Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

The Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy was published last week, setting out the U.S.’s broad foreign policy direction for the remainder of his term. It focused on ending what it calls a “perpetually expanding NATO,” establishing “conditions of stability within Europe,” and encouraging European allies to “stand on [their] own feet” in security matters.

The document also warned that Europe faces “civilizational erasure,” citing migration, censorship of speech, declining birthrates, and what it described as a loss of national identity and self-confidence.

Days after the official release, however, the Defense One website reported that a longer, unreleased version of the NSS had circulated in Washington. According to the site, the unpublished version contained far more explicit political goals for reshaping Europe’s future and reducing the influence of the European Union. Defense One wrote that the extended draft urged the United States to “Make Europe Great Again,” proposing that Washington realign its attention toward a select group of governments ideologically closer to the Trump administration.

The unpublished version, Defense One reported, stated that Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Poland were countries the United States should “work more with… with the goal of pulling them away from the [European Union].” It also said the United States should support “parties, movements, and intellectual and cultural figures who seek sovereignty and preservation/restoration of traditional European ways of life… while remaining pro-American.”

There is a longer, unpublished version of the NSS in which the Trump administration sees Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Poland as core partners for the future, but the US will also attempt to pull them away from the EU.https://t.co/3jl9ZhjImw pic.twitter.com/42WLqqSngm

— Ralph Schoellhammer (@Raphfel) December 10, 2025

None of this language appears in the officially released NSS, which focuses instead on broader themes of strategic stability with Russia, the need for Europe to regain its self-confidence, and continued American support for democracy and free expression. The official document argues that Europe’s loss of confidence is particularly visible in its approach to Russia. It states, “Managing European relations with Russia will require significant U.S. diplomatic engagement, both to reestablish conditions of strategic stability across the Eurasian landmass, and to mitigate the risk of conflict between Russia and European states.” It adds that stabilizing the continent will require “an expeditious cessation of hostilities in Ukraine” to prevent escalation, restore stability, and support Ukraine’s survival as a viable state.

The text also warns that the war has increased Europe’s exposure to external dependencies, particularly Germany’s, and criticizes what it describes as unrealistic expectations held by some European officials. It concludes that despite Europe’s internal crises, the continent remains strategically and culturally vital to the United States. America, it says, “encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit,” asserting that the growing influence of patriotic European parties “gives cause for great optimism.”

After the Defense One report appeared, the White House moved quickly to deny the existence of any longer or alternative NSS. Spokeswoman Anna Kelly said, “No alternative, private, or classified version exists. President Trump is transparent and put his signature on one NSS that clearly instructs the U.S. government to execute on his defined principles and priorities.” She added that “any other so-called ‘versions’ are leaked by people distant from the President who, like this ‘reporter,’ have no idea what they are talking about.” Her reference to leaks suggests that other versions of the report may have been discussed, albeit not endorsed or included in the final publication.

Speaking to the American Conservative website about the strategy report, Krzysztof Bosak, a Polish MP, leader of the right-wing Confederation, and deputy speaker of the Sejm — Poland’s lower parliamentary chamber — said, “I can’t say that I disagree with anything there. It’s a continuation of Vice President J.D. Vance’s Munich [Security Conference] speech, which I agreed with completely.

“Maybe Europe needs a shock from our good old friend America to start a true debate, because there was no debate in the European mainstream. In America, you have both sides of the political spectrum. In Western Europe, there’s only one side. If you have politically incorrect views, you can find yourself in prison, because you said too much, for example, in England or sometimes in Germany,” he added.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica also reported on the Defense One findings, highlighting the claim that the United States planned to use Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Poland “as tools to dismantle the European Union” by drawing them into a broader, ideologically aligned group. It noted Defense One’s summary that the unpublished draft viewed Europe’s immigration policies as driving an “erasure of its civilization,” and that Washington should engage with European actors seeking “sovereignty” and the restoration of traditional ways of life.

La Repubblica separately noted that Matt Schlapp, chairman of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), recently expressed interest in holding a major CPAC event in Italy to promote a sovereignist agenda. While government sources suggested a lack of enthusiasm, Schlapp told the newspaper, “We will get it done.”

CPAC has grown in stature among European conservatives in recent years, most notably in Hungary, where its annual event in Budapest now attracts major players, both from Europe and across the Atlantic.

Read more here…

Ukraine has extended the war to a far flung body of water and unexpected place. Ukraine’s military has newly revealed that its special forces conducted successful operations against Russian oil, military, logistics assets in the Caspian Sea.

The Caspian Sea is some 700 miles from the front lines in Ukraine, and is the world’s largest inland body of water, which is bordered by Russia and Kazakhstan to the north and Iran to the South, among other small countries.

Ukraine revealed Thursday its long-range drones targeted and hit major offshore oil platform in the Caspian Sea. The offshore oil field run by Lukoil had to effectively halt production, according to Oil Price. It is said to be the single biggest oil field in the Russian sector of the Caspian.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said its forces targeted the Vladimir Filanovsky field which lies in the northern sector of the sea. Four drones reportedly struck the offshore platform, causing a stoppage over over 20 wells.

“This is Ukraine’s first strike on Russian infrastructure related to oil production in the Caspian Sea,” a Ukrainian official told CNN. The person described “another reminder to Russia that all its enterprises working for the war are legitimate targets.”

In parallel, Ukraine’s special forces are touting that an additional operation has taken place: it says it struck two Russian military-linked ships in the Caspian Sea near Kalmykia – a republic in southern Russia, north of the North Caucasus.

The vessels have since been identified as the Composer Rakhmaninoff and the Askar-Sarydzha, which are both sanctioned by the Washington for transporting military cargoes between Iran and Russia.

Apparently in this case, Ukraine had help from a local proxy militia group, per Ukrainian media:

Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SSO) said they carried out a joint operation with the insurgent group Chornaya Iskra (“Black Spark”), targeting two Russian vessels close to Russia’s Kalmykia coast. The ships were identified as the Kompozitor Rakhmaninov and Askar Sarydzha. Both had been sanctioned by the US…

International monitors have indicated that between August and the end of November of this year, Ukraine has struck nearly 80 Russian energy facilities in total.

Next big news, for the 2nd successive day, is from the Caspian Sea.

Ukraine says it’s hit 2 more Russian ships on intnl sanctions lists, off the coast of Kalmykia which I highlighted on the map. Kyiv says the “Kompositor Rachmaninov” + “Askar-Sarydzha” were transporting weapons pic.twitter.com/sp4TEYMwxy

— Tim White (@TWMCLtd) December 12, 2025

Kiev is desperately trying to play the only card it has – choking off energy revenue and funding for Russia’s war machine. But so far the Kremlin has weathered the storm, but still may feel the squeeze down the line – especially amid slowed repair efforts given the sheer volume of incidents.

Russia has taken desperate measures, even draping refineries and oil depots with giant netting – or else ramping up ground anti-drone forces. But throughout the war, small long-range drones have proven devastating and able to oftentimes penetrate even the most sophisticated defensive measures.

“What used to be occasional strikes meant to cause damage has become a sustained effort to keep refineries from ever fully stabilizing,” said Nikhil Dubey, senior refining analyst at data and analytics firm Kpler.

Submitted By Thomas Kolbe

What is now unfolding in France may soon drag the entire Eurozone into deep turmoil. The country is staggering through a fiscal crisis while locked in a political stalemate that seems impossible to break. In the bond market, the clock is ticking loudly as France’s public debt spirals out of control.

This week, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu celebrated a textbook Pyrrhic victory. On Tuesday, the National Assembly narrowly approved his draft for next year’s social budget. But the win came at a steep price: sweeping concessions that will only worsen an already explosive fiscal situation.

Strange coalitions

With 247 votes in favor, 234 against, and 93 abstentions, the Assembly passed a plan projecting a €20 billion deficit in the social budget – significantly worse than the originally planned €17 billion. Marine Le Pen’s party and the far-left bloc around Jean-Luc Mélenchon both rejected the proposal.

It is surreal: political gridlock has driven France into a place where the far-left and the right vote together – and collectively push the government toward collapse. For President Emmanuel Macron, this could soon mean assembling yet another fragile government, as there is no indication France can lift itself out of its catastrophic stalemate.

The bill now moves to the Senate, where the governing coalition holds a majority. It will likely pass without major obstruction. On December 23rd, the Senate begins negotiations for the 2026 budget. It may provide drama, but no one seriously expects the political blockade to change.

Pension reform on ice – permanent reform paralysis

Lecornu was forced to freeze the planned pension reform, which would have raised the retirement age from 62 to 64. Instead, France will raise it only to 62 years and nine months. The country maintains the largest social budget in the EU while keeping one of the lowest retirement ages. Once again, France sidesteps its growing pension crisis, following Germany down the same dangerous path of a collapsing pay-as-you-go system. Paris also refuses to address the fiscal consequences of illegal migration – a social time bomb whose fuse is already burning.

This decision exposes the deep political denial embedded in France’s leadership: they continue living at the expense of future generations, consuming economic substance that no longer exists. France has become fundamentally incapable of reform and is drifting straight into a severe fiscal crisis.

This year’s budget deficit is roughly 5.6% of GDP. The government’s wildly optimistic projection for next year is 5%. With huge gaps in the social accounts, no one can explain how this number could be reached. It is pure fantasy. A far more realistic expectation is a deficit between 6% and 7%.

France’s political crisis mirrors its economic paralysis. Economic productivity has been shrinking for years. With a state share of 57% of GDP, the government blocks the free allocation of capital and absorbs the very resources required to revive the economy. France has never been comfortable with market economics and now, like a Siamese twin of Berlin’s disastrous policies, pushes central planning deeper into the economy.

Economic ossification

With 68,000 corporate insolvencies over the past twelve months and an industrial sector stuck in contraction, the country is heading directly into a severe social crisis – already reflected in an inescapable fiscal trap.

France is experiencing a bankruptcy wave of biblical proportions, likely costing 400,000 jobs this year. The economy is on its knees, and the French retreat into the illusion that endless debt can somehow restore their welfare system.

We have seen what this means for Eurozone stability: fifteen years ago, tiny Greece lost access to markets and triggered a debt crisis that spread like wildfire across Europe.

Back then, the credibility of Eurozone monetary policy was sacrificed to keep the highly interconnected credit markets liquid through massive ECB intervention and years of bailouts.

If the Eurozone’s second-largest economy experiences an “air pocket” on its bond market – a sudden collapse in demand for its swelling debt issuance – the traditional toolkit of the European Central Bank will not be enough to contain the fallout.

A secular shift in global bonds

In an acute crisis, the ECB would be ready to intervene. Its main tool would be sovereign bond purchases under the PSPP (Public Sector Purchase Programme). Additional liquidity could be injected through targeted long-term refinancing operations or via support for banks holding large volumes of French sovereign debt.

The Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) program could also be activated, allowing direct purchases of crisis-country bonds – though only under strict fiscal-conditionality rules. But in the next crisis, those conditions will almost certainly be ignored to prevent the Eurozone from disintegrating. The ECB already provided the playbook when Mario Draghi uttered his famous “whatever it takes.”

Yet the ECB’s actual influence has limits: the long end of the bond market – maturities beyond ten years – is the deepest and most liquid segment. No single central bank can truly control it.

For months, long-term yields have been rising – first in Japan, now increasingly across parts of the Eurozone. The market is signaling a fundamental loss of confidence in the debt sustainability of fiscally undisciplined states.

A secular turning point in global bond markets has already occurred. At its climax, it will mark the final full stop on every pending fiscal crisis. Think Argentina. The age of the chainsaw is approaching.

Update (Saturday morning): 

Dust off your snow shovels and fill up those snowblowers with gasoline, or if you’ve splurged this year on a fancy robot snowblower, plug it in and charge the batteries today.

The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast are preparing for the season’s first significant snowfall event, with accumulating snow expected in metro areas near I-95. It is a fast-moving clipper storm expected to arrive overnight.

“An area of low pressure will redevelop off the coast Saturday night into Sunday morning with snow developing by 12 a.m. The snow will mix with rain at times in Zones 4 and 5. All snow is expected to continue through 8 a.m. Sunday and then taper off from northwest to southeast through 1 p.m. Sunday,” a meteorologist at NY NJ PA Weather wrote in a report.

NY NJ PA Weather noted that the heaviest snowfall favors interior areas, while coastal zones may see periods of rain before transitioning to snow. Accumulating snow is possible near the I-95 corridor, including areas around Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City.

Impacts by zone (courtesy of NY NJ PA Weather):

• Zone 1: Snow showers, trace to 1 inch

• Zone 2: Light snow, 1 to 3 inches

• Zone 3: Moderate snow, 3 to 6 inches

• Zone 4: Rain changing to snow, 1 to 3 inches

• Zone 5: Rain changing to snow, trace to 1 inch

What other meteorologists and weather observers are saying:

DECEMBER 14 SNOW FORECAST

A plowable snow of 3-5″ is expected for snow starved areas near and below I-95 from Baltimore to the Cape. Fairly bullish due to favorable snow growth and banding potential. Less snow as one moves inland. Will be in and out before noon Sunday. pic.twitter.com/jhgUP2C4dm

— Andrew Markowitz (@amarkowitzWX) December 12, 2025

00z RRFS much more enthusiastic than the NAM suite pic.twitter.com/Ef45nrQ9CS

— Michael Kiefer (@mike61400) December 13, 2025

Winter weather advisory 8p-7a tonight. Weather Service is calling for 1-3 inches, which is somewhat higher than our coating to 2 inches.

Heaviest totals around Baltimore and northeast Md. Snow Potential Index a 7. Much colder Sun-Mon. Forecast details: https://t.co/2sM0zHeo9V pic.twitter.com/TtPmveSTrh

— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) December 13, 2025

❄️ANOTHER WINTER STORM IS COMING❄️
A strong Alberta Clipper Snow Storm will bring significant accumulating snow to the Midwest and Ohio Valley on Saturday.

Widespread Snow of 3–6 inches is expected, with some of the hardest hit cities including Springfield IL, Indianapolis,… pic.twitter.com/4Cf5mWh2oy

— Brady Harris (@StormCat5_) December 13, 2025

Related:

• Snow Threat For Mid-Atlantic I-90 Corridor This Weekend

• After Polar Vortex US Freeze, Global Warming Returns Before Christmas

* * * 

Ahead of next week’s return to global warming, thank you, Al Gore, for listening to our prayers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast after weeks of below-average temperatures that felt like the Arctic. A weekend snowstorm is set to blanket the region with accumulating snow.

The NWS Weather Prediction Center published a new snowfall forecast for a weekend winter storm that stretches from the northern High Plains of Montana through the Ohio Valley, the central Appalachians, and the Northeast, including major cities from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston.

Private weather forecaster Weather Madness noted on X, “I expect an Arctic low to develop along the Arctic front, which could produce extra snow along the I-95 corridor from NYC to DCA.”

Weather Madness expects parts of the Mid-Atlantic to receive 4 to 8 inches.

Meteorologist Steven DiMartino at NY NJ PA Weather published a short video earlier that details the incoming snow threat for the Mid-Atlantic area.

Snowfall On The Way!

A premium public discussion focused on the snow threat for Sunday morning. pic.twitter.com/OtGWW5Mr37

— NY NJ PA Weather (@nynjpaweather) December 12, 2025

More from meteorologist Rayn Maue… 

Mother Nature will take out her paint brush and color in the Northeast along the coast including NYC and Boston with “blue coloring” or more than 2″ of snowfall ❄️and then just about everyone will have had snow before December 15th.

That’s a successful pre-winter! pic.twitter.com/A8cKE8Qjej

— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) December 12, 2025

On Thursday, we noted in “After Polar Vortex US Freeze, Global Warming Returns Before Christmas” that a warm-up for the eastern half of the US is expected to begin on Tuesday-Wednesday of next week.

Related:

• Southern Oscillation Index Plunge Triggers “Big Winter Storm Signal,” Meteorologist Warns

Meteorologist Ben Noll said, “A whopping 235 million people across the United States have experienced well below-average temperatures so far this December.”

Next week, much milder air from the West will erase the chill in the East.

There are signs these warmer conditions may stick around leading up to Christmas. pic.twitter.com/0AlWkQYWvp

— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) December 12, 2025

We’ll take the warmth. Thanks, Al Gore. However, January is right around the corner.

For those who understand the basics of attrition warfare, the outcome of the fight in Ukraine was obvious a long time ago.  Russia’s superior logistical position along with its grinding offensive tactics have worn down Ukraine’s defenses and left the country with a desperate manpower shortage.  The recent capture of the vital hub of Pokrovsk has now opened the door to an accelerating Russian advance.

The Russian offensive is gaining significant ground from Pokrovsk to the north, all the way to Kupiansk.  The strategic city of Siversk is now largely under control of Russia according to geo-location mapping.  Myrnohrad, also near Pokrovsk, has been flattened by artillery and FABs.  

Ukraine’s ability to stall Russian forces is faltering, allowing the Kremlin to move troops in a swift manner closer to maneuver warfare instead of the slow and methodical process of attrition.  Ukraine continues to deny they are in trouble, but the writing is on the wall. 

This helps to explain Europe’s sudden interest in “peace negotiation”, but not for the purposes of establishing actual peace.  First and foremost, we know Europe is not interested in peace because they largely refuse to engage directly with Putin and Russia in negotiations. 

Instead, European leaders continue to pretend as if they can establish a peace deal unilaterally without involving the Kremlin.  They have also consistently tried to sabotage Donald Trump’s efforts for a quick resolution by deluding Zelensky with promises of access to Russian assets. 

The Europeans have in fact announced their plan to confiscate Russian assets that have been frozen since the beginning of the war, using them to help fund Ukraine’s military and infrastructure.  Trump had initially intended to use those assets as a bargaining chip to convince the Russians to support his peace plan.

Zelensky and European officials have spoken often about sustaining the war for at least another two years, which is foolish given the current state of Ukraine’s front lines.  Russia does not need to conquer vast swaths of territory to win, all Russia needs to do is kill Ukrainian troops until there aren’t enough left to maintain a proper defensive line.  After that, Zelensky will lose the whole country, not just the eastern third.   

Europe also continues to push for troop deployments, using NATO as a “peacekeeping force” as part of the negotiations.  Putin has repeatedly stated that this would lead to wider war.  After all, it was the encroachment of NATO into Ukraine over a decade ago that ultimately triggered the current war.  

In a recent admission, Trump asserted that there will be no more handouts from the US to Ukraine, ending speculation on whether or not the hundreds of billions of dollars in US aid would continue under his administration.  The statement comes just after Trump’s revelation that Zelensky “had not even read the US peace proposal” despite other Ukrainian officials supporting the plan.

NATO and EU leaders claim that Russia is in financial peril due to sanctions and other measures, but there isn’t enough evidence to support this theory.  Russia has seen a slowdown in GDP and PMI, but so has 70% of all other national economies in the face of a global decline in economic activity.    

Ukraine drone strikes on Russian infrastructure have been increasingly ineffective.  Their most recent attack involved nearly 300 drones with minimal success.   Ukraine called for a truce on attacks on energy infrastructure, indicating that their strikes are not doing as much damage as they would like.  The Kremlin rejected the offer.

🚨🇬🇧 “The Defence Minister said – the UK is rapidly developing plans to prepare the whole country for war”

“The sense that war isn’t that far away from us – what does that do to people here?”

EU & UK Politicians along with NATO have seriously been ramping up the wartime… pic.twitter.com/N4DUWlptbS

— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) December 13, 2025

It would appear that the Europeans are trying to use peace negotiations as a way to stop Russia’s advance, arguing that there can be no peace until Russia agrees to a ceasefire.  As any tactician knows, ceasefires are often nothing more than a way to stall an offensive in order to gain an advantage over an enemy who thinks you are sincere.  

Europe’s behavior indicates they have no intention of ending the war.  Instead, they seem hellbent on expanding the conflict and turning it into a world war.  

Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

Nothing bothers the European elite as much as American conservatives praising the European foundations of their shared, but threatened, Western civilization.

Europeans especially resent having their social-welfare state system critiqued by upstart, crass Americans.

Their pique only increases as they push back against the condescending American idea that the U.S. could possibly offer any constructive advice, much less help a more civilized Europe follow the “American model.”

Americans, in turn, are worried that Europe is not just stagnating but is on a trajectory of permanent decline—with dire consequences for the entire Western world.

As for symptoms, the U.S. cites a steadily declining European share of world GDP. It points to Europe’s unsustainable 1.39 fertility rate, which ensures a steadily smaller, older, and costlier native population.

More than ten percent of Europe’s resident population is now foreign-born—some 45 million people. However, the European host, unlike a classless America, does not have a long tradition of melting-pot assimilation, integration, and acculturation.

Unlike America’s mostly Christian-nation immigration patterns, European immigrants are predominantly from the Middle East and North Africa, Islamic, and increasingly anti-Western.

Far too many of Europe’s immigrants profess too little desire to assimilate into what they consider a culturally decadent place—one that, ironically, they have no desire to leave.

The Christian Church, the linchpin of Western civilization, was born in Europe. Yet nowhere do atheism, agnosticism, and open hostility to Christendom grow stronger.

Europe, the birthplace of a dynamic Western military tradition, has been, by contemporary standards and at least until recently, virtually disarmed and unable to protect its own borders or interests.

Europe’s overregulation and war on fossil fuels, combined with a generous social welfare state, have resulted in too little revenue and too many costly dependents.

Americans dare to lecture Europe because the same Western pathologies—open borders, unassimilated immigrants, tribalism, declining fertility, green fanaticism, unsustainable budget deficits, and massive national debt—are likewise beginning to threaten America.

But unlike Europe, millions of Americans at the eleventh hour are galvanizing to stop their own insidious downward spiral.

So Americans claim to know firsthand the causes for these shared, but even more distressing, European symptoms of decay.

And their answers are the threats of several dangerous ideologies.

One pathology is green fanaticism, which has led Europeans to not only ignore their fossil fuel resources but also to dismantle existing coal, nuclear, and natural gas plants.

That suicidal folly ensured that transportation fuels and electrical power became so exorbitant that once sought-after European exports are now uncompetitive, while Europe’s strapped middle classes slip into poverty.

Meanwhile, China funds green causes in the West, exports below-cost cheap wind and solar systems, and then builds three coal or nuclear plants a month to ensure that it has much cheaper energy than the green West.

Other existential threats are diversity/equity/inclusion mandates—a precivilizational emphasis on tribal affinities of race and religion rather than shared national values and unity. The results are legions of drone DEI commissars who sow disunity, spike racial tensions, wage war on meritocracy, and increase overhead.

America further warns Europe that only cutbacks in unsustainable entitlements can allow it to reboot its militaries enough to prevent Russian bullying and threats of attack, protect supply lines of imported fuels and natural resources, and deter terrorists.

And what happens if a petulant and snarky Europe utterly rejects the American diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis?

America will decide that it can no longer afford, as NATO’s leader, to protect European borders when it struggles at home to ensure its own.

Nor can the U.S. understand an increasingly two-faced Europe.

One of its faces is the self-righteous 27-member European Union that is becoming increasingly anti-American.

The EU attacks the U.S. nonstop on matters of culture, energy, trade, censorship, and foreign policy.

Yet nearly the same nations of a 32-member NATO alliance—Europe’s other face—praise America for its military leadership and call for closer U.S.-European strategic relations.

This one-eyed Jack policy of censoring and fining American companies, blasting American allies at the United Nations, and belittling conservative, Christian, and traditional American culture, while praising the U.S. military and courting its armed assistance, is simply not sustainable.

Is there a solution? Perhaps, given that both civilizations are offering diametrically opposed correctives to their shared morbidities.

Europe is only growing more socialist, censorious, globalist, pacifist, multicultural, atheistic, and green.

In contrast, the U.S. is undergoing a counter-revolution toward smaller government, fewer regulations, more fossil fuels, an expanding military, less DEI and woke, more secure borders, legal-only immigration, and renewed faith.

Only one of these competing solutions will solve the shared crisis of Western civilization.

And let us hope the one remedy that works will be fully adopted by both.

Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Trump administration said on Dec. 10 that it would transfer roughly 760 acres of public land along the U.S.-Mexico border in California to the Navy for three years to support border security operations.

While announcing the decision Wednesday, the Interior Department said the land would become part of a “National Defense Area,” or militarized zone, to bolster immigration enforcement.

The land stretches from roughly a mile west of the California-Arizona state line to the western edge of the Otay Mountain Wilderness Area in San Diego and Imperial counties, according to the Interior Department.

“This corridor is one of the highest-traffic regions for unlawful crossings along the southern border, creating significant national security challenges and contributing to environmental degradation,” the department said.

The Interior Department said the land was originally set aside in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt for “border protection purposes,” and the Navy will use it to “strengthen operational capabilities while reducing ecological harm associated with sustained illegal activity.”

Since April, the federal government has transferred large portions of land along the southern border to the military, allowing troops to detain migrants attempting to cross the border or arrest people accused of trespassing on military bases.

The process began with a 170-mile swath of land along the border in New Mexico before the government expanded into Texas and Arizona.

While the Interior Department referred to the Southern California lands as a high-traffic area for illegal border crossings, arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border have dropped to the lowest level since the 1960s as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration.

“President Trump has made it clear that securing our border and restoring American sovereignty are top national priorities,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.

“This action delivers on that commitment. By working with the Navy to close longstanding security gaps, we are strengthening national defense, protecting our public lands from unlawful use, and advancing the president’s agenda to put the safety and security of the American people first.”

The department said it coordinated closely with the Navy to make sure that the transfer is targeted and legal and that it reinforces the “historic role public lands have played in safeguarding national sovereignty.”

The announcement came shortly after a federal judge ordered the federal government to cease deploying California’s National Guard in Los Angeles and restore control of the troops to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

U.S. credit card balances have climbed to $1.21 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s 2025 report.

This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, visualizes how average credit card debt varies widely across the United States in 2025. The data for this visualization comes from the TransUnion Credit Industry Snapshot published in September 2025.

States with the Highest Balances

Washington, D.C. leads the nation with an average balance of $7,684, reflecting high living costs and larger credit lines.

Alaska is in second place at $7,683, a trend often linked to higher prices and fewer local retail banking options. Hawaii ranks third at $7,330. Coastal states like California, New Jersey, and Maryland also show above-average balances, consistent with higher incomes but also higher spending.

States with the Lowest Balances

Wisconsin posts the lowest average balance at $5,206, well below the U.S. average. Iowa and West Virginia follow with balances under $5,500, reflecting more conservative credit usage in these regions.

Many low-debt states also report strong payment behavior, with higher percentages of consumers maintaining positive standing on revolving accounts.

Credit Lines and Consumer Activity

Higher-balance states generally have higher credit lines, such as D.C. at over $34,000 per consumer. Conversely, states with lower average balances often have tighter credit availability, such as Mississippi at just over $19,000.

Despite the variation, more than 80% of consumers in nearly all states have active revolving accounts, showing how widespread credit card use remains.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Ranked: The Cities Americans Are Moving To on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

Authored by Jeff Morris via RealClearDefense,

According to the Association of the U.S. Army, the crisis of doctor shortages has been increasing for years, which negatively affects military readiness. Their own report cited the inability of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to recruit and retain enough doctors. As the number of military physicians has consistently decreased, the armed services have been forced to close some hospitals, to lower other hospitals to clinic status, and to use nurses and technicians as “physician extenders.”

More recently, leading U.S. physicians have spoken out about the largest healthcare monopoly in the country that we have ever seen, which also involves our medical residency programs. This too affects military readiness.

A renowned doctor recently wrote an OpEd in the Wall Street Journal scratching the surface on this crisis. He described how the private American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) acts like a regulator, hamstringing physicians with endless fees, paperwork, and testing.

Not only doctors are sounding the alarm. Adam Candeub, leading antitrust attorney and current General Counsel to the FCC, stated in his white paper titled The American Board of Medical Specialties: Certification and The Need for Antitrust Enforcement, that “board certification serves as medicine’s gatekeeper.” He went on to say that “competition among organizations providing these certification services drives innovation and lowers healthcare costs. The domination of the American Board of Medical Specialists (ABMS) over certification is dramatically raising certification costs and indirectly accreditation costs throughout medicine, decreasing access to physicians, increasing already exploding medical budgets, and reducing healthcare innovation.”

The urgent issue is this self proclaimed “Gold Standard and Gatekeeper” has created the largest monopoly in physician care that we’ve ever seen. All the while contributing to our current and growing physician shortages. It is important to note that testing is a key component that ensures physicians meet the very standards needed for higher quality care for all Americans. 

The ABMS has long been working with the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to corner the market on physician board certification. Their collusive relationship, which began when ABMS co-founded the ACGME, can be considered one of the root causes of physician shortages throughout the country, the military, and within key specialties. The impact can be seen in every aspect of our health care system, greatly contributing to shortages in specialties within primary care, especially access to much-needed specialties for 21st-century medicine throughout rural America. These include emergency and integrative medicine as well as family medicine obstetrics.

In March, the Republican leadership of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel launched a probe into the nation’s medical residency system. The ACGME was one of the organizations asked to provide documents to the Committee along with the AMA and major universities. U.S. Representative Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), said “for years, resident wages have remained stagnant while doctor shortages have increased, which harms medical students and hospital patients, and forces us to rely on foreign talent to fill the gap.”

With the Trump Administration’s mandate to end bureaucracies and monopolies within our healthcare system, Congress and HHS need to act now. The collusive activities of the ABMS and the ACGME have suppressed innovation and restricted access across the country. In addition, their bureaucratic control has gone beyond that of federal agencies such as HHS, as they now hold the Defense Health Agency under regulatory capture. This resulted in limiting our military’s ability to access much needed physician care. This drastically impacts not just military personnel, but global readiness. 

Many have spoken on the impact on maternal care, as pregnant servicewomen and military spouses often have to travel hours away or even back to mainland U.S. for months at a time to have their baby alone.

Now more than ever we need Congress and HHS to investigate the root causes of doctor shortages which in turn helps strengthen our military. 

Jeff Morris, JD is CEO of American Board of Physician Specialties.

In the wake of last month’s shooting of two National Guard service members just blocks from the White House by a radicalized Afghan national who entered the U.S. under the Biden-Harris regime, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent warned the House Homeland Security Committee that the Homeland faces an elevated terrorism risk tied to years of nation-killing open border policies.

On Thursday, Kent testified that the NCTC has identified 18,000 “known and suspected terrorists that the Biden administration let come into our country.”

He continued, “These are individuals who, under normal circumstances, would never be allowed to enter our country because of their ties to jihadi groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. Yet, the Biden administration not only let them into the country, but in many cases facilitated their entry into the country.”

Kent’s testimony and exchanges with members of Congress provided a glimpse into what some of the deepest national security circles in Washington are clearly thinking, informed by their intelligence sources both overseas and domestically.

Kent called Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan national who entered the U.S. in 2021 under Biden and shot the soldiers in D.C., killing one, “the Afghan terrorist.”

“The individual terrorist who committed the attack in D.C. was vetted to serve as a soldier in Afghanistan. The Biden administration essentially used his tactical-level vetting, and we are seeing the tragic results of that now,” he said, adding, “That Afghan attacker is just one of 88,000. We’ve identified 2,000 who have ties to terrorist organizations.”

.@NCTCKent: “So far, NCTC has identified around 18,000 known and suspected terrorists that the Biden administration let come into our country.” pic.twitter.com/XPrHdKMICK

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 11, 2025

One of the few other individuals in the public domain who has warned repeatedly, sometimes in a sensational way, is former CIA targeting officer Sarah Adams. She has warned about al-Qaeda sleeper cells.

More recently, Adams warned, “It’s past time @DHSgov stops playing pretend and finally raises the terrorism threat level in this country. We have more than 10,000 Islamist terrorists on our soil, and they cannot keep looking the other way. They don’t get to pad their stats by slapping the terrorist label on everyday criminals while ignoring the actual extremists already here. This is dereliction, full stop.”

It’s past time @DHSgov stops playing pretend and finally raises the terrorism threat level in this country. We have more than 10,000 Islamist terrorists on our soil, and they cannot keep looking the other way. They don’t get to pad their stats by slapping the terrorist label on…

— Sarah Adams (@TPASarah) November 27, 2025

That may be the real reason the Trump administration has deployed National Guard troops in several major cities. There is clearly much the public is not being told, and the threat cannot be dismissed, given that the previous administration intentionally collapsed the nation’s border and allowed for an invasion. Kent’s comments reinforce the urgency in national security circles to address incoming threats to the Homeland.