This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A plan being developed by the administration of President Donald Trump to screen the social media postings of foreign students who want visas to travel to, and study in, the United States has prompted a suspension of embassy appointments for those visas.
A report at CNN explains Secretary of State Marco Rubio has dispatched instructions to U.S. embassies and consulates to pause appointments for those students seeking permissions to come to America.
That's because the department is working to expand "social media screening and vetting" for all applicants.
The announcement comes, the report said, just as the Trump administration has revoked student visas for some students, and further withdrew permission for Harvard to enroll foreign students because of the presence of anti-Semitism on campus, although that decision was temporarily suspended by a judge.
Going on now, the State Department said, was "a review of existing operations and processes for screening and vetting of student and exchange visitor (F, M, J) visa applicants, and based on that review, plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting for all such applicants."
A large part of what has been creating problems is the rampant anti-Semitism on some university campuses. Anti-Israel protests have been allowed, and protesters protected, even as Jewish students face discrimination, according to multiple reports.
The cable explained those appointments, as well as the screening and vetting of applicants could have "potentially significant implications for consular section operations, processes and resource allocations."
The instructions are that embassies and consulates are not to add "any additional student or exchange visa … appointment capacity until further guidance is issued." Also, existing appointment openings are to be blocked.
At Politico, a report elaborated, "The administration had earlier imposed some social media screening requirements, but those were largely aimed at returning students who may have participated in protests against Israel's actions in Gaza. The cable doesn't directly spell out what the future social media vetting would screen for, but it alludes to executive orders that are aimed at keeping out terrorists and battling antisemitism."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the U.S. will start revoking visas of Chinese students in America.
"The U.S. will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields," Rubio said on X.
Meanwhile, those in foreign governments who have tried to censor Americans, or have supported speech restrictions that could impact Americans' rights to express their opinions will now face retribution.
Rubio also announced new visa restrictions Wednesday for any foreign authority that has been "complicit" in censorship.
"For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights," Rubio said on social media.
"Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans. Free speech is essential to the American way of life – a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority."
Rubio continued, "Foreigners who work to undermine the rights of Americans should not enjoy the privilege of traveling to our country. Whether in Latin America, Europe, or elsewhere, the days of passive treatment for those who work to undermine the rights of Americans are over."
He cited one threat coming from the European Union's Digital Services Act, which could "effectively export European-style censorship" to Americans through pressure on tech companies.
Those who have adopted that regime already have ordered X and other platforms to follow their rules. Those authoritarians also fine American companies for failing to follow that regime.
In fact, Vera Jourova, an official with the EU's executive European Commission, recently threatened that the U.S. soon would be required to have "hate speech laws."
Those are laws that criminalize thoughts and statements that do not align with the leftists in power.
In the United Kingdom, for example, there have already been people arrested for having the wrong thoughts inside zones set up to protect the lucrative abortion industry.
According to the Independent Sentinel, Jourova said, "What qualifies as hate speech, as illegal hate speech, which you will have soon also in the U.S. … I think that we have a strong reason why we have this in the criminal law; we need the platforms to work with the language simply and to identify such cases."
It's also common for such authoritarians to call speech they dislike "disinformation," "misinformation," or even "malinformation" and ban it.
The report, in fact, explained, "The DSA is horrendous and vague enough to keep going further. The UK is locking people up for praying silently outside abortion clinics, and Germany's fining or imprisoning people for memes and spoken phrases."
A report from Fox News explained the U.S. has long condemned censorship and repression from the Chinese Communist Party, from Russia, from the extremist regimes in Iran and Cuba.
But President Donald Trump has also noted the threat from Europe's leftist agenda.
Vice President JD Vance just weeks ago accused European leaders at the Munich Security Conference of suppressing dissenting opinions by categorizing those views as "misinformation" and "disinformation," the report said.
He cited the "threat from within – the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values."
Singer and guitarist Rick Derringer passed away Monday in Ormond Beach, Florida, the Associated Press reported. The 77-year-old was best known for hits "Hang On Sloopy" and "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" with the band The McCoys.
Derringer's death was announced by his caregiver, Tony Wilson, in a post to Facebook. He did not indicate the cause of death for the rock legend.
"Derringer’s legacy extends beyond his music, entertaining fans with his signature energy and talent. His passing leaves a void in the music world, and he will be deeply missed by fans, colleagues, and loved ones," Wilson posted to Facebook.
Of all the credits in Derringer's decades-long career, his only Grammy Award came from his work as producer on "Weird Al" Yankovic's self-titled debut album. The parody singer-songwriter was one of many musicians to offer a fond farewell.
In a post to Instagram, Yankovic included a photo with Derringer and kind words of remembrance. "I’m very sad to say that my friend, rock guitar legend Rick Derringer, has passed," Yankovic wrote in his post on Tuesday.
"Rick produced my first 6 albums and played guitar on my earliest recordings, including the solo on 'Eat It.' He had an enormous impact on my life, and will be missed greatly. RIP," Yankovic wrote.
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Fellow guitarist Joe Bonamassa also offered his condolences via X, formerly Twitter. "Joe Rest in Peace my friend. It was an honor to know you, work with you, and call you a friend," Bonamassa wrote.
Mötley Crüe star John Corabi also tweeted his goodbyes. "So sad to hear about the passing of Rick Derringer. What a brilliant guitarist/producer and songwriter. I saw him quite a few times, and was blown away at what he did with his guitar. R.I.P. Rick."
With a career spanning multiple genres and years, Derringer was a valuable asset to the music industry. He was only 17 when the McCoys, formed with his brother, Randy, charted the hit "Hang On Sloopy" in 1964.
His solo hit "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" found a new audience after being featured in the Netflix series Stranger Things in its fourth season. In 1973, Derringer's album "All American Boy" reached No. 25 on the charts, featuring instrumental tracks "Time Warp" and "Joy Ride."
Music production was a significant part of Derringer's credits, including his work with Yankovic. However, Derringer also worked as a session musician playing for Barbara Streisand, Kiss, and Todd Rundgren during the 1970s and 1980s. His work for Steely Dan included the tracks "Katy Lied," "Gaucho," and "Countdown to Ecstacy."
By the mid-1980s, Derringer landed a spot on tour with Cyndi Lauper and played on three of her albums, including her wildly successful "True Colors." In 1985, Derringer produced "The Wrestling Album" for the World Wrestling Federation using many songs he co-wrote as theme songs for pro wrestlers, including Hulk Hogan's "Real American."
Derringer may not be a household name, but his career includes many hits and collaborations that have certainly become well-known. His presence in the industry will surely be missed.
Lara Trump said that CNN anchor Jake Tapper's apology for ignoring the signs of then-President Joe Biden's cognitive impairment is a "bit too late," Fox News reported. The former Republican National Committee chair slammed Tapper for this on Tuesday's The Ingraham Angle on Fox News.
Earlier this month, Tapper released the book Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. In it, he blames the White House for keeping the situation under wraps even though it was obvious to everyone.
To save face, Tapper has thrown out a few mea culpas about his role in the cover-up that led to Biden staying in the race too long before stepping down. Trump doesn't buy it and thinks Tapper took way too long to come clean.
"Jake Tapper saying that this is like a Watergate-level type of situation, now that he played a role in it, it feels a little bit too late to me. I do appreciate that he did keep his word, though, and has come out and said that I was right," Trump told host Laura Ingraham about Tapper's admission.
On Monday's Piers Morgan Uncensored, Tapper acknowledged that the cover-up of Biden's mental decline was "worse" than the Watergate scandal. He also apologized to Trump after a disagreement they had early on about whether Biden was already showing signs of some sort of mental deficit during the 2020 presidential election.
She and Tapper got into a tussle during an episode of State of the Union in October of that year. When Trump brought up Biden's confusion and other issues, Tapper claimed Trump was unfairly judging Biden for his stutter.
"I think you were mocking his stutter," Tapper claimed at the time. "And I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody's cognitive decline," he charged.
It only took Tapper five years to get around to apologizing to Trump, as he called her to say he was sorry about two months before the book's release. "Knowing what we know now, and looking back on that interview, which I feel tremendous humility about, she was right, and I was wrong. I did not see, in the moments he was having, I did not see that as cognitive decline," Tapper told Morgan.
Even with the apology, Trump still believes that Tapper can't "discount his role" in perpetuating this scandal for so long. It seems Tapper only had an attack of conscience now that there was nothing to lose by admitting it.
"No matter how much he wants to come out now and say, 'You know what, we're going to start calling the shots like we see them actually now.' It's too late," Trump said.
"You can't do this time and time again to people and continue to lie to people in the way they did and think that you're going to get any different result. It's the reason Donald Trump is in the White House right now," she added.
This issue is more than just political for Lara Trump. As the wife of President Donald Trump's son Eric Trump, she had a front-row seat for the coordinated effort to keep her father-in-law, Donald Trump, out of the White House at all costs.
Tapper is finally doing the right thing now, but he was complicit in the effort to shield the truth from the public when it suited his purpose. What he did is shameful, but the fact that he will make money from a book about it is particularly distasteful.
Three high-profile cases that angered some Republicans in Congress have been reopened or given more resources by the FBI, according to Deputy Director Dan Bongino's announcement on Monday.
A 2021 pipe bomber on the evening of January 6, the discovery of cocaine at the Biden White House during the Fourth of July weekend in 2023, and a leaked draft of a historic Supreme Court decision are all part of these cases, as Breitbart News reported.
"Shortly after swearing in, the Director and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that, understandably, have garnered public interest," Bongino posted on X. "We made the decision to either re-open, or push additional resources and investigative attention, to these cases."
"I receive requested briefings on these cases weekly and we are making progress," he added. "If you have any investigative tips on these matters that may assist us then please contact the FBI."
The Secret Service dropped the case on July 12, 2023, after concluding that it could not identify a suspect, despite the fact that cocaine was discovered at the White House in July 2023, over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
There was, allegedly, no surveillance footage of the drug incident, according to the White House. Investigators claimed that hundreds of people had access to the location where the cocaine was, according to law enforcement at the time.
"Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered," the FBI said in a statement that July.
"At this time, the Secret Service's investigation is closed due to a lack of physical evidence."
House Republicans voiced their disapproval of the investigation's conclusion, claiming that it put the White House's security at risk.
"This alarming development requires the Committee to assess White House security practices and determine whose failures led to an evacuation of the building and finding of the illegal substance," House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, (R-KY), wrote on July 7 to then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
The leak of the judgment in Dobbs v. Jackson, which sent abortion rights choices to the states after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, is also being investigated by the FBI. After looking into the leak, the investigation authority of the Supreme Court was unable to identify the leaker.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito authored the opinion that was leaked and published by Politico on May 2, 2022.
The court was unable to identify the leaker of the opinion, even though an internal investigation questioned more than a hundred Supreme Court personnel. However, during the course of the investigation, no justices were examined.
"Yesterday's unprecedented leak is an attempt to severely damage the Supreme Court," then-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise said at the time.
"This clearly coordinated campaign to intimidate and obstruct the Justices of the United States Supreme Court, and its independence in our political system, from upholding the Constitution must be immediately investigated by the court."
The aides of President Joe Biden reportedly took actions they deemed necessary but undemocratic to counteract the threat they perceived from former President Donald Trump, Breitbart reported.
Aides believed they needed to take extraordinary measures to thwart the challenges they saw in Trump's continued influence on U.S. politics. These individuals, according to reports, considered their actions as essential to preserving democracy.
A recent revelation sheds light on a sense of urgency among White House staff to safeguard what they viewed as fundamental democratic processes.
Axios reporter Alex Thompson shared insights from discussions with White House insiders. They believed Trump represented a direct threat to democratic principles and rationalized taking unprecedented measures.
One prominent aide described their strategy by indicating that President Biden's primary task was to secure an electoral win. Following that, the administration could rely on its team to manage pivotal responsibilities.
In Thompson's report, one aide underlined the unique strategy, stating, "He’d only have to show proof of life every once in a while," where focus was heavily placed on the team's actions rather than on the president.
During this time, questions arose concerning the role of the president in decision-making within his administration. Another statement from an aide highlighted the notion that voters primarily elected the team around Biden.
These revelations come at a time when President Biden is confronting substantial personal health challenges, following a prostate cancer diagnosis.
According to a statement released by the president's office, Biden's diagnosis stemmed from recent observations of a prostate nodule. The symptoms had reportedly intensified in recent times.
On Friday, details from the office confirmed that Biden received a prostate cancer diagnosis characterized by a Gleason score of 9, indicating a serious condition with bone metastasis.
The type of cancer, however, is hormone-sensitive, providing avenues for effective management with his doctors reviewing treatment paths.
As Biden and his family discuss treatment plans, the backdrop of a boiling political context makes the timing of these health issues all the more significant.
An anonymous White House official noted that despite rising health concerns, Biden's leadership style, which leaned heavily on his aides, would remain indispensable, exacerbating public concern for transparency.
As Biden's health discussions unfold, attention remains focused on the strategy and actions from within the White House, reflecting wider stirrings within the political landscape.
Thompson indicated that the staff’s sense of duty underlined every decision made during a tumultuous time, as aides continuously evaluated their actions against democratic ideals.
The confluence of these matters raises broader implications, especially with the approaching presidential race, as Biden’s supporters and critics weigh in on the administration's methodology.
While some contend that preserving democracy could justify drastic measures, others express unease over such strategies breaching democratic principles.
This dynamic environment places Biden and his team at the heart of a debate over future governance and the role of leadership in facing contemporary challenges.
President Trump is giving Republicans in the Senate his approval to make whatever changes they wish to the "Big, Beautiful Bill."
The order may come as a shock to House Republicans, who have spent weeks negotiating a delicate compromise between different factions in the party.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has urged the Senate to make minimal revisions, but Trump wants the Senate to have a say, welcoming "significant" tweaks if needed.
“I want the Senate and the senators to make the changes they want," Trump said. "It will go back to the House and we’ll see if we can get them. In some cases, the changes may be something I’d agree with, to be honest.”
It's a bit of a tone shift from Trump, who had previously slammed "grandstanders" in the House as he pushed Republicans to come together and enact his agenda quickly.
A couple of Republican senators, Ron Johnson (WI.) and Rand Paul (Ky.), are vocally opposed to the bill in its current form, saying it will raise deficits unacceptably.
Senate Majority Leader, John Thune (R-Sd) has already said “the Senate will have its imprint on it," with senators expected to look closely at an increase in the state-and-local tax (SALT) deduction cap - a concession to House Republicans in high-tax blue states - as well as cost-saving reforms to Medicaid that some Republicans are nervous about defending.
The House version of Trump's bill passed last week by only one vote. The bill, which aims to codify Trump's tax reforms and boost funding for immigration enforcement, was the product of a careful compromise between deficit hawks and Republicans who wanted more generous state and local tax (SALT) breaks.
"I encourage them to modify the package that we’re sending over there as little as possible, because we have to maintain that balance, and it’s a very delicate thing," Speaker Johnson told Fox News on Sunday.
The Senate is aiming to pass the bill by July 4, a fitting date for unleashing Trump's promised "golden age" of American renewal.
Getting the bill passed may be easier said than done, but Trump remains optimistic.
“We’ve had a very good response from the Senate and I don’t know how Democrats can’t vote for it,” Trump said. “I think they [Senate Republicans] are going to have changes. Some will be minor, some will be fairly significant.”
"I think it’s going to get there,” Trump said, adding that Johnson and Thune are doing "fantastic."
Retiring Democratic Senator Michael Bennet (Co.) shared a sobering take on his political party's current situation, saying he's "furious" about their inability to defeat President Trump - and he fears the worst for Democrats is yet to come.
Bennet, who is leaving national politics to run for governor of reliably Democratic Colorado, told CNN that the party's brand is damaged nationally.
“I don’t think nationally the Democratic brand helps very much anywhere,” Bennet told State of the Union. “If it did, we wouldn’t have lost to Donald Trump twice.”
While many Democrats have blamed their present woes on President Biden and his disastrous re-election plans, others argue Biden is becoming a convenient scapegoat for a political party that is unwilling to engage in necessary self-scrutiny.
Interviewer Jake Tapper - whose controversial new book Original Sin has led to fresh criticism of Biden's presidency and the effort to conceal his cognitive decline, an effort that many say Tapper participated in himself - grilled Bennet about the Democratic party's "record-low" popularity and whether it would hurt Bennet's campaign for governor.
Even as he slammed Trump, Bennet faulted Democrats for failing to provide voters with an alternative to Trump and his plans to "blow up Washington, D.C."
"I think they’re sick of a Democratic Party who hasn't been able to show how we’re going to address an economy where the middle class continues to shrink and where, over the last 20 years, we've actually lost ground in terms of, you know, the achievement of our kids in school. We need to address those things," he said.
The Democrats' "woke" drift has been cited as a significant factor in their wipeout last November, but months later, the party is still paralyzed by divisions on how to rebuild.
While some, like Bennet, clearly want to distance themselves from the progressives in the party, others are continuing to cling to the "woke" brand.
Democrats remain as lost as ever, with reports that the party is spending millions of dollars to study men. The bizarre initiative, entitled, "Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan," aims to "study the syntax, language and content that gains attention and virality" in male spaces.
Meanwhile, a desperate effort to paint Trump as a nascent authoritarian is falling flat.
According to the most recent polling averages from RealClearPolitics, Trump is only a couple of points underwater, while the Democratic party's net approval is more than 20 points in the negative.
President Trump pardoned an ex-Virginia sheriff who was convicted of taking bribes in exchange for badges.
Trump issued the shock pardon just one day before Scott Jenkins, the 53-year-old former sheriff of Culpeper County, Virginia, was due to report to prison.
Jenkins was accused of appointing businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs in exchange for money. But in a social media post, Trump decried Jenkins' prosecution as an example of politically motivated "weaponization" of justice.
"In fact, during his trial, when Sheriff Jenkins tried to offer exculpatory evidence to support himself, the Biden Judge, Robert Ballou, refused to allow it, shut him down, and then went on a tirade," Trump wrote. "As we have seen, in Federal, City, and State Courts, Radical Left or Liberal Judges allow into evidence what they feel like, not what is mandated under the Constitution and Rules of Evidence."
Prosecutors said Jenkins accepted a combination of cash and campaign contributions, totaling over $60,000, from wealthy clients who were seeking to exercise special privileges, like get out of traffic tickets and carry concealed firearms without a permit. Two undercover FBI agents also paid Jenkins $15,000.
One co-defendant, Rick Rahim, testified that he paid Jenkins, and also gave him a loan that was never repaid, in exchange for a badge and the restoration of his gun rights.
At his trial, Jenkins testified that the payments were simply campaign donations, and he denied there was any connection between the payments and the badges.
His lawyer similarly denied there was any quid pro quo, claiming Jenkins deputized untrained civilians as a "creative" way to circumvent gun control laws in Virginia.
A jury in December convicted Jenkins of one count of conspiracy, four counts of honest services fraud, and seven counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.
The former sheriff was sentenced to 10 years in prison in March, and was set to begin his prison stay on Tuesday before Trump intervened at the 11th hour.
"This Sheriff is a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice, and doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail," he added.
"He is a wonderful person, who was persecuted by the Radical Left ‘monsters,’ and ‘left for dead.’ This is why I, as President of the United States, see fit to end his unfair sentence, and grant Sheriff Jenkins a FULL and Unconditional Pardon."
Jenkins was first elected in 2011 and won re-election twice before losing his office in the wake of the indictment.
President Donald Trump accepts that there will be changes to his "big, beautiful bill" that passed by one vote in the House last week, the Washington Examiner reported. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson believes this might endanger the bill's final fate in the Senate.
During remarks to the press in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday, Trump explained that he anticipates and even welcomes some changes to the final bill. "I want the Senate and the senators to make the changes they want," Trump said.
"It will go back to the House, and we’ll see if we can get them. In some cases, the changes may be something I’d agree with, to be honest," Trump continued.
"I think they are going to have changes. Some will be minor, some will be fairly significant," Trump advised. Some of the proposed changes include examining radio licensing changes, Medicaid cuts, and the potential abolition of green energy tax credits created under the administration of then-President Joe Biden.
While Trump is optimistic about the future of the bill, Johnson has said getting the bill passed was like "crossing over the Grand Canyon on a piece of dental floss." According to NBC News, the Louisiana Republican cautioned his colleagues in the upper chamber of Congress against tinkering with the bill.
“I had lunch with my Senate Republican colleagues on Tuesday, their weekly luncheon, and I encouraged them to remember that we are one team. It’s the Senate and the House Republicans together that will deliver this ball over the goal line, so to speak," Johnson said.
"And I encouraged them to make as few modifications as possible, remembering that I have a very delicate balance," he added. With a majority in the House already very slim, Johnson was able to eke out a 215-214 vote with two Republicans voting no.
Another Republican simply voted "present," while two more skipped out completely, while Democrats unilaterally voted against it. This doesn't bode well for the Senate, especially considering the opposition over the bill's proposed Medicaid cuts from Democrats.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed Trump after he "promised to love and cherish Medicaid" and went forward with the cuts. "Instead, his One Big Ugly Bill represents the largest healthcare cut in our country’s history. Millions of people will lose their Medicaid coverage and hardworking American taxpayers will be forced to pay higher premiums, copays, and deductibles," he claimed.
While Trump and Johnson disagree about modifications to the bill, other Republicans are worried about the entire bill being a "debt bomb ticking," as Rep. Thomas Massie called it, according to The Hill. The Kentucky Republican was one of two GOP lawmakers who voted against the budget reconciliation bill in the House.
Some believe it will be an uphill battle in the Senate as it is currently crafted, let alone with objectionable changes and economic conditions. "I think we’re having trouble selling our long bonds already," Sen. Rick Scott said, noting that interest rates are creeping up.
The Florida Republican and at least three other GOP senators are concerned about the financial impact. The budget bill, which exceeds 1,000 pages, includes some reforms but falls short of significantly reducing the federal deficit, which could balloon to $2.5 trillion by 2035 if projections are accurate.
"I want to get a deal done; I support the president’s agenda. I support the border, I support the military, I support extending the Trump tax cuts — but we have to live in reality. But we got to live in reality here: We got a fiscal crisis," Scott explained.
This bill is complicated and isn't the panacea some would like to believe it is. However, Trump and the Republicans are serious about getting America back on track, and this is a very good start even if it ultimately fails full passage.