitter.com/WVJQnIn3gb

— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) April 17, 2025

In a huge and rare development after being archrivals for many years and decades, Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud arrived in Tehran on Thursday, where he was greeted by Major General Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces.

The two top officials are holding a number of meetings to discuss bilateral relations and issues of common interest,” state-run Saudi Press Agency said.

A senior Saudi royal last visited Iran all the way back in 1997 – when King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz made the trip amid hopes for a breakthrough with ‘reformist’ Iranian leaders at the time.

The Abraham Accords, involving Gulf countries normalizing with Israel, have been on hold since the Gaza war began, and Riyadh and Tehran have over the last couple years been making strides for peace and full normalization with each other. This doesn’t bode well for US or Israeli interests, also given the Saudis have of late declared that no country case use their airspace for attacks on Iran.

CNN points out the following irony amid the thaw:

Bagheri is also a military officer in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Crops (IRGC), which is designated as a terrorist organization by Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh severed ties with Tehran in 2016 after Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in the Iranian capital following the execution of a Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia. They then spent years fighting a proxy war that has embroiled a number of neighboring countries, especially Yemen.

China has been the big power which has mediated the Iran-Saudi rapprochement, at a moment the US is widely viewed as in retreat in the region.

Last October, Iran and Saudi Arabia took their improving ties a huge step further by conducting an unprecedented joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman. The two countries’ populations have also been religious rivals for centuries.

Tehran has always been the heart of the Shia world, while the Saudi kingdom leads Sunni Muslims. Sunnis tend to consider Shia to be heretics, and historic, fierce battles have been fought over interpretations of the Quran. More recently, they waged proxy war for Syria, and before that Iraq.

More footage:

Historic scenes in Tehran 🇮🇷🇸🇦

It was not so long ago that the current Saudi defence minister Khalid Bin Salman was sitting at the Oval Office with Pres. Trump during his first term,
Discussing ways to suffocate the Iranian regime,

But now he is in Iran! pic.twitter.com/oeG99l6a1l

— Amirdaryoush Youhaei (@amirdaryoush) April 17, 2025

Authored by Lawrence Wilson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 15 that directs a wide range of actions to lower the cost of prescription medications, including through the importation of prescription drugs from Canada by the states.

States have been authorized since 2020 to import certain drugs from Canada—where they are often available at a lower price—under section 804 of the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act. However, approval from the Food and Drug Administration is required, and that process is complex.

Florida is the only state now authorized to import drugs from Canada, and the approval process took more than three years.

Trump’s order instructs the Food and Drug Administration to improve the process and encourages states to apply for authorization to import medications.

An analysis by health research group KFF found that per-capita spending on prescriptions was 42 percent higher in the United States than in Canada.

Lowering Prices

Three items in the executive order aim at lowering the cost of drugs already available in the United States.

The first such action is to revisit the Medicare drug negotiation program, which was authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act.

This program allows Medicare to negotiate with drug companies to reduce the cost of brand-name drugs approved for Medicare Part B and Part D beneficiaries.

The initial round of lower prices involving 10 prescription medications will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026. A second round of 15 drugs will be available for Medicare beneficiaries at a reduced price in 2027.

* * *

We’ve sold a TON of these lighter / flashlight combos…

A White House official told reporters that the Trump administration would improve the program and make it more transparent.

A second price-lowering action aims to make Medicare’s payment for prescription drugs commensurate with the supplier’s cost. Currently, Medicare pays as much as 35 percent over the actual cost of some medications.

A third provision for lowering prices directs that steps be taken to ensure that Medicare pays a comparable price for prescription drugs regardless of where they are dispensed.

Currently, Medicare may pay up to 60 percent more for a drug dispensed at an outpatient clinic than for the same medication dispensed at a doctor’s office, which creates an incentive for providers to drive traffic to the higher-paying location.

A fourth action item directs Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to further reduce the price of insulin.

Currently, the negotiated price is $35. A White House official told reporters that, based on the new order, low-income and uninsured patients may be able to receive insulin for as little as 3 cents per vial, plus an administrative fee. Injectable epinephrine may be available for as little as $15 per auto-injector.

This order will achieve that by ensuring that all discounts on insulin and epinephrine that the government offers to health care providers are passed on to consumers.

The Drug Pipeline

Other provisions of Trump’s order aim to lower costs by improving the drug development and approval process.

First, the order directs the Food and Drug Administration to streamline the approval process for generic and biosimilar medications. That could reduce the price of medication for some patients by as much as 80 percent.

Currently, there is a backlog of generic and biosimilar medications awaiting approval, according to the White House.

Second, Trump’s order directs Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to work with Congress to address what the administration sees as an imbalance in the emphasis placed on the development of some highly expensive drugs.

Small-molecule medications are produced from chemicals, are less costly, and can treat a wide variety of ailments. Ibuprofen is an example of a small-molecule medication.

Large-molecule medications are derived from living organisms, are more costly to produce, and are delivered by infusion. Gene-based therapies, immunotherapies, and hormonal regulators are examples of large-molecule medications.

The current system encourages companies to invest in developing the more expensive large-molecule treatments over less costly alternatives, according to the White House.

No timeline for implementing that legislative solution was announced.

One element of Trump’s order cracks down on the practices of some brokers in the prescription drug supply chain.

The order directs the Department of Labor to set rules concerning the disclosure of broker fees for prescription drugs.

In some cases, employers hire a broker to negotiate prescription drug fees on behalf of their employees, but the broker may act against the employer’s best interest by accepting fees from the pharmacy benefit manager that it recommends, according to a White House official.

Provisions supporting this rule-making are included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act but have not been fully enforced, according to the White House.

President Donald Trump rejected an Israeli plan to attack Iran with US military support, which was pitched with a timeline of as soon as next month, in favor of seeking diplomacy with Tehran, The New York Times reported late Wednesday.

The report indicated Israel was seeking significant American support for preemptive strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, with aerial bombings backing up Israeli commando raids to destroy the Iranian sites. The viewpoint from Tel Aviv is that such a massive operation, envisioned to take a week, would not be successful without direct US assistance.

It was during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu’s visit to the White House earlier this month that Trump informed the Israeli leader that instead he would pursue new diplomatic talks with Iran.

That’s when Netanyahu made the strange and provocative statement that they should “go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision with American execution.” Netanyahu departed Washington with no major wins – not even on the effort to get new tariffs on Israel removed or reduced.

The NYT writes of Israel in the new report, “They were prepared to carry them out, and at times were optimistic that the United States would sign off.”

The Israelis hoped to thoroughly destroy Iran’s air defenses before starting to target nuclear facilities. It is believed that many were already taken out during last year’s tit-for-tat exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran.

The report confirms prior Axios reporting which said there’s a sharp divide within the Trump administration, as we detailed earlier. Vice President J.D. Vance and those in his camp want to avoid another disastrous Middle East war at all costs:

• This camp includes also Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff — who represented the U.S. at the first round of Iran talks on Saturday — and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. It also gets outside support from MAGA influencer and Trump whisperer Tucker Carlson.
• This group is concerned that striking Iran’s nuclear facilities would put U.S. soldiers in the region in harm’s way when Iran strikes back.
• They also argue a new conflict in the region would send oil prices skyrocketing at a sensitive time for the U.S. economy.

Here’s what the new NY Times reporting has to say:

In a meeting this month — one of several discussions about the Israeli plan — Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, presented a new intelligence assessment that said the buildup of American weaponry could potentially spark a wider conflict with Iran that the United States did not want.

And more: “A range of officials echoed Ms. Gabbard’s concerns in the various meetings. Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; and Vice President JD Vance all voiced doubts about the attack.”

Now the reason for the spate of firings at key Pentagon posts, among them top Hegseth staffers, is becoming evident…

The NYT reports Pete Hegseth was among Trump officials opposing the US launching a massive war on Iran on behalf of Israel

3 Pentagon officials have already been fired for unknown leaks

Israel lobbyists are now calling for more firings over the leaks that led to this story pic.twitter.com/9pVE1uJ9Oa

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) April 17, 2025

NYT further notes that “Even Mr. Waltz, frequently one of the most hawkish voices on Iran, was skeptical that Israel’s plan could succeed without substantial American assistance.”

But for now a military option is being kept on the table as the US pursues talks with Tehran, the next which are set for Saturday in Rome, with the report also noting that “In addition to talks and strikes, other options were discussed, including covert Israeli operations conducted with U.S. support and more aggressive sanctions enforcement.”

For now it looks like DNI Gabbard as the nation’s top intelligence chief is having a positive effect, as the usual neocons and interventionists can’t so easily get their way anymore. 

Incredible. Hegseth’s advisors stop an attack that could have escalated into WW3 and suddenly get escorted out of the building

What is going on? https://t.co/D8TU6zlRsB

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) April 17, 2025

But it looks like they (the hawks and the Israeli lobby/AIPAC) are currently trying to get everyone opposed to war with Iran fired. On Wednesday a third official was escorted out of the Pentagon, with security credentials removed:

A third high-level Pentagon staffer has been placed on administrative leave in two days as part of a probe into media leaks.

Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg, was escorted out of the building on Wednesday, following Dan Caldwell, senior advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Darin Selnick, deputy chief of staff to Hegseth. 

“We can confirm that Mr. Carroll has been placed on administrative leave pending investigation. We have nothing additional to provide at this time,” a defense official told Fox News. 

Authored by Susan Harris via The Epoch Times,

In an era of polarized narratives, Donald Trump’s true character is often reduced to soundbites and crafted caricatures. That’s the Donald Trump comedian and political commentator Bill Maher thought he knew.

A lot of people didn’t think it would go well when Maher recently went to the White House to have dinner with President Trump, but they were proved wrong.

In an endearing yet hilarious monologue about the visit, Maher told how he had presented Trump with a list of names he’d called him. Maher read from that list, claiming that through the years, the president had described him as, “stupid, dummy, low-life dummy, sleazebag, and stone-cold crazy” among other colorful characterizations.

Maher, who has taken on the most controversial subjects through the years, has a reputation for dishing it out pretty hard himself. Vanity Fair described him as having “built his brand on provocation.”

Despite their shared histories for theatrics, the key takeaway from Maher’s monologue was that Trump gave him a “very generous amount of time and a willingness to listen and accept me as a possible friend.” It was clear that he was both impressed and humbled with the president and the graciousness he showed during their meeting.

Take, for example, the fact that it is often reported that Trump never laughs. Those of us who watched his rallies live—either in person or on the internet—knew this wasn’t the case. I can vouch for the fact that Trump often had his supporters laughing, and wasn’t afraid to laugh along. If you want footage of a long, hearty belly laugh, however, you’d be hard pressed to find that of anyone, let alone of a world leader.

Maher confirmed that he believed President Trump never laughed, saying, “Just for starters he never laughs. I’ve never seen him laugh in public. But he does, including at himself, and it’s not fake.”

Yet, beyond the headlines are the lesser-told accounts of personal kindness, acts of compassion, and a resilience that culminated in a defining moment of courage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. These traits and actions reveal a man with a deep capacity for compassion and an old-school conviction that a leader should embody America’s strength.

In a recent interview with broadcaster Glenn Beck, Washington Examiner reporter Salena Zito revealed what she witnessed in Butler on July 13, 2024. 

(Her upcoming book, “Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America’s Heartland,” is already a pre-order bestseller on Amazon.)

Zito, who attended the rally with her daughter, had a front row seat to the events as they unfolded. She said that as Trump lay on the ground, shielded by the Secret Service, he began chanting, “USA, USA!” That was a moment few people saw or heard, and it was overshadowed by the now famous phrase, “Fight, fight, fight!”—words Trump gave the crowd with a raised fist as he was being led to safety.

President Trump knew Ms. Zito well—so well that he called her the morning after the assassination attempt to see if she and her daughter were OK. 

By her own account, she responded with an expletive: “Are you … kidding me? You’re the one that was shot, right?”

Zito said she and Trump spoke many times throughout that day, and she asked him why he reacted the way he did.

He responded: 

“Well Selena, at that moment I wasn’t Donald Trump. I was symbolic. Even though I wasn’t president yet … I had once been president. I had an obligation to show that the country is strong, that we will not be defeated, and that we are resolute. I did not want to be the symbol of America being weak.”

That statement was reminiscent of Trump at the height of the pandemic, when he himself tested positive for COVID. We remember a very sick president walking cooly from the White House to the helicopter that would take him to Walter Reed hospital. Later we found out he was sicker than we thought; the walk across the lawn was likely not an easy one.

Later, Trump left Walter Reed to wave at supporters gathering outside. The move was criticized by some, but most of us saw it for what it was—a show of strength for a country whose people desperately needed inspiration and hope.

Here in New York State, for instance, it was downright depressing to see American flags at half-mast throughout the pandemic. It gave the impression that we were all doomed and we might as well throw in the towel—COVID had won. Luckily, the only time President Trump ordered the flags lowered for pandemic victims was from May 22–24, 2020. It was reportedly done at the request of congressional democrats. Trump knew that strength begets strength.

Outside of the self-inflicted soundbites, hateful caricatures, and misleading media narratives, people like Bill Maher and Salena Zito continue to inform us of a president who possesses warmth, an openness to making amends, and the kind of Churchillian fortitude every leader should possess—but rarely does.

*  *  *

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has just killed the Biden administration’s last-ditch effort to shelter the government’s Ministry of Truth, the Global Engagement Center (GEC).

In a new op-ed published by The Federalist (a target of the GEC along with yours truly), Rubio writes;

GEC was supposed to be dead already. But, as many have learned the hard way, in Washington, D.C., few things ever truly die. When Republicans in Congress sunset GEC’s funding at the end of last year, the Biden State Department simply slapped on a new name. The GEC became the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R-FIMI) office, with the same roster of employees. With this new name, they hoped to survive the transition to the new administration.

Today, we are putting that to an end. Whatever name it goes by, GEC is dead. It will not return.

Rubio further notes how well-intentioned initiatives to counter foreign actors “nearly destroyed America’s long free speech history.”

As the Epoch Times notes further, originally founded as the Counterterrorism Communication Center in 2007 to root out narratives from Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, it became the GEC in 2016 under the Obama administration with an expanded mission to broaden efforts countering foreign disinformation.

According to its webpage, which has been archived on the State Department’s website, the center’s mission was “to direct, lead, synchronize, integrate, and coordinate U.S. Federal Government efforts to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining or influencing the policies, security, or stability of the United States, its allies, and partner nations.”

“We do not target American audiences,” Daniel Kimmage, a center employee, said during a previous deposition. “The GEC’s concern is with the actions of foreign propaganda actors. The GEC’s concern stops there. It doesn’t extend to the speech of Americans.”

The Epoch Times reported that the center was set to close in the final days of the Biden administration in December 2024. It was at the center of several legal cases for its involvement in an initiative called Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), which sought to flag election disinformation on social media.

Rubio said in his op-ed that “GEC was supposed to be dead already,” and that his predecessors under the Biden administration changed the center’s name to the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference office in the hopes of it surviving the transition while retaining the same employee roster.

He referred to GEC’s work with the EIP and noted that the head of the center, Richard Stengel, in the introduction of his book “Information Wars,” likened the way President Donald Trump talks to that of terrorists or Russian disinformation campaigns.

In his op-ed, Rubio also accused the GEC of working during the COVID-19 pandemic to label any speculation of the coronavirus being an engineered bioweapon or coming from research conducted in a lab in Wuhan as being Russian disinformation and foreign propaganda.

Rather than restaff the office, Rubio took a stand against what he called the entire disinformation industry and the idea that the American people needed to be protected from lies online.

At the same time, he said he was confident that his department could remain vigilant against communist China and other nations with growing authoritarian censorship without this office.

“The best way to counter disinformation is free speech, is to make sure that what’s true has as equal or greater opportunity to communicate as what’s not true,” Rubio said during the interview. “We’ve learned that the hard way.”

Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said on April 16 that he had ordered a halt to the construction of a major wind project off the coast of New York “until further review.”

Burgum, posting to the social platform X on Wednesday, said he had consulted with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to direct the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to “halt all construction activities” on Equinor’s Empire Wind project. The Biden administration approved the project in 2023, with construction beginning last year.

The interior secretary accused the former administration of “rush[ing] through its approval without sufficient analysis.” He did not provide further details on potential faults identified.

“On day one, [President Donald Trump] called for comprehensive reviews of federal wind projects and wind leasing, and at Interior, we are doing our part to make sure these instructions are followed,” Burgum wrote in a follow-up post.

The Interior Department did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

Equinor, a Norway-based company, was supported by President Joe Biden in his efforts to expand renewable energy projects.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), an arm of the Interior Department that permits offshore energy projects, gave the company a stop-work order, according to an Equinor spokesperson.

“We will engage directly with BOEM and the Department of Interior to understand the questions raised about the permits we have received from authorities,” Equinor said in a statement provided to media outlets. “We will not comment about the potential consequences until we know more.”

Equinor did not respond to a request for further comment by publication time.

Lutnick was involved in the decision because the Commerce Department houses the National Marine Fisheries Service, which is also involved in permitted offshore wind facilities.

Burgum’s decision follows Trump’s January order to review all offshore wind permitting and leasing on his first day back in office in January.

After declaring a national energy emergency, the Trump administration has hastened the speed of environmental reviews and has fast-tracked approvals for other energy projects.

Since Trump’s order, the offshore wind industry has worked to align itself with the president’s energy agenda.

At the time, the American Clean Power Association said in a statement that it “strongly supports President Trump’s effort to reform the permitting process to speed the development of all forms of domestic energy production.”

However, the group’s CEO, Jason Grumet, on Wednesday criticized Burgum’s decision to halt the Empire Wind project.

“Halting construction of fully permitted energy projects is the literal opposite of an energy abundance agenda,” Grumet wrote in a statement.

“With skyrocketing energy demand and increasing consumer prices, we need streamlined permitting for all domestic energy resources. Doubling back to reconsider permits after projects are under construction sends a chilling signal to all energy investment.”

He urged the Trump administration to “quickly address perceived inadequacies in the prior permit approvals so that this project can complete construction and bring much-needed power to the grid.”

Located 12 nautical miles south of Long Island, New York, the lease area will house two projects, which together are expected to generate enough energy to power 700,000 homes each year.

Empire Wind was expected to begin producing electricity in 2027 and is a key part of New York’s efforts to move toward renewable energy.

In response to the pause, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the project had already generated roughly 1,000 “good-paying union jobs” and is contributing to the state’s economy.

“This fully federally permitted project has already put shovels in the ground before the President’s executive orders—it’s exactly the type of bipartisan energy solution we should be working on,” Hochul wrote in a statement.

“As Governor, I will not allow this federal overreach to stand. I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy, and New York’s economic future.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during a press conference on Nov. 14, 2024. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Critics of offshore wind projects are concerned about their potential environmental impacts.

According to the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, offshore wind farms “can be damaging to fish and other marine species” due to the noise and vibration from both the construction and operation of the wind turbines. Disturbing the sea floor during construction can also “affect plankton in the water column.”

However, beyond the energy produced, offshore wind farms also have some indirect benefits.

“The turbines may act as ‘artificial reefs’ and increase biological productivity in the vicinity,” the university’s Center for Environmental Science added. “The presence of hard structures can provide habitat for barnacles, sponges, and other invertebrates, which may locally increase fish abundance. These processes can consequently result in attracting predators higher up the food chain.”

An American citizen identified as Akinyela Sawa Taylor hijacked a Cessna 208 Grand Caravan with 14 souls on board in Belize on Thursday. 

Taylor held the pilot at knifepoint and demanded a new flight path out of the country. He also demanded more fuel for the plane, according to ABC News, citing local law enforcement.

SECUESTRAN AVIÓN EN BELICE

El avión Cessna 208 Grand Caravan EX, matrícula V3-HIG, perteneciente a la aerolínea beliceña Tropic Air, fue secuestrado cuando salia de Corozal rumbo a Belice.

El secuestrador fue identificado como Akinyela Sawa Taylor de 49 estadounidense, por el… pic.twitter.com/DTXxzevKKG

— 5toPoder La Verdad sin Miedo (@5toPoderSM) April 17, 2025

According to police, the crazed American was fatally shot in the chest by a passenger carrying a licensed firearm. 

Authorities in Belize shoot dead a man believed to have hijacked a Tropic Air flight on Thursday.

The small passenger aircraft was reportedly mid-flight when Taylor allegedly brandished a knife, sparking panic among passengers and crew. pic.twitter.com/rqMusrzZzx

— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) April 17, 2025

The Cessna 208 had been circling near Belize City at the time of the incident and nearly ran out of fuel. 

Authorities said three passengers—all Belizean nationals—sustained knife wounds. There were two other Americans on board. 

PASSENGER STABBED TRYING TO FIGHT PLANE HIJACKER

A domestic flight from San Pedro was hijacked by a passenger on board. The aircraft continues to move along the coast of Belize.

We are not sure what is the motive of the hijacker but we do now that one man was stabbed several… pic.twitter.com/mmeNWEodCQ

— Claudia Bryan (@ClaudiaBryan01) April 17, 2025

Flight tracking website Flightradar24 provided in-depth flight details:

The flight departed Corozal at 8:17 am local time (14:17 UTC). At 14:23 UTC at an altitude of 1,025 feet, the flight began squawking 7700, the internationally recognized code for general emergency. The flight continued toward Belize City and then vectored off the Belize coast for little more than an hour. The aircraft landed safely at 16:11 UTC (10:11 am local time).

Video from the airport shows a large emergency response meeting the aircraft on the runway. There were a total of 14 passengers onboard the flight. Authorities say three passengers suffered knife wounds and the hijacker was shot by a passenger who was carrying a licensed firearm.

Flightradar24 shared details about the operator of the plane and the type of aircraft:

The flight was operated by a Tropicair Cessna Grand Caravan EX registered V3-HIG.

Local outlet Belize.com shared an interview with a police official describing how the passenger with a licensed firearm neutralized the hijacker:

Plane hijacking in Belize ends with hero passenger shooting American hijacker dead as plane runs out of fuel on landing Commissioner of Police says. pic.twitter.com/YjIlwwGcUs

— Belize.com (@Belizean) April 17, 2025

The alleged hijacker:

#BREAKING: Over the last hour, a Tropic Air flight en route from Corozal to San Pedro, Belize, was hijacked mid-flight by a knife-wielding passenger, later identified as 49-year-old U.S. national Akinyela Sawa Taylor from California. Reports are conflicting at the moment, but it… pic.twitter.com/xyJSnIX7Oi

— Laszlo Varga (@LaszloRealtor) April 17, 2025

So, where exactly did the hijacker want to go if he got his demand for more jet fuel? The distance on a fully fueled Cessna Grand Caravan is about 1,200 miles; weight and weather will alter the range.

Surely the Cessna would’ve been blown to smithereens by F-22s over the Gulf of America if he attempted a US inbound flight.