Over the past few months, President Trump has pursued a much more aggressive foreign policy than past presidential administrations in the modern era, and has taken a larger expansionist approach than anybody, including those on the right, could have imagined. On January 3rd, the U.S. launched a military operation in Venezuela, taking Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro into custody, where he faces numerous drug trafficking charges. However, earlier this week, the U.S. and Venezuela agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum discussed oil and mineral opportunities with acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, and reaffirmed America’s commitment to promoting stability and economic recovery. Rodriguez expressed that the Venezuelan government has a full willingness to cooperate with the United States. Later in January, President Trump reaffirmed his interest in annexing Greenland, which sent shock throughout the international community. This was felt particularly among our NATO allies, who feel that the U.S. approach on Greenland threatens to undermine NATO’s very existence. European nations like France, Germany, and Sweden even sent military personnel to Greenland in response. Greenland has high geopolitical importance, as it is essential to Arctic security, shipping routes, and is rich in natural resources. More recently, the U.S. has gone to war with Iran alongside Israel, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a series of missile strikes. As the conflict has raged on for over a week, it is not clear at all what will pan out long term in Iran or the Middle East as whole. However, whereas previous administrations have tried to slowly reduce America’s presence in the Middle East, President Trump has brought upon us a new era of U.S. involvement. This week, President Trump has also expressed interest in carrying out regime change in Cuba, indicating that he wants to take action within a few weeks. On March 7th, the President announced that similar action to what happened in Venezuela will be taken in Cuba. On Saturday, he told dozens of world leaders that “Cuba’s at the end of the line. They’re very much at the end of the line. They have no money. They have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad regime that’s been bad for a long time . . . But Cuba’s in its last moments of life as it was. It’ll have a great new life, but it’s in its last moments of life the way it is.” While I agree that it is important to maintain U.S. hegemony, doing all this so quickly leaves a lot of room for mistakes. The United States does not have a great track record when it comes to regime change, so Americans, and the world, absolutely have the right to question these choices. However, if the Trump Administration is able to successfully pull all this off, it will likely usher in an era of peace and global stability.
By Alexia Silva
1. Biden Asks Why Trump Didn’t Just Bomb Ayatollah In The Leg – The Babylon Bee The rapidly increasing military aggression against Iran by coalition forces led by the United States and Israel always seemed like it was always going to be difficult for satirists to make light of. The strategy of The Babylon Bee is to deflect it into a “Joe Biden is a confused old man” joke. The metaphor of a cop who could’ve avoided killing a suspect by shooting him in the leg instead of the head, and tying that to where on his body the now deceased Ayatollah of Iran was supposed to be bombed, doesn’t make a lot of sense. But I guess it makes sense, because Joe Biden isn’t supposed to make sense at his age either. 2. Trump Launches War With Iran and Refuses to Explain…Anything – The Daily Show Jon Stewart made fun of President Trump for his perceived lackadaisical approach to war with Iran, like making his initial announcement in Florida while wearing a USA hat, or calling the operation “Epic Fury.” Middle East correspondent Jordan Klepper replayed clips of the President claiming there would be no new wars in his administration, sloppily edited to instead sound like Trump loves new wars. Stewart also made fun of a clip of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth being defensive when asked about a timeline in Iran, comparing the Secretary to a jock from “Revenge Of The Nerds.” 3. Trump Iran War Address Cold Open – Saturday Night Live James Austin Johnson’s Trump impression impersonates the actual Trump address very well, down to the white USA cap. He describes Trump’s erratic behavior as being similar to Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, leading to probably the funniest moment of the sketch as he keeps yelling “Gump!” while describing the movie. And Colin Jost’s impression of Pete Hegseth adds some aggressive energy, as he explains that the codename Epic Fury was picked because of the number of letters allowed for a knuckle tattoo. 4. Trump Boys Try Trading In George Washington Portrait At Gamestop – The Onion The artistic taste of Donald Trump’s two eldest sons is called into question in this Onion piece, as Donald Jr. and Eric try to barter Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington for a PS5. They don’t seem to appreciate the famous presidential painting, telling the cashier that he doesn’t even need to keep the painting afterwards, that the gold-looking frame must be worth something. It’s also humorously insulting that the boys had to carry the giant painting on foot for 7.5 miles. 5. Under Oath, Hillary Admits She Never Met Bill Clinton – The Humor Times At her hearing regarding the Epstein files, this satirical article supposes that Hillary Clinton would completely deny ever having met Bill, presumably to not connect herself to his potential crimes. This leads to some wacky explanations, like daughter Chelsea solely being the byproduct of maternal willpower. Apparently advanced animatronics were involved, as well as 1970s era Photoshop, which was definitely a thing.
By Jason Luna
After significant pushback from both sides of the aisle and many Americans, Kristi Noem’s tenure as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary is at an end. Her time as secretary could be described as turbulent at best, forever stained by the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, whom she called domestic terrorists, and her authorizing the use of $220 million in taxpayer dollars to run ad campaigns for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), many of which prominently depict her. Noem is likely the only one distressed by her dismissal, as even staunch Republicans, Senators John Kennedy of Louisiana, and Thomas Roland Tillis of North Carolina, came after her in the recent Senate hearings that shortly preceded her firing. Not dissimilar from Greg Bovino’s removal as head of ICE operations in Minneapolis and then sent back to California to reportedly retire, Noem seems to have been thrown under the bus by the Trump administration and given another role, special envoy for “The Shield of Americas.” Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) has been tapped to succeed Noem, but who is Mullin and is this a cosmetic or structural change for DHS? Mullin, a former MMA fighter and business owner, is probably best known for his confrontation on the Senate floor with Teamsters’ President Sean O’Brien, after O’Brien had criticized him online. During O’Brien’s Senate hearing, Mullin decided to respond to his criticism, saying, “You want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults, we can finish it here.” The resulting verbal altercation almost turned into a physical one, with Mullin standing up to come towards O’Brien before being stopped by the chairman of the committee, Bernie Sanders. According to the Hill, the two sat down at President Trump’s request, and ended up talking for hours, O’Brien apologizing and even endorsing Mullin’s candidacy for Secretary of Homeland Security. “If anyone is willing to stand their butt up to protect America, it’s Markwayne Mullin,” he said, referencing their confrontation. Mullin’s palling with the President of the Teamsters certainly doesn’t give the impression that he is a tow-the-line Republican, tough on immigration. After all, the Teamsters call for “comprehensive immigration reform that includes a rational and reasonable pathway to citizenship for our nation’s 11 million or more undocumented individuals.” Mullin was also one of two GOP senators who aided capital police’s attempts to prevent rioters from gaining entry to Congress on January 6th, and is on the record saying, “They had evil intentions, they had evil in their eyes.” Although these instances may give the appearance that Mullin frequently breaks party lines, during the most recent session of Congress, the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank responsible for Project 2025, rated him 90% on voting with the organization. Trump himself has dubbed Mullin “a MAGA Warrior,” lending little hope that this means structural change at DHS. Kica Matos, President of the National Immigration Law Center, said of Mullin’s candidacy, “This is the equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig, and we must act accordingly. Changing who sits atop Trump’s deportation machine should not dull the resolve of lawmakers who have courageously stood up to demand accountability from ICE and CBP. We cannot allow any more taxpayers dollars to go to ICE and CBP’s lawless attacks on our communities.” Whether or not the leadership switch represents a substantive change, it seems Mullin will almost certainly be confirmed as Republicans retain control of the Senate and have some bipartisan support in the form of Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.). Americans are all undoubtedly breathing a sigh of relief that at the very least he isn’t Kristi Noem, or as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. so aptly put it,“Good riddance.” Image source and credit: Octavio Jones/Getty; Andrew Harnik/Getty
By Garrison Rushing
Follow Us