Waltz, mike UN AMB

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NEUTERED BY LOOMER?

FAIL UP?

chickenhawk? nope spec ops

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gen milley ~

Milley's impassioned retort came after Representatives Matt Gaetz and Michael Waltz, a Green Beret veteran

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AUS

The Nobel Peace Prize has long been celebrated as the pinnacle of international recognition for peace, democracy, and human rights advocacy. Yet, the authority of the Norwegian Nobel Committee relies fundamentally on political appointments by Norway’s parliament. Its five members, including Jørgen Watne Frydnes, Asle Toje, Anne Enger, Kristin Clemet, and Gry Larsen, bring perspectives shaped by domestic political contexts and broader geopolitical realities. This structure naturally situates the Prize within global political interests and national foreign policies, making claims of impartial global and moral authority increasingly untenable. The 2025 award to Venezuela’s María Corina Machado vividly illustrates this reality, profoundly compromising the Nobel Peace Prize’s moral credibility and revealing its transformation from a beacon of peace into an instrument of geopolitical legitimation.

The Paradox of a ‘War Peace Prize’

Upon her selection, Machado dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize to Donald Trump, praising his “decisive support” and claiming on Fox News that he “deserves” the Prize for having ended “eight wars,” a false claim with fact-checking confirming many of these wars continued or were mischaracterised. This conflation of militarism with peace fundamentally challenges the Prize’s core ethos, undermining its foundational principles and moral credibility.

The celebration becomes particularly grotesque when examined against Trump’s escalating military threats against Venezuela. Machado’s praise for a president who has confirmed CIA covert operations in her own country and is openly considering strikes on Venezuelan territory reveals extraordinary political cynicism.

A Record Rooted in Militarism and Foreign Intervention

Machado’s political career has consistently reflected support for force and external interference, demonstrating her rejection of democratic sovereignty. She signed the Carmona Decree during the 2002 coup attempt against Hugo Chávez, a document that dissolved Venezuela’s democratically approved constitution, the National Assembly, and the Supreme Court. The coup disrupted what the Organization of American States described as the “democratic and constitutional order” under Chávez’s unquestionable electoral mandate as Venezuela’s sitting constitutional president.

Her 2014 appeal to U.S. Congress for military intervention, stating “the only path left is the use of force,” represented escalation in her willingness to invite foreign aggression. More recently, she has supported U.S. military strikes in Caribbean waters, deploying over 10,000 troops, warships, nuclear submarines, and advanced aircraft. These operations have killed at least 32 civilians without due process, earning condemnation from the United Nations as extrajudicial killings violating international law. Machado’s open endorsement of these aggressive policies deepens humanitarian crisis and regional instability.

In a further demonstration of her interventionist stance, in 2018 Machado sent a letter to former Argentine President Mauricio Macri and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging them to use their “strength and influence to advance the dismantling of the criminal Venezuelan regime” purportedly linked to “drug trafficking and terrorism.” This appeal for external intervention disregards sovereignty and democratic principles, providing political cover for unprovoked aggression.

Venezuela’s Strategic Wealth and the Ignored Gaza Catastrophe

Escalating U.S. aggression against Venezuela stems directly from its extraordinary oil wealth. Venezuela possesses the world’s largest proven oil reserves, with over 303 billion barrels—exceeding even Saudi Arabia’s 267 billion barrels. This resource endowment has made Venezuela a consistent target of successive U.S. presidential administrations seeking to remove leadership that refuses to subordinate these resources to U.S. corporate interests.

Machado’s support for sanctions compounds this tragedy through devastating humanitarian cost. The Lancet Global Health study, encompassing over 152 nations, links unilateral sanctions to over 500,000 annual excess deaths worldwide, disproportionately harming children under five. U.S.-led sanctions have caused Venezuela to lose oil revenue equivalent to 213% of its GDP between 2017 and 2024, totalling approximately $226 billion in losses. Over 7 million Venezuelans have since left the country, creating one of the hemisphere’s largest refugee crises.

The Nobel Committee’s timing proves particularly damning when contrasted with ongoing crises they have chosen to ignore. The award comes during an unprecedented humanitarian disaster in Gaza, with more than 2.1 million residents suffering from famine conditions, tens of thousands of deaths including numerous children, and decimated healthcare. The Committee paradoxically awards Machado, a vocal promoter of U.S. military and sanction policies, while ignoring those actively struggling to stop this catastrophe.

Violation of International Norms and Historical Precedents

Machado’s advocacy to move Venezuela’s embassy to Jerusalem contravenes UN Security Council Resolution 478, which condemns such actions as violations of international law. Her alignment with aggressive U.S. policies suggests potential Venezuelan participation in broader Middle Eastern conflicts should she assume power.

Machado’s Prize, nominated by a group that included then-Senator Marco Rubio (now U.S. Secretary of State) and Mike Waltz (current U.S. Ambassador to the UN), along with other American politicians, who submitted a letter to the Nobel Committee, continues a troubling pattern exemplified by controversial laureates. These nomination advocates represent the hawkish wing of U.S. foreign policy establishment with long-standing interventionist positions toward Latin America. The pattern includes former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, awarded despite his orchestration of the Vietnam War’s expansion, clandestine bombings in Southeast Asia killing hundreds of thousands, and support for oppressive regimes across Latin America through Operation Condor. Former U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2009 Prize sparked similar criticism amid expanded drone warfare programs that resulted in thousands of civilian casualties. Former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, despite negotiating the FARC peace deal, served as Defence Minister under the authoritarian former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, during which the military’s “false positives” scandal resulted in the extrajudicial killing of over 6,400 innocent civilians.

The Threat of Regional War and International Law Violations

Current U.S. military deployments near Venezuela, involving thousands of troops and nuclear assets without UN authorisation, violate international law and represent the most serious threat to regional peace in decades. Trump’s confirmation of CIA covert operations and his consideration of strikes inside Venezuelan territory mark a “sharp escalation” beyond the series of recent lethal attacks on boats in the Caribbean, which Democrats and United Nations experts have forcefully condemned as unlawful.

This escalates conflict risks across the entire Caribbean Basin and northern South America, threatening regional stability in unprecedented ways. Venezuela’s strategic location, bordering Colombia, Brazil, and Guyana while controlling key Caribbean shipping routes, means any military intervention could destabilize the broader region and trigger massive refugee flows into neighbouring countries. Machado’s support empowers these destabilising forces, potentially contributing to a broader regional war that could engulf multiple neighbouring states – from Colombia and Brazil to Caribbean nations – in a protracted conflict over Venezuela’s vast energy resources, with implications extending across Latin America and threatening established regional security frameworks.

Conclusion: From Peace Symbol to War Instrument

The Nobel Committee’s award to María Corina Machado represents a final, stark departure from its founding ideals. By endorsing a figure who champions sanctions, coercion, and foreign military intervention, the Prize does not merely make a political choice—it actively legitimizes a toolkit of statecraft that is antithetical to peace. The evidence is overwhelming: from the sanction-induced deaths documented in The Lancet to blatant violations of international law, Machado’s record contradicts every principle the Prize claims to uphold. In doing so, the Committee has completed the Prize’s transformation from a symbol of moral authority into an instrument of geopolitical power. As Venezuela faces the prospect of direct military intervention backed by a Nobel Peace Prize winner, the award risks becoming not a symbol of peace, but an instrument facilitating war and legitimizing the systematic destruction of international law in service of dominant geopolitical interests.

*Juan Zahir Naranjo :{Cáceres is a PhD candidate in Political Science, International Relations & Constitutional Law at the University of the Sunshine Coast (Australia), where he teaches International Justice and Human Rights. His research examines constitutional governance and democratic institutions in comparative perspective. He holds a Bachelor of Laws degree and postgraduate degrees in Constitutional Law, Australian Migration Law, International Relations, and Teaching.}:

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AN 7 25

One three-term Senate Republican is now claiming responsibility for throwing doubt on the confirmation of President Donald Trump's latest Cabinet appointment.

Axios reported Wednesday that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) acknowledged that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scuttled a planned confirmation vote for former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who Trump picked as his administration's next ambassador to the United Nations (UN). Because Republicans have only a slim 12-10 majority in the committee, a single Republican defection would lead to a tie, making confirmation impossible.

"They pulled it for now," Paul said of Waltz's planned confirmation vote. "We're going to see what happens over the next week."

During his confirmation hearing last Tuesday, Paul grilled Waltz over his past support for keeping approximately 8,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan when Waltz was a member of the House of Representatives. The Kentucky Republican said during the hearing that he resented Waltz's vote — noting that he took the same position as one of Trump's biggest political opponents.

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"The idea that Congress should be involved with declaring war is sort of passé. It's old-fashioned," Paul said at the time. "But when it comes to ending a war, you voted with Liz Cheney and the others to say that the president couldn't end the war."

If Waltz hopes to make it out of the committee and have his nomination advanced to the full Senate, he would need one Democratic senator to vote with Republicans. Should his nomination fail, Axios reported that one likely replacement could be Richard Grenell, who was Trump's one-time acting director of national intelligence and who is currently involved in an overseas real estate development project with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Trump initially nominated Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) as UN ambassador, though her nomination ended up being stalled for months as Republicans were hesitant to lose her vote due to their slim House majority. Stefanik gave up her position as House Republican Conference chair in anticipation of her confirmation. She's now reportedly mulling a run for governor of New York in 2026.

Click here to read Axios' full article.

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an 5 25

Mike Waltz, President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor and a central figure in the SignalGate scandal, is reportedly on his way out—and may have already been removed—according to multiple reports. His deputy, Alex Wong, is also departing, though it remains unclear whether they are resigning or have been dismissed. Additional departures are expected. President Trump reportedly is expected to discuss the situation.

Waltz would be the first top official of the second Trump administration to exit under a cloud.

“Trump is planning to oust national security adviser Mike Waltz,” Politico’s Pentagon and national security reporter Paul McLeary wrote late Thursday morning, stating that he “has lost the confidence of other administration officials, according to three people familiar with the decision.”

“Names for a replacement,” Politico reported, “have been discussed around the West Wing for weeks, but the plans to remove Waltz potentially as soon as this week gained steam in recent days, according to two of the people and another person close to the White House.”

But Fox News‘ Haris Faulkner on-air has reported that Waltz is “out,” and Fox News chief national security reporter Jennifer Griffin added that “it’s been confirmed” that Waltz and Wong “have been pushed out of that position by the President.”

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Griffin also reported that “what we have seen, we’ve seen a vacuum created here, surrounding Defense Secretary Hegseth.”

“So there has been incredible instability at the top of the National Security team for the President,” Griffin said, noting that Fox News’ Jackie Heinrich “is reporting that there could be more shoes to drop.”

Griffin stated that U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat, “believes that that more shoes could drop, is suggesting that there are more firings to come.”

Kaine also talked about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Griffin said, and “had expressed extreme concern about a late night tweet by defense Secretary Hegseth, in which he threatened Iran with potential military action, if they don’t control the Houthies.”

Online, Fox News reported that its sources “said additional staffers removed from the office will likely be announced, and President Donald Trump is expected to speak publicly about the matter.”

“Just yesterday,” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins added, “officials insisted his job was safe. But he’s been fighting for it all week after it was made clear earlier that he couldn’t stay on.”

Semafor reports that its sources “stressed that nothing is final until Trump announces it.”

Waltz had accidentally added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic to an insecure Signal group chat that national security experts say should never have been used to discuss battle plans, and later, specific details of an attack on the Houthis in Yemen.

Calling him “sometimes ideologically out of step with Trump,” The Wall Street Journal suggested that Waltz’s SignalGate scandal was not the only challenge he was facing.

“Trump and senior administration officials, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, had been frustrated with Waltz even before the Signal debacle. Waltz hired aides that his critics said didn’t appeal to Trump’s MAGA base and struggled to relay the president’s national security priorities on television—once seen as the former Florida congressman’s strength, according to administration officials.”

And CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem noted, “I suspect this has less to do with Signalgate than it does with Russia. Waltz has diminished for a bit. This was not a surprise.”

U.S. foreign policy expert Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, also noted Waltz’s exit is “Not surprising,” but for different reasons:

“Trump had something like 6 DHS Sec; 4 SecDefs; 4 DNI; 4 AGs; 2 SecStates; 4 NSAs in Trump 1.0. Loyalty and no screwups are currency of the realm in 2.0.”

Waltz was a Republican U.S. Congressman from Florida who was first elected in 2018, and resigned to work in the Trump administration. He graduated with honors from the Virginia Military Institute and served in the U.S. Army Special Forces during the war in Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, during Trump’s Cabinet meeting, Waltz said, “Mr. President, over the last four years, the world experienced a total lack of zero leadership under Biden, and then we’ve had 100 days of your leadership with respect, with strength, starting with they’ll be all hell to pay if you don’t let our people go.”

And just hours ago, Waltz was praising the Commander-in-Chief and the Defense Secretary on Fox News.

Watch the video below or at this link.

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an 5 25

Former GOP communications director Tara Setmayer said Americans should not be surprised to see controversial former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz be assuming the role as UN ambassador.

“Failing up in the Trump administration isn't really a surprise. It happens often,” said Setmayer. “I’m sure (Rep.) Elise Stefanik (R-NY) isn’t very happy today, once again, because she lost the dream job she was hoping she was going to get, and that someone like Mike Waltz is going to get it instead of her.”

Setmayer added that she expected more leaks and “people stabbing each other in the back” as bitterness and “inter-party dynamics” set in.

“Yes, there’s palace intrigue, but you also have to worry about the way the party functions … We’re already living in a daily chaos cycle with Donald Trump, and that chaos leads to mistakes, which we’ve seen multiple times over and over again. Most importantly with the Signalgate issue with what’s happening with the Department of Defense and the Department of State."

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Waltz was moved from his NSA post amid continued fallout weeks after he invited a journalist into a chat among top national security officials discussing plans for Yemen airstrikes.

Setmayer also openly questioned Trump moving Secretary of State Marco Rubio into the dual role of National Security Advisor, while letting him continue to lead the State Department.

“The last time we had a secretary of state also serve as a national security advisor was Henry Kissinger, and Marco Rubio is no Henry Kissenger,” Setmayer told MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing. “And Marco has been neutered in a lot of areas where the secretary of state would traditionally be taking the lead. He’s had to take a back seat on Ukraine negotiations to a real estate guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing … who is a Putin apologist.”

She added that Rubio “has tied himself into political knots” trying balance Trump’s policies that have until recently “been anathema” to him, including his former support of Ukraine against Russia and his evolving positions on China.

“Why are we in this position? [Because] Trump can’t seem to keep people in positions of power that are of grave importance to the United States and our stability on the world stage and our foreign policy and national security,” Setmayer said. “Why is that? Because he’s incompetent and chaotic.”

Additionally, Setmayer advised Democrats to “seize” that argument during Mike Waltz’ confirmation hearing to better remind the American People “why this is happening.”

Watch the video below, or by clicking here.

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fail up an 5 25

Trump is reportedly considering naming billionaire real estate mogul Steve Witkoff—his de facto envoy to Moscow—as the next National Security Advisor. Witkoff, who has no diplomatic or national security experience but does reportedly have ties to a Russian oligarch, has come under fire for his apparent closeness to Vladimir Putin. Among the concerns are that Witkoff has repeatedly been meeting the Russian leader alone, without any senior U.S. officials or policy experts present, to allegedly discuss ending Russia’s illegal war on Ukraine.

Thursday afternoon President Trump named Secretary of State Marco Rubio as interim National Security Advisor, and announced that Mike Waltz, now his former NSA, will be his nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, according to ABC News.

Regardless of President Trump’s intentions for Witkoff, serious concerns continue to swirl around him.

Anders Åslund, an economist and former Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, has described Witkoff as "pro-Putin." The former head of the UK's MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, has described Witkoff's comments as "pro-Putin," according to Sky News.

"Steve Witkoff, Trump's Special Envoy, has a serious and unreported conflict of interest in Russia-Ukraine negotiations: his relationship with Ukraine-sanctioned businessman Len Blavatnik," reported The Counteroffensive's Tim Mak, a former NPR investigative reporter.

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Witkoff's "fortune is largely made up of the Witkoff Group, the New York-based real estate developer he founded in 1997," Forbes reported in November. "He also owns homes in Manhattan, the Hamptons and south Florida, where he’s developing projects including the Dutchman’s Pipe Golf Club, a Jack Nicklaus-designed course with a luxury hotel, in partnership with Soviet-born billionaire Len Blavatnik's Access Industries."

Critics have been blasting Witkoff for meeting alone with President Putin — even his translator is reportedly provided by the Kremlin.

The New York Post calls the solo act "a break with longstanding diplomatic procedure," and notes that "Russian media have picked up on a pattern of Witkoff parroting Putin, withstate television announcersrecently commenting that the American easily accepts Moscow’s narratives — even when Russians don’t."

Witkoff's actions are so upsetting to national security experts that one, Republican former U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger, last week called Witkoff's decision to meet with Putin without any other U.S. representation, "pure, unadulterated, evil."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented, “I believe Mr. Witkoff has adopted the strategy of the Russian side.”

“Consciously or not, he is spreading Russian narratives. Either way, it does not help,” Zelenskyy warned.

The Post also reports that Witkoff has been labeled a "bumbling f------ idiot," by a former official in Trump's first administration.

The Financial Times last week reported that Ukraine has “long suspected Witkoff of pro-Russian sympathies.”

Last week, Fox News’ Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin blasted the Trump administration:

“Where are the subject matter experts with Witkoff? Putin, the KGB officer, is laughing,” Griffin noted. “Meanwhile the instability at the Pentagon is not helping project strength during these delicate negotiations. There is still no confirmed NSA [National Security Agency] (Cyber Command) director after Defense Secretary Hegseth fired Gen Hauck and his deputy for no reason, not even a nominee yet for the person overseeing the crown jewel of US intelligence and SIGINT, which might come into handy when you are negotiating with Putin and Xi.”

Among those reporting Witkoff is being considered for the vital role as National Security Adviser are Mark Halpern, Politico's Jake Traylor, and CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Kevin Liptak.

Politico adds that in addition to Witkoff, other possible candidates to replace Mike Waltz include "Trump’s top policy chief Stephen Miller, NSC senior director for counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka and Trump’s special envoy for special missions Richard Grenell."

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AN 4 25 NO LNX VID SEE BAK

Three months into Donald Trump's second presidency, his supporters in MAGA media are praising his "record of accomplishment" while pushing a "promises made, promises kept" message. But outside the MAGA bubble, many outlets are reporting on chaos within his administration — from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon to National Security Adviser Mike Waltz at the National Security Council (NSC).

The Atlantic's Issac Stanley-Becker discussed that chaos during a late Monday morning, April 28 appearance on CNN.

When host Wolf Blitzer noted the "chaos unfolding" at the NSC and asked Stanley-Becker how Waltz lost control over "his own National Security Council so quickly," the reporter responded, "Well, on both policy and personnel, he has really lost key authority. On policy, we've seen that be swept out from under him by the White House vetting operation, which is dismissing people for infractions related to loyalty and other causes. And then, an extraordinary Oval Office meeting with the far-right activist Laura Loomer — after which, a number of officials were dismissed. So we're seeing these decisions being made by people other than the person in charge of this staff."

READ MORE: These 'performative' GOP 'temper tantrums' are 'embarrassing' — but not to the 'MAGA base'

Stanley-Becker continued, "And then, importantly, on policy, according to people I spoke with, he has much less juice on fundamental geopolitical issues than the president's friend and special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who has been tasked with key hotspots Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Gaza. And then, on other important priorities, much less control and much less authority than Stephen Miller, the homeland security advisor and deputy White House chief of staff for policy, who is effectively using the NSC, according to my sources, as a kind of platform to implement his hardline immigration agenda."

Stanley-Becker noted the firings at the NSC that occurred after Loomer met with Trump in the White House Oval Office, saying that Waltz's authority is being usurped.

"What I would say is that the NSC does what it does for a reason," Stanley-Becker told Blitzer. "There's a process that involves senior advisers and Cabinet officials convening, considering options, coordinating across the interagency lawyers who vet significant foreign policy decisions. And what I found in my reporting is that that is not happening in many instances…. So, we're seeing a level of chaos that is really extraordinary."

When Blitzer asked Stanley-Becker where things "stand" with Waltz's relationship with Trump, the reporter responded, "I think he's on thin ice. And what the president ultimately decides to do remains in question."

READ MORE:'Was it?' Republican CNN analyst rendered speechless when challenged on Trump spending

Watch the full video below or at this link.

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mma 1 25

President-elect Donald Trump has corruptly flipped on his previous position that TikTok should be banned in the United States unless the social media platform disentangles from Chinese government control. His stark reversal — which one ally suggested came about because the app was “great for his campaign” — stands in contrast to the public statements of his top foreign policy, homeland security, defense, and intelligence appointees, who are on the record describing a TikTok ban as a crucial matter of national security and in some cases denouncing Democrats for using the platform.

Then-President Trump issued an August 2020 executive order requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell, spin off, or shut down the app’s U.S. operations, citing “credible evidence” the company “might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.” President Joe Biden ultimately rescinded the order, but following further reporting of Chinese government influence over TikTok, in April 2024 Congress passed and Biden signed bipartisan legislation requiring ByteDance’s divestment. ByteDance refused, instead preparing to shut down TikTok in the U.S. by the law’s deadline of this Sunday.

But Trump subsequently rejected the position he had once championed and is now poised to take action “to keep TikTok from going dark.” After a March 2024 meeting with hedge fund manager Jeff Yass, a GOP megadonor who reportedly held a major financial stake in ByteDance, Trump abruptly reversed his support for TikTok’s divestment, saying that “young people will go crazy without it.” The platform also reportedly altered its algorithm to benefit Trump’s presidential campaign, which used TikTok to great effect; indeed, in a January 15 interview, incoming national security adviser Michael Waltz said Trump would sign an executive order to “create the space” for a “deal” in part because TikTok “was great for [Trump's] campaign and getting his message out."

This abrupt reversal exposes as craven hypocrites not only Waltz, but also Trump’s nominees for secretary of state, Marco Rubio; defense, Pete Hegseth; and homeland security, Kristi Noem. The four are among the right’s harshest critics of TikTok and foremost proponents of banning it. They describe the platform as a Chinese “Trojan Horse” that “the communists” are using to “compromiz[e] national security” and “propagandize to 150 million Americans,” allowing them to “poison the minds of young Americans” and get kids to “trans themselves” as part of China’s “long-term goal to destroy the United States.”

Moreover, Noem was the first governor to ban state employees from using the platform on state-owned devices, while Rubio introduced legislation banning it nationally if it was not sold.

Either they were all lying about the pressing national security threat of a ByteDance-controlled TikTok back then, or they are willingly leaving the United States exposed because they don’t want to stand up to the incoming president.

### Michael Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser: TikTok is “an arm of the communists” that threatens “the safety of all Americans”

Waltz: We can’t let the Chinese Communist Party use TikTok to “propagandize to 150 million Americans ... . We would have never stood for this with the Soviet Union.” Waltz, then a member of Congress, said of TikTok in a March 2023 Fox Business appearance, “We cannot have, on the one hand, our greatest adversary ... have access to 150 million Americans, be able to propagandize to 150 million Americans, and to be able to collect [data] on us. We would have never stood for this with the Soviet Union. We shouldn't be today.” Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [3/23/23]

Waltz: The Biden campaign “should be ashamed of themselves” for joining TikTok and “legitimiz[ing] this app and the harm it’s doing to kids for its own political gain.” When Biden’s campaign joined TikTok in February 2024, Waltz told Fox the campaign “should be ashamed of themselves” because “the Chinese Communist Party are using this as a data-collection bonanza” and could use it as a “superhighway” to “adjust the algorithms should they so choose.” He added that a presidential campaign should not “legitimize this app and the harm it’s doing to kids for its own political gain.” He added that he’s “called for a full-on ban” of the app, calling it “long overdue” because “we should not allow our greatest adversary to access 150 million Americans and their data.” Fox News, *Your World*, [2/23/24]

Waltz on X: TikTok is “an arm of the communists” and must be removed from Chinese government control “for the safety of all Americans,” and it’s “craven” for Democrats not to ban it.Waltz, in dozens of posts to X over five years, has repeatedly criticized TikTok and called for a ban on the platform, warning that it’s “an arm of the communists,”“Chinese spyware and a national security threat,” and “a Chinese Communist Trojan Horse.” In August 2020, he posted, “For the safety of all Americans, including the millions of children using this app, we cannot allow TikTok in the US under ByteDance’s ownership.” He accused members of Congress, “almost all Democrats,” who use the app of being “complicit in allowing China to hurt our national security” and posted that “it would be craven for Biden & Democrats not to ban TikTok because it helps their campaigns.”

### Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state: TikTok a “Trojan Horse” and “danger to America”

Rubio: We should ban TikTok to keep a “wholly-owned subsidiary of the Communist Party of China” from using it as “a danger to America.”In a 2022 Fox interview to discuss a bill he introduced to ban TikTok if it were not sold, then-Sen. Rubio said TikTok can’t be allowed to continue as “wholly owned subsidiary of the Communist Party of China,” in part because “the Chinese tried to interfere in our midterm elections” using the platform. He further called its ownership “a privacy danger to America, to our national security,” adding that “we shouldn't have the Communist Party of China having access to a treasure trove of American data that they can use to try to influence and divide us at the same time as they collect valuable information now and for the future.” Fox News, *Tucker Carlson Tonight*, [12/14/22]

Rubio: A ByteDance-owned TikTok is “a Trojan horse living inside our country.”He explained during a March 2024 Fox appearance that TikTok’s parent company is “under the complete control” of “a foreign government that’s hostile to the United States” and could “decide to weaponize that against us to convince soldiers not to go fight, to convince their families that it's not worth going to fight, to get involved in our elections, to spread things that make us fight against each other and further divide this country or keep us distracted, or to convince American teenagers to kill themselves because the world's about to end.” Fox News, *The Ingraham Angle*, [3/11/24]

Rubio: We can’t let the Chinese Communist Party use TikTok to “poison the minds of young Americans … so that their society crumbles.” Rubio called for ByteDance to sell TikTok during a March 2024 Fox appearance, explaining that “ByteDance is a Chinese company” and under that country’s laws, “if the Chinese Communist Party goes to ByteDance and says, we want you to change the TikTok algorithm so that Americans will not be willing to defend Taiwan or surrender to China on this and that, or poison the minds of young Americans over a long period of time so that their society crumbles, if they tell them that they have to do that, ByteDance will have to do that, they will do that, and you will not be able to perceive it.” [Fox News, Hannity, 3/19/24]

### Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense: TikTok is “poisoning the minds” of American kids

Hegseth: “Someone’s got to step up and say” TikTok “is compromising national security” and “poisoning the minds” of kids and “ban this.”Hegseth, then the host of Fox & Friends’ weekend edition, said of TikTok in March 2023, “This is time for leadership. I don't care how many kids use it, I don’t care how many influencers are out there, someone’s got to step up and say, not one is it compromising national security — which it is; who knows where that data is going and how it will be used in the future — but it’s poisoning the minds of our next generation.” He added: “Think how much time you spend cultivating the mind and soul and heart of your child and then you hand over a phone and then on that phone is an app controlled by communists who are pumping things to poison their mind. Wake up!” He further called for “courageous leadership” in Congress, “especially Democrats,” to “ban this.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/24/23]

Hegseth: China uses TikTok to “poison” American kids and get them to “trans themselves,” and it’s “like giving the Soviets a portal into our kids in the ‘80s.”Hegseth, then the host of Fox & Friends’ weekend edition, alleged in a February 2024 segment that China was trying to “poison” American children by using TikTok to get them to “dance and trans themselves and be distracted” while Chinese children are taught science and math. He went on to say that “the fact that we allow this is one of many, but actually near the top of the list, of the most foolish things we are doing in our society,” adding that TikTok is “like giving the Soviets a portal into our kids in the ‘80s. It’s insane!” Fox News, *Fox & Friends*, [2/1/24]

### Kristi Noem, Trump’s nominee for secretary of homeland security: “If you are using TikTok, you are helping China destroy America"

Noem: China uses TikTok on kids “to manipulate their thoughts and their minds and how they feel about the United States of America.”Noem, who as governor made South Dakota the first state to ban TikTok on state-owned devices, said during a March 2023 Fox appearance that China is “using that platform to spy on our people, to communicate with them,” and “to change perceptions.” She went on to say that parents should tell children who use TikTok “to knock it off. Tell them they slept in their beds last night safe and secure because of sacrifices that were made for this country, and that, to respect that, they should not allow our enemies to come right into their homes and to manipulate their thoughts and their minds and how they feel about the United States of America.” Fox News, *Sunday Morning Futures*, [3/12/23]

Noem: TikTok is part of China’s “long-term goal to destroy the United States.” During another March 2023 interview, Noem said that the Chinese Communist Party uses TikTok “to influence our children, to spy on us, gather personal data, and they’re doing it to destroy us.” She added that “China has a long-term goal to destroy the United States of America” and that “when I watch people talk about how much they enjoy TikTok, I'm concerned Americans aren't even willing to be inconvenienced anymore to protect their freedom.” She went on to say that she didn’t think Biden would sign the bill banning TikTok because “over and over again this president has proven that he won’t protect America.” Fox News, *Fox & Friends*, [3/24/23]

Noem: “If you are using TikTok, you are helping China destroy America. You are facilitating it. So get off of TikTok.”During a November 2023 Fox interview, Noem agreed that TikTok is a “national security threat” and a “spy mechanism.” She concluded: “If you are using TikTok, you are helping China destroy America. You are facilitating it. So get off of TikTok. Take a little bit of pause on what you think is fun and let's start doing the hard work of saving freedom.” Fox News, *Hannity*, [11/29/23]

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// nola attack by vet citizen

mma

As media figures, Trump picks Homan, Waltz, and Bondi have repeatedly spread fear about ISIS crossing the southern border

01/06/25

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an 1 25

After clashing with many of the traditional conservatives who were part of his first administration — from former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to ex-White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly — President-elect Donald Trump is hoping to surround himself with MAGA loyalists during his second term. That includes top officials as well as people further down the ladder.

But according to CBS News reporters Jennifer Jacobs and Ed O'Keefe, Trump's transition team is falling short of their hiring goals.

In an article published on January 6 — the day the 2024 Electoral College votes will be counted and certified during a joint session of Congress — Jacobs and O'Keefe explain, "The Trump transition had set a goal of bringing on as many as 2000 political appointees on January 20, Day One of the administration," the reporters explain. "But it's falling short of that target, two sources told CBS News. About 4000 political appointees serve across the federal government currently."

The CBS News reporters continue, "Around 1200 political appointees were in place when Trump assumed the presidency in January 2017, aides estimated. President Biden's transition chair Ted Kaufman said, in 2021, his administration had 1136 political appointees on Inauguration Day."

Trump, according to Jacobs and O'Keefe, has "warned against bringing in anyone who might subvert his agenda and was highly involved in selecting his Cabinet-designees and several top management posts."

However, he has "left the decisions about the bulk of staffing for mid- and lower-level positions to those on his team who will lead departments and agencies."

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Florida), Trump's pick for national security adviser, is emphasizing that anyone who joins the second Trump Administration must be a loyalist through and through.

On January 6 on X, formerly Twitter, Waltz posted, "Let me be clear: anyone working under President Trump in the NSC will be fully aligned with his America First agenda. Any rumors or suggestions to the contrary are fake news and a distraction from the mission. We will clear the decks to Make America Great Again!"

READ MORE:['Frightening': Trump not ruling out pardoning January 6 participants convicted of sedition

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a spy balloon that traversed the United States, its capabilities disabled by the Pentagon before being shot down into the ocean this weekend, is causing such alarm among the right that one Florida Republican U.S. Congressman has declared it a “Sputnik moment for America.”

America’s last “Sputnik moment” was in 1957, when the Soviet Union launched a satellite into space, leading Americans to see a technological gap between the two countries, heightening the Cold War and launching the space race.

“I believe that this spy balloon was a Sputnik moment,” U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) declared on Fox News Tuesday afternoon.

it was a dire warning, despite the fact that the Pentagon has made clear China’s spy balloon posed no threat to the nation.

Waltz also told Fox News that America is “struggling to catch up” to China’s military technologies.

As it turns out, Congressman Waltz, who replaced Ron DeSantis in the House of Representatives, is fond of the term “Sputnik moment.”

Here he is in late 2021, declaring China’s hypersonic missile a “Sputnik moment.”

in a Fox News op-ed on Sunday, Waltz declared, “Like Sputnik, the Chinese spy balloon has drastically changed Americans’ sense of security.”

“A silver lining in the Biden administration allowing the Chinese spy balloon to violate our airspace is that the American public has received a similar wake-up call to the brazenness of Chinese spying,” he writes in his Fox News op-ed. “As a member of the House Armed Services Committee and Intelligence Committee, I can tell you the United States has been under an espionage assault from China for years, but much of it has been behind the scenes.”

China has been spying on the U.S. for decades, and the U.S. has been spying on China just as long. All spying is done “behind the scenes.”

Sunday, on, Waltz repeated his “Sputnik” claim, calling the balloon a “national embarrassment,” and insisting “we need to get to the bottom of it.” On Monday, back on Fox News, Waltz continued his “Sputnik” remarks as well.

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We had no idea': Florida newspaper apologizes for endorsing congressman who signed on to Trump coup attempt

SemDem Daily Kos

December 13, 2020

Rep. Michael Waltz received the Orlando Sentinel's endorsement in the 2020 general election for Congress. On Thursday, Waltz joined onto the traitorous Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the results in four states because they didn't break for Donald Trump. O...