Trump in Pennsylvania Gives Stump Speech on the Economy

The 2026 campaign begins now. The president spoke to a packed house at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono—some two hours north of Philadelphia. Trump: “I have no higher priority than making America affordable again….They (Biden) caused the high prices, and we’re bringing them down. It’s a simple message” (X). NBC: President Donald Trump traveled to this hardscrabble and politically competitive part of the country Tuesday to tout his economic record — insisting that he’s already the architect of “lower prices” and “bigger paychecks,” as a massive sign behind him proclaimed…. “The only thing that is truly going up big, it’s called the stock market and your 401(k)s,” Trump said to a crowd of more than 1,000 supporters packed into a cozy ballroom at the Mt. Airy Casino Resort, nestled in the Pocono Mountains (NBC). More: “Before I took office, 100% of all net new jobs were going to migrants and illegals… Since I took office, 100% of all net job creation is going to American citizens” (X). Full video (White House).

Jamie Dimon Announces $1.5 Trillion Plan to Bolster American National Security

Freedom is worth defending. If the capital class steps up, perhaps we can stand firm. Wall Street Journal: Jamie Dimon wants to protect America from potential foreign adversaries. He is assembling a group of national titans and close friends, from Jeff Bezos to Condoleezza Rice, to help him get it ready. The head of JPMorgan Chase, the biggest U.S. bank, announced a $1.5 trillion initiative focused on national security in October, meant to bolster American self-sufficiency for critical technologies including rare earths and artificial intelligence (Wall Street Journal). Hugh Hewitt: Wish him well. This sort of recognition of the actual threat from the CCP, the PLA and the PLAN is great news. Even better news is that a new generation of business titans like Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, Palmer Lucky and of course Elon Musk have been awake to the threat to freedom of the seas for many years and their initiatives and companies are already about the work of next generation weapons systems to overcome the advantage China has built up via sheer numbers and massive war making capacity (Hewitt).

Trump Pressing Zelensky on Ukraine Peace Plan

Zelensky says he’s putting forward a response plan as well. Without some sort of settlement, a victory for Ukraine looks like a fleeting hope. Axios: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky faces growing pressure from the U.S. to accept major territorial losses and other concessions in President Trump’s peace plan, two Ukrainian officials tell Axios. After weeks of intense diplomacy, the Ukrainians still think aspects of the current U.S. plan favor Moscow and that the U.S. is pushing Zelensky much harder than they’re pushing Russian President Vladimir Putin…. Meanwhile, Zelensky is meeting a parade of Europe’s most powerful leaders this week. They’re offering reassurance that Ukraine doesn’t need to give in to Putin, or to Trump…. The call with Zelensky came at the end of three days of marathon talks between Witkoff, Kushner and Zelensky’s advisers in Miami (Axios). Dominic Green: Europe has talked tough on Ukraine while hiding under the American security umbrella, even though they know NATO is American power by another name. Vladimir Putin knows that too. There is a real danger here: This is a war of attrition, a numbers game. Russia has more men to feed into the meat grinder than Ukraine does. While Ukraine relies on foreign aid, Russia remains on a war footing. No peace deal means more war — a war the Europeans cannot support alone, and that Ukraine cannot win. Europe’s obstruction of Trump’s deal is a gift to Putin (New York Post). More from Bob Hoge at Red State: Trump on Europe: “I think they’re weak” (Red State).

Radar of Chinese Fighter Jets Lock on Japanese F-15s

Japan is understandably upset. Fox News: Beijing escalated its war of words with Tokyo after Japan said Chinese fighter jets aimed a fire-control radar at Japanese F-15s flying near Okinawa, an action Tokyo called “dangerous” and “extremely regrettable.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his German counterpart Johann Wadephul in Beijing that “Japan is threatening China militarily,” a stance he called “completely unacceptable,” after the radar incident, Reuters reported (Fox News). Ward Clark at Red State: This is a dangerous game…. Japan’s tough new Prime Minister is proving herself to be the Land of the Rising Sun’s version of the Iron Lady…. China’s playing a dangerous game here. It’s an old game, a Cold War game, and we’ve had this trick tried on us, too. Things in the Pacific are getting tetchy indeed, and we should remember that Xi Jinping’s grip on the reins in China is getting a little loose. If he goes down, the question becomes who will replace him – a reformer, or a nut? Either way, they won’t find a conflict with Japan easy or pleasant, and we should remember that the United States is still bound by treaty to come to Japan’s aid if it is attacked…. This could become very interesting very quickly (Red State).

Supreme Court Hears Case That Could Lift Campaign Spending Limits

The high court was a difficult read—i.e. it was not clear where the justices would land. Amy Howe of SCOTUS Blog: The Supreme Court on Tuesday considered a challenge to a federal law limiting the amount of money that political parties can spend in coordination with a candidate for office. During over two hours of oral argument in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, some of the justices were sympathetic to the challengers’ position that the coordinated expenditure limits violate the First Amendment (SCOTUS Blog). New York Times: Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, one of the court’s conservatives, also raised concerns about some of the fallout of the court’s campaign finance decisions. He said he worried that “the combination of campaign finance laws and this court’s decisions over the years have together reduced the power of political parties as compared to outside groups, with negative effects on our constitutional democracy” (New York Times).

Supreme Court Decisions Could Boost GOP in Midterms

The two key decisions GOP leaders are looking at are the campaign finance case (above) and the redistricting case. Axios: Senior Trump advisers are telling top GOP donors that a pair of upcoming Supreme Court decisions are likely to bolster Republicans in the 2026 midterms — and transform the party’s power to win elections for years. Trump lieutenants Chris LaCivita and Tony Fabrizio told donors at a Republican National Committee retreat over the weekend that rulings on political contribution limits and congressional redistricting could be transformational for Republicans — if they go the GOP’s way…. Court watchers say a majority of the justices appeared poised to weaken the Voting Rights Act based on oral arguments in October. The liberal-leaning Fair Fight Action has warned that overturning the law could result in Republicans dismantling as many as 19 Democrat-held majority-minority seats ahead of the midterms — “enough to cement one-party control of the U.S. House for at least a generation” (Axios).

Australia Bans Social Media Accounts for Youth Under 16

The law went into effect yesterday. CNN: Children across Australia woke up on Wednesday with no access to their social media accounts under a world-first ban designed to shelter those under 16 from addictive algorithms, online predators, and digital bullies. No other nation has taken such sweeping measures, and the rollout of the tough new law is being closely watched by legislators around the globe (CNN). Jonathan Haidt, who’s been speaking out against both social media for youth and handhelds in school: It’s happening. Australia is freeing kids under 16 from the social media trap, where all kids feel they must be on it because…. all other kids are on it. Praise to [Peter Malinauskas], the premier of South Australia, who got it started, and to PM [Anthony Albanese], who took it national. The key, as both men have emphasized, is that we all want kids to have fun, exciting childhoods, doing things with friends in the real world. That’s the childhood we older people remember fondly. That’s the childhood that Gen Z has seen only in movies, and they long for it…. Thank you, Australia, for having the guts to go first. There will surely be difficulties in the early months, but the world is rooting for your success, and many other nations will follow (Haidt).

BBC Admits Falsely Claiming Trump Wanted Liz Cheney Shot

Adding to the self-inflicted damage and deliberate deceit coming from the world’s largest broadcaster. Telegraph: The BBC has admitted misleading viewers by claiming that Donald Trump called for one of his leading critics to be shot in the face. In an internal memo, BBC News said its coverage had been inaccurate, but no correction was ever issued publicly. The claims concerned Liz Cheney, the daughter of former US vice-president Dick Cheney and a vocal Republican opponent of Mr Trump. In the days before the US presidential election in November last year, a presenter on BBC World News America said that Mr Trump “appeared to suggest Liz Cheney should face a firing squad for her stance on foreign policy.” On the BBC News channel, another presenter asked his guest: “He [Trump] is out there on the campaign trail saying he wants people to shoot Liz Cheney in the face… Is that the sort of thing women react well to?” (Telegraph).

The Most Important Line in Trump’s National Security Strategy Document

Niall Ferguson: The most important line in the NSS is: “We will assert and enforce a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine”—an allusion to the Roosevelt Corollary, named after President Theodore Roosevelt’s assertion in 1904 that the United States had a right to intervene in Latin American countries in cases of “chronic wrongdoing.” Wrongdoing doesn’t get more chronic than Venezuela, a once-prosperous country turned into a failed state by Maduro and his demagogue predecessor, Hugo Chávez. The NSS makes it clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as criminals build narcotics empires whose principal targets are young Americans. Instead, the U.S. will enlist support from aligned countries such as Argentina and expand its influence, countering the growing economic presence of the People’s Republic of China in the region. Would you like me to sum up my reaction to all this in two words? About time (Free Press).

Charlie Kirk’s Closing Argument: Honor the Sabbath

And honor the God of the Sabbath. All who tuned into Charlie’s most prominent message over the last months of his life could not help but be struck with the fact that he was preoccupied with God—with an evident devotion, discipline and yielded sincerity Country was number three. His wife and family were number two. And God was first on his list. His final book is out now: “Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life” was ranked No. 1 on the Amazon Top 100 bestseller list, but early this afternoon and into the evening, the hardcover was listed as temporarily out of stock (Wall Street Journal; Amazon). Erica Kirk: There is a reason this book isn’t political. Charlie wanted to heal the country, and he saw his conversations with students on campus as a piece of the puzzle. But when he was on campus, if someone was screaming at him, he knew they weren’t actually listening. When you’re constantly combative and fighting, you have no time to treat other people like human beings. Charlie genuinely felt that if the world had a weekly day of rest, just one, it would be the ultimate game changer…. Charlie Kirk: When you power down your phone, you’re not “missing out.” You’re entering a different kind of time, what the rabbis call “sacred time.” Time that doesn’t drain you but restores you. You begin to see things more clearly—your thoughts settle, your heart slows, your conversations deepen. And most importantly, you remember who you are apart from the endless stream of noise. Don’t be afraid to turn off your phone. You’re not falling behind—you’re catching up to what matters most. The people in front of you. The presence of God. The peace you’ve been craving. Let the Sabbath be your weekly rebellion. Let it be the time when the world’s demands go silent, and the eternal voice becomes audible again (Free Press).