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September 23rd, 2025
Let’s dive in.
INTERVIEW: Rep. Randy Fine warns NATO members, Five Eyes countries that recognizing fake countries could come with a cost
Heard on the Hill
EXCLUSIVE: Lawmakers blast “historic mistake” by United Kingdom, France, Australia, and Canada for recognizing a country that has never existed
EXCLUSIVE: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman on “tragedy” of Palestinian statehood recognition
EXCLUSIVE: How Sen. Lankford is moving to prevent a Schumer Shutdown
EXCLUSIVE: Pro-Hitler city council candidate has “alot in common” with Democratic Senate candidate
SCOOP: Iowa Democrats’ silence on “Palestine” recognition already impacting Senate race
SCOOP: Rep. Claudia Tenney lays out her international strategy to win Trump the Nobel Peace Prize
SCOOP: “Live, Laugh, Gaslight”: Failed Democratic candidate tries to recycle 2024 photo in latest campaign
EXCLUSIVE: War on Alzheimer’s is political winner for Trump and Republicans, poll shows
SCOOP: National Dance Day at the Kennedy Center draws rave reviews: “In the darkest of times, the Kennedy Center reminds us that as we stand, dance or cry together, our unity is our strength”
OPINIONATED: Mayor Përparim Rama on what the UN can learn from cities around the world, Bethany Mandel on the shameful move to recognize “Palestine,” Jaclyn Stapp on how to make America fentanyl-free, Sarah Stern on why the UN’s push for “Palestine” is a dangerous mistake
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INTERVIEW: Rep. Randy Fine warns NATO members, Five Eyes countries that recognizing fake countries could come with a cost
by Matthew Foldi
Rep. Randy Fine (R., Fla.) has a simple message to the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Canada, and other western governments that recently chose to recognize “Palestine” as a country, despite there being no history of “Palestine” as a country: you’re making a historic mistake.
Fine, who has long been known as the “Hebrew Hammer” during his political career, did not mince words in an interview with the Washington Reporter about how calamitous it is for countries in the west to surrender to “Muslim terror.”
“When these countries choose to recognize Hamas, I don’t know how we can consider them our allies anymore,” Fine said. While he clarified that he does not view the United Kingdom as an outright enemy of America, he wondered whether “a country that chooses to embrace Muslim terror is a country that can be prepared to be an ally for the United States.”
While countries like France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia — all of which recognized “Palestine” in a move that many across the world view as a gift to Islamic terrorists — have sizable Jewish populations, Fine said that he doesn’t think that their governments “care about Jews.”
“I don’t know that you can do anything more symbolic than reward the people who killed 1,200 innocent civilians on October 7th,” he said — while floating the idea of heavy consequences from the United States.
Heard on the Hill
NOT SO FAST: The House Judiciary Committee scored a giant win this week, forcing Google to admit that it censored conservatives at the behest of the Biden administration. Following the committee’s win, Rep Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) told the Washington Reporter that “Democrats want the country to forget Biden was ever president, but we remember all four failed years and have the receipts to prove it. Next time a progressive pretends to be for free speech, show them our report and remind them of the countless times the left demanded conservatives be censored, silenced, and de-platformed.”
NO MORE FREELOADERS: Bristol Myers Squibb is winning praise from the Hill and the White House [ [link removed] ] for announcing that it will charge the U.K. the U.S. rate for its Cobenfy drug to treat Alzheimer’s. For years, the U.K. and other countries have used their government power to pay less for drugs than Americans–and now companies are fighting back.
MOODY VICTORY: In a major win for Sen. Ashley Moody (R., Fla.), the Trump administration took action against illicit vape manufacturers that have been targeting children with Chinese Vapes. The Washington Reporter praised [ [link removed] ] this initiative last week, and Senator Moody, who has been the lead senator pushing for action, took a much-deserved victory lap on X [ [link removed] ].
ANOTHER ONE: Eli Lilly announced yet another planned factory in America; this time, it will be a $6.5 billion manufacturing plant in Texas. This comes on the heels of another massive Lilly expansion in Virginia in the outskirts of Richmond.
BARRED: Congratulations to the House Judiciary Committee’s Victoria Garrastacho on passing the Bar exam!
A message from our sponsor.
We must protect American leadership in the life sciences and avoid damaging drug pricing policies. Meanwhile, China is making significant strides in clinical trials, drug approvals and new breakthroughs. Now is the time to strengthen American innovation, not hinder it. Learn more. [ [link removed] ]
EXCLUSIVE: Lawmakers blast “historic mistake” by United Kingdom, France, Australia, and Canada for recognizing a country that has never existed
by Matthew Foldi
Days before the anniversary of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, several of America’s closest allies announced plans to recognize “Palestine” as a country — despite any evidence that such a country has ever existed.
Within hours, the Trump administration and top lawmakers blasted the move — and lawmakers immediately explained to the Washington Reporter why and how the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and France are rewarding Palestinian terrorism.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) — long one of the biggest foes in Congress of Palestinian terrorism — told the Reporter that is is “shameful that countries are rewarding terrorists with recognition.”
“This is a transparent attempt to appease Islamists in Europe, and it will only make peace less likely,” Cotton explained, adding that “we should back Israel in its just war against Hamas to free the hostages.”
EXCLUSIVE: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman on “tragedy” of Palestinian statehood recognition
by Matthew Foldi
Sen. Jim Risch (R., Idaho) — a leading voice in the GOP on foreign policy and the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — exclusively told the Washington Reporter why the move by American allies to recognize a “Palestinian” state is nothing to celebrate.
“Our allies’ recognition of a purported Palestinian state is a tragedy for those it seeks to support: the Palestinian people,” the Idaho lawmaker explained. “This recognition rewards Hamas, a terror group that thrust millions of Gazans into a terrible war, that uses Palestinian women and children as human shields, and that relies on their suffering for its political success.”
Risch’s remarks to the Reporter came just hours after several American allies announced plans to recognize “Palestine” just days before the two-year anniversary of when Palestinian terrorists and purported civilians broke into southern Israel on October 7th, 2023, murdering and raping over 1,2000 civilians and taking hundreds of Israelis and Americans hostage.
There is no historical basis for a country called “Palestine”; and Risch notes that western countries like the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Australia recognizing a country that has never existed will only embolden Palestinian terrorist leaders in Gaza and Judea and Samaria.
EXCLUSIVE: How Sen. Lankford is moving to prevent a Schumer Shutdown
by Matthew Foldi
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) are poised to steer their caucuses towards a government shutdown at the end of the month — and new legislation from Sen. James Lankford (R., Okla.) will further clarify to the American people that, should the government shut down, Democrats are to blame.
According to a poll conducted by i360 on behalf of Americans for Prosperity — and obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter — a clear plurality Americans of both parties oppose a government shutdown this September. Seniors in particular are sensitive to a potential shutdown.
48 percent of the 1,064 Americans surveyed across the country oppose a government shutdown, compared to only 26 percent who support one. 24 percent of voters are neutral. Majorities of both Republicans and Democrats outright oppose a shutdown; only libertarians and socialists have majority support.
One potential headache for Schumer and Jeffries is that Democratic Party voters are even more opposed to a shutdown than Republican voters are. “Across the electorate — including base GOP and Democratic voters — shutdowns are viewed as disruptive and unhelpful,” i360 explained in its memo. “Framing a shutdown as leverage is unlikely to resonate beyond narrow ideological fringes.”
EXCLUSIVE: Pro-Hitler city council candidate has “alot in common” with Democratic Senate candidate
by Matthew Foldi
While Maine Democrat Graham Platner wished Jews a “Shana Tova” this week, a local pro-Hitler, pro-Palestinian candidate for Bangor City Council bragging about how the two of them “have alot in common” threatens to undercut that message.
In a now-deleted Facebook post — obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter— Richard Ward posted a picture of him with Platner in which Ward is wearing a black t-shirt with “88” emblazoned on it. 88 is commonly used by neo-Nazis to refer to “Heil Hitler,” and Ward has [ [link removed] ] “well-documented history of provocative political actions that use neo-Nazi and white supremacist rhetoric,” according to the Bangor Daily News.
Ward and Platner have “alot in common [sic],” the controversial candidate wrote.
The Daily News added that “Ward has displayed white supremacist symbols, including imagery of Adolf Hitler.”
SCOOP: Iowa Democrats’ silence on “Palestine” recognition already impacting Senate race
by Matthew Foldi
While Republicans in Congress and in the Trump administration are unanimous in their condemnation of how several American allies recently moved to recognize the nonexistent country of “Palestine,” Democrats in a marquee open Senate race aren’t as quick to respond.
Both state Senator Zach Wahls and state Representative Josh Turek are Democrats vying for their party’s nomination to replace Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa). Neither responded to request for comment from the Washington Reporter about the latest moves by America’s allies — which is particularly ironic given that the woman they’re running to replace has been one of the foremost voices on foreign policy in the Senate for years.
Republicans, for their part, are unsurprised by what they’ve called the Democrats’ silence.
SCOOP: Rep. Claudia Tenney lays out her international strategy to win Trump the Nobel Peace Prize
by Matthew Foldi
Across the world, leaders are nominating President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. But Rep. Claudia Tenney (R., N.Y.) had the idea years before Israeli Primine Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe, and Gabonese President Brice Oligui Nguema — and countless others backed Trump for the prestigious award.
Tenney explained both her rationale and her global strategy for convincing the Nobel Committee to award Trump the honor this year.
Originally, Tenney nominated Trump years ago “because of his historic win on the Abraham Accords, a peace agreement that has been unparalleled by any other,” she told the Washington Reporter in an interview.
SCOOP: “Live, Laugh, Gaslight”: Failed Democratic candidate tries to recycle 2024 photo in latest campaign
by Matthew Foldi
A failed Democratic House candidate is trying an unusual form of recycling in her third bid against Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R., Iowa).
Christina Bohannan recently attacked Miller-Meeks for “jumping from fundraisers to photo ops and private events” in a post on X [ [link removed] ], formerly Twitter. However, Bohannan’s post included a photo from her previous failed bid for Congress from 2024, prompting the National Republican Campaign Committee’s (NRCC) Emily Tuttle to declare that Bohannan’s 2026 motto could be “live, laugh, gaslight.”
Miller-Meeks, for her part, fact-checked Bohannan, saying that she has “met thousands of Iowans at 60+ events in all 20 counties in August. Meanwhile, [Bohannan] has to dust off a YEAR OLD photo to prove she’s talking to you. Iowans deserve better.”
EXCLUSIVE: War on Alzheimer’s is political winner for Trump and Republicans, poll shows
by Matthew Foldi
Almost every voter supports changing Medicare rules to allow for doctors to prescribe treatments for Alzheimer’s that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to a new poll obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter.
The poll, which sources tell the Reporter has made its way to the top levels of the White House, found that 92 percent of voters support a national strategy to finally defeat Alzheimer’s.
That near-universal support, found in the poll from Tony Fabrizio and Bob Ward on behalf of Plymouth Union Public Research, spanned 28 of the most competitive House districts in America; the poll’s margin of error is 2.8 percent.
Virtually every voter supported changing Medicare rules to make it easier for doctors to prescribe FDA-approved treatments that could slow Alzheimer’s; critically, the poll also found that voters would give President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans the credit, too.
SCOOP: National Dance Day at the Kennedy Center draws rave reviews: “In the darkest of times, the Kennedy Center reminds us that as we stand, dance or cry together, our unity is our strength”
by Matthew Foldi
The Kennedy Center drew spirited crowds of dancers across genres and skill levels eager to celebrate National Dance Day on Saturday September 20th.
“It’s a celebration of all things dance,” Estela Vélez de Paredez, the Artistic Director of Furia Flamenca, said. “There’s nothing like going out there to the community and just sharing it outright on a day like today.”
A sea of smiling amateurs boogied to the beat as professionals flocked the stages set up on the Kennedy Center’s Reach campus, including Vélez de Paredez’ Furia Flamenca — an award-winning dance company — that brings the ferocity and passion of flamenco from Southern Spain.
OPINIONATED
Op-Ed: Mayor Përparim Rama: What the UN can listen from the world’s cities
by Mayor Përparim Rama
As the United Nations (UN) marks its 80th session of the General Assembly under the theme “Better Together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights,” the eyes of the world turn to New York. Yet the future of peace, development, and rights is not decided only in diplomatic halls. It is lived and tested daily in cities. If the UN wants to be relevant for the next eighty years, it must listen more closely to the lessons of local leadership.
Peace and Inclusion Begin Local
Peace is not simply the absence of conflict; it is the presence of trust, opportunity, and human dignity. Nowhere is this more tangible than in cities, where neighbors of different backgrounds must share the same schools, streets, and public spaces.
In my own city of Pristina, we have seen how local governance can become a bridge for reconciliation and inclusion. When families gather in redesigned public squares, when young people see themselves represented in decision-making, when communities are invited to shape their shared spaces, that is how peace is built at the grassroots. It is this lived experience of coexistence that gives substance to the lofty ideals discussed at UNGA.
Op-Ed: Bethany Mandel: A recognition of “Palestine” should bring shame, not celebration, for the West
by Bethany Mandel
On a day when some of the West’s oldest democracies wrote the word “Palestine” into their diplomatic vocabulary, something uglier happened in plain sight: the celebration of violence, the public executions of people accused of “collaboration,” and the lingering pain of families whose loved ones were taken hostage, tortured and murdered.
That is not a moment for congratulation. It is a moment for sober reflection — and, frankly, shame.
This past weekend, Britain, Canada, and Australia formally recognised a Palestinian state in coordinated statements meant, officials said, to revive a two-state solution and press for an end to the suffering in Gaza. The declarations were defended as symbolic efforts to push the region toward peace.
Op-Ed: Jaclyn Stapp: We must make America fentanyl free
by Jaclyn Stapp
As a mother, nonprofit founder, and Board Member of Make America Fentanyl Free, I have witnessed firsthand how the fentanyl crisis devastates families, steals futures, and erodes communities. The presence of fentanyl and other deadly drugs skyrocketed in American communities under the Biden administration’s open border policies, which allowed dangerous criminals, terrorists, and deadly drugs to pour into our country.
Today, fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. Just a few grains — an amount that could fit on the tip of a pencil — can be fatal. Even more jarring is the fact that fentanyl is often not consumed intentionally. It’s hidden in counterfeit pills, cocaine, marijuana, and other substances. One mistake, one pill, one bad decision — can end a life. The fentanyl crisis has become a national emergency that demands urgent action.
On day one in office, President Donald Trump answered the call and acted. He shut down the dangerous, open border and stemmed the flow of deadly fentanyl through our country. As a result, fentanyl traffic at the border fell by 54 percent within the first months of the Trump administration. In order to continue eradicating deadly fentanyl from our communities, the Make America Fentanyl Free ad campaign was launched to join the president’s fight.
Op-Ed: Sarah Stern: Why the UN’s push for a Palestinian state is a dangerous mistake for America and its allies
by Sarah Stern
The United Nations is preparing to vote this week on a resolution that would unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. On the surface, some may view this as a long-awaited step toward peace. In reality, it is profoundly misguided. It rewards terrorism, abandons American hostages, undermines Israel — our strongest ally in the Middle East — and emboldens adversaries who threaten U.S. national security interests.
For U.S. policymakers, the stakes could not be higher.
The Palestinian leadership has rejected every serious peace initiative that required compromise, going back to the Peel Commission of 1937. Instead, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Palestinian Authority have chosen the path of violence: massacring civilians, launching indiscriminate rocket attacks, and holding hostages — including Americans. To reward such behavior with statehood is to send a dangerous message: that terrorism yields political prizes.

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