President Donald Trump ran a successful set of immigration policies during his first term in the White House, and so far, during his second term, his policies are bolder and even more effective.
According to Breitbart, Trump took a victory lap this week regarding the number of illegal immigrant arrests at the southern U.S. border, declaring on Truth Social that the migrant invasion of the United States is "over."
Trump cited the latest numbers that show record low apprehensions of illegal immigrants at the border -- a far cry from the high numbers experienced under former President Joe Biden.
The president, on his first day in the White House for his second term, enacted hundreds of executive orders meant to crack down on the invasion of illegals. And it's working as intended.
Trump held nothing back in justifiably bragging about his border policies resulting in record low apprehensions.
"The month of February, my first full month in Office, had the LOWEST number of Illegal Immigrants trying to enter our Country in History – BY FAR! There were only 8,326 apprehensions of Illegals by Border Patrol at the U.S. – Mexico Border, all of whom were quickly ejected from our Nation or, when necessary, prosecuted for crimes against the United States of America," Trump wrote.
Trump added, "This means that very few people came – The Invasion of our Country is OVER."
February was the lowest month in recorded history for encounters at our border. The world is hearing our message: do not come to our country illegally. If you do, we will find you, arrest you, and send you back.
Thank you President @realDonaldTrump for your strong leadership and… pic.twitter.com/m6OMiG32Dm
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) March 1, 2025
The 47th president then compared his numbers to the embarrassingly high numbers under the Biden-Harris administration.
"In comparison, under Joe Biden, there were 300,000 Illegals crossing in one month, and virtually ALL of them were released into our Country. Thanks to the Trump Administration Policies, the Border is CLOSED to all Illegal Immigrants. Anyone who tries to illegally enter the U.S.A. will face significant criminal penalties and immediate deportation," Trump wrote.
The president's supporters across social media reacted to the big news.
"Biden and the Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) all lied and said they needed that awful bill in Congress to be passed to secure the Border. No. That bill would have legalized 5000 illegal immigrants a day and changed enforcement mechanism. Not good. Trump fixed it," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "That is amazing. It’s just further proof that the Biden administration was intentionally allowing illegals to freely cross our borders."
Only time will tell how effective Trump's border policies are, but so far, they're looking really successful.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Industrial Policy for the United States: Winning the Competition for Good Jobs and High-Value Industries is economist Ian Fletcher's latest published work with co-author Marc Fasteau, vice-chairman of the Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA). This new book follows up on Ian Fletcher's excellent 2011 book Free Trade Doesn't Work: What Should Replace it and Why.
Industrial policy is defined in the book as "the deliberate governmental support of industries," such as the management of exchange rates, research and development (R&D) tax breaks, tariffs, export controls, and government-funded technological research.
Authors Ian Fletcher and Marc Fasteau rightly claim that "the free market can't do everything" but also that America does not need and should not seek government authority over all industrial policies. However, we do need a "coherent set of policies " that includes crucial items like "expansion of domestic programs designed to support manufacturing, especially to support the creation and commercialization of innovation."
That said, here is my summation of the pertinent points of this 800-plus-page book:
From the start, the original 13 colonies were not laissez-faire in dealing with foreign trade and the domestic economy, despite the thinking of free trade advocates saying so to justify their unalterable thinking. One of the first legislative acts of Congress in 1789 was a tariff on imports.
Not long after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, America's industrial policy saw the U.S. economy growing by serving primarily its own market. As steel magnate Andrew Carnegie said in 1890, "Even if every part of the United States were blockaded today, and remained so for ten years, the people of the United States would suffer only some inconveniences."
Fast-forward to World War II's industrial policy. America had a large industrial base that allowed our army to be fully mechanized. The U.S. government oversaw $2.1 trillion in armaments (in 2020 dollars) between 1940 and 1945, and this industrial capacity dictated most of World War II's timetable.
The resulting postwar economy showed that the U.S. comprised 50 percent of the world's economy. The government's realized ability to drive gains in productivity and innovation from our industrial policy became evident. The shipyards of industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, adopting innovative mass-marketing techniques employed by the auto industry, which was formerly directed to produce armaments for the war, reduced build time for cargo-carrying ships like the Liberty Ship to 42 days from 130.
Despite the newfound success of America's industrial policy, many presidents after World War II passed on anything resembling this prior success in the future.
President Truman said, "…our workingmen no longer need to fear, as they were justified in the past, the competition of foreign workers."
President John F. Kennedy said it was an "Atlantic responsibility" to open our markets to "the developing countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America" to "help assure them of a favorable climate of freedom and growth."
President Lyndon Johnson was against any sort of protectionism, whose tradition was a Southern free trader.
President Ronald Reagan, although he did apply import tariffs in certain areas – most notably to protect Harley Davidson – was much more focused on getting "the government off the back of business" and free market measures like corporate and income tax cuts, reductions in capital gains taxes, R&D tax credits, and rolling back various regulations.
President George H.W. Bush negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which President Bill Clinton famously signed into law.
President Barack Obama negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement. Even Hillary Clinton, after referring to it as the "gold standard" of trade agreements, was forced to oppose it when she ran for president against Donald Trump, who killed it on day one after being elected. President Obama did, however, impose Chinese tariffs on a volume of trade that equaled about seven billion dollars a year. The categories included wind towers, tires, various types of steel pipe, steel cylinders, lawn trimmers, and kitchen shelving.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
PALM BEACH, Florida – U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is now revealing what he calls "riduclous" requests by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky before the fiery exchange Friday with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
Appearing on "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo on the Fox News Channel, Lutnick said: "Forty-five minutes before the meltdown, the fact was Zelensky never stopped asking for, you know, 'I will give no concessions, they've got to leave my land, I want reparations of $300 billion, and I want the United States to give me security guarantees,' while they're at war with Russia.
"And that's why the president called it World War III. You're gambling with World War III.
"We're not gonna give you security guarantees while you're at war with Russia. It's just ridiculous. His requests were ridiculous. They were not reasonable. The president let it go for a while.
"Our president is there to make peace, as he said, end the death. And Zelensky was not there to make peace.
"He was there to strike some make-believe bargain that he had in his mind. And eventually that just ran its course, and Donald Trump said I can't take this nonsense anymore, and made it crystal clear he's the peacemaker, and if Zelensky's not interested in peace, then he should go home and think about it."
Lutnick noted it was extremely disappointing, as ceremonial signing desks and an elaborate lunch had been prepared with the expectation of a rare earth mineral deal being signed, but Zelensky blew the deal.
"This was designed to be beautiful, but instead we had lunch by ourselves," he added.
Later in the program, former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, who is now CEO of Trump Media, told Bartiromo he expects Zelensky or a representative of Ukraine to come back and sign a deal with America.
"Either him or somebody else," Nunes said, "but they're going to have to end the war and they're gonna have to build economic ties with the West."
On another issue, Lutnick previewed the tariffs Trump is expected to slap on Mexico and Canada this Tuesday as both countries have been complicit in moving Chinese-made fentanyl into the U.S.
"The fentanyl continues to come into this country and continues to murder our people," the Commerce secretary explained. "And the ingredients are made in China they're sent to Mexico and Canada and then they come and attack our country and that's got to end.
"There are going to be tariffs on Tuesday on Mexico and Canada. Exactly what they are, we're gonna leave that for the president and his team to negotiate. … But China's got to stop making these ingredients.
"Remember, in 2019, the Chinese told President Trump at that time that they would put the death penalty on anybody who made fentanyl. And today, they're giving the maximum subsidy they possibly can to the people making those ingredients.
"So the Chinese need to stop this murder of Americans and Donald Trump is the only president who protects the American people."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Officials in the Fresno Unified School District in California, with 71,000 students, have set up a number of academic support programs for them.
Only they are "marketed" only to black students.
Which has prompted the Pacific Legal Foundation to launch a legal challenge to the district for "unlawfully gating" access to the student help programs.
"It is unfair and unconstitutional to gate access to valuable educational programs based on a child's race, regardless of whether the exclusion is explicit or implicit," explained PLF lawyer Wilson Freeman.
"Taxpayer-funded academic support programs should be available to all students based on need, not race. FUSD's practices violate multiple legal protections, including the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, the Civil Rights Act, and California's Proposition 209."
The district, in fact, has an "Office of African American Academic Acceleration," to address achievement gaps between black students and others.
That office runs 13 various programs with a $12 million budget, and focuses "on mentoring African American middle and high school students," the legal team explained.
While the programs lack a specific racial requirement, "they are marketed exclusively to African American students," the legal challenge charges.
"Administrators direct teachers to inform only African American parents and students about these opportunities, leaving other students unaware."
The report said Fresno is the state's third-largest school district, and the "acceleration" office was created back in 2017.
It was "started with a $742,000 budget to mentor African American middle and high school students," the report said.
"Academic need doesn't discriminate. It affects students of all races who need extra support to reach their full potential. This includes children whose parents belong to Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER), a nonprofit group that fights for equal treatment under the law," the legal team explained.
"These parents have children in Fresno schools who could benefit from A4 programs but were either kept unaware of the opportunities or, worse, led to believe they weren't eligible because they're not black. The parents are also deeply troubled that the district spends millions in taxpayer dollars on programs that de facto exclude their children for no other reason than skin color."
The lawyers pointed out the Supreme Court has said, "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump had been planning on an agreement Friday with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to mine rare earth minerals there, a plan that was derailed by Zelensky's demands when he met with Trump in the White House.
But it may not be a significant setback, as a second nation already is proposing a deal with America to give it access to rare earths.
The Washington Examiner reported President Felix Tshisekedi, of the Congo, wants to have the U.S. support his nation's fight against Rwandan-backed rebels in exchange for mining access.
"Eyeing the critical mineral deal President Donald Trump is striking with Ukraine, Tshisekedi is hoping to use his country's vast mineral wealth to earn U.S. support," the report explained.
"President Tshisekedi invites the USA, whose companies source strategic raw materials from Rwanda, materials that are looted from the [Democratic Republic of Congo] and smuggled to Rwanda while our populations are massacred, to purchase them directly from us the rightful owners," a spokeswoman for Congo's chief, Tina Salama, explained on social media.
She said the offer is good for Europe as well.
The report explained Kinshasa has hired U.S. lobbyists on a $1.4 million, one-year contract to work on "engagements to advance defense security and critical mineral diplomacy with the United States."
Congo is mineral rich, even though its population mostly is extremely poor.
There are resources including copper, diamonds, gold, and cobalt, as well as special interest elements tin, tungsten and tantalum, which are needed for consumer electronics.
The Examiner explained, "A United Nations report found that 150 tons of coltan, a vital resource used in smartphones and other electronics, were 'fraudulently exported to Rwanda and mixed with Rwandan production.' Congo estimates that Kigali is earning $1 billion in annual revenue from the smuggled metals, a massive amount for a country with a $13.3 billion GDP."
Currently, Chinese interests control some two-thirds of cobalt refineries, and the Communist regime uses the results for electric vehicle production.
In recent weeks the U.S. has announced sanctions against several Rwandan officials and corporations.
The Congo, however, is not without its atrocities, with Christians being beheaded there by majority Islamic radicals.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
PALM BEACH, Florida – F-16 fighter jets scrambled Saturday near President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home after multiple aircraft violated restricted airspace in a short time span, sparking an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service.
"NORAD F-16s intercepted 3 civilian aircraft violating airspace restrictions over Palm Beach, FL today," the North American Aerospace Defense Command said on X.
"Flares were deployed during two intercepts. All aircraft were safely escorted out of the area. Reminder: Always check FAA NOTAMs!"
A "NOTAM" is a notice to airmen.
The violations occurred within a short period of time, with the3 first at 11:05 a.m., the second at 12:10 p.m., and the third at 12:50 p.m.
Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command, stated: "NORAD and the FAA work closely together to keep the skies over America safe, with close attention paid to areas with Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR).
"Adherence to TFR procedures is essential to ensure flights safety, national security, and the security of the president.
"The procedures are not optional, and the excessive number of recent TFR violations indicates civil aviators are not reading Notice to Airmen, or NOTAMs, before each flight as required by the FAA, and has resulted in numerous responses by NORAD fighter aircraft to guide offending aircraft out of the TFR."
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, told Susan Crabtree of Real Clear Politics: "The interdiction was conducted according to established NORAD protocols," and referred to NORAD for further questions about their protocols.
"Initial reports indicate the civilian aircraft inadvertently entered the restricted airspace over Palm Beach. Our protective intelligence teams are investigating further. Pilots are reminded to consult the FAA's Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) before all flights.
Some online reaction includes:
"I think FAA ignored the restriction, hoping for an innocent civilian flight to be shot down to try to hurt Trump's numbers. One is an oops. Twice is coincidence. Three and over is purposeful."
"Take away their licenses and charge the pilots the costs of the intercepts. I am sure the all up hourly costs of an F-16 is not cheap."
"USSS and FAA, please look very carefully at the pilot(s). ALL pilots know to check TFRs. One pilot, ok; 2 pilots, maybe; 3 pilots, suspicious."
"'Inadvertently'??? Three times???? Please, stop the insanity. I have no confidence in this SS 'spokesman'! Three times is NOT a mistake!!!!"
Just last month, another three violations of airspace took place while President Trump was staying at the so-called "Winter White House" at Mar-a-Lago.
The Palm Beach Post reported: "A spokesperson for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, confirmed Wednesday that there were three airspace violations of the imposed presidential protected space during Trump's six-day visit to Mar-a-Lago, his mansion in Palm Beach. Two occurred on Feb. 15 and one on Presidents Day, Feb. 17."
Earlier this month, the world of Florida politics was shaken by the news that a beloved former state legislator had unexpectedly died.
Last week, family, friends, and former colleagues gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Geraldine Thompson, who succumbed to complications from knee surgery amid a career marked by service in both the Florida House and Senate, as NBC affiliate WESH reported.
Mourners gathered at Orlando's Majestic Life Church to remember and pay tribute to Thompson, who died at age 76 due to complications from a knee replacement procedure.
As the Tallahassee Democrat noted, Thompson's career in the state House began back in 2006, where she served until 2012, the year in which she ascended to the state Senate, where she remained until 2016.
The lawmaker returned to service in the House between the years of 2018 to 2022, then securing re-election to the state Senate just last year from Orange County's District 15.
Also boasting a background in education, Thompson was pivotal in the establishment of Orlando's Wells'Built Museum of African American History and Culture.
Thompson also served as part of a task force assigned to choose a site for the construction of a Florida Black History Museum.
The sizable turnout for Thompson's viewing and the expected attendance numbers for her funeral came as no surprise to Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, who underscored the undeniable impact the state lawmaker had over the years.
“Geraldine Thompson lived a life that was all about selflessness and giving to others, and so a good testament to her life and legacy is all of these people you're seeing here coming today for viewing,” he said.
Reginald McGill, constituent services staffer for Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer was similarly effusive in his praise of Thompson, stating, “She was more than a legislator. She was more than an educator. She was more than a mother, grandmother. She was really a friend to those who needed a friend.”
A statement from Thompson's family articulated the scope of her impact not just on her family and local constituents, but the entire state of Florida.
“She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother whose love, wisdom, and compassion shaped their lives and the lives of so many in their community and across the state. Her tireless work in education, health care, and civil rights, including her leadership to establish the Wells'Built Museum of African American History and Culture in Orlando reflected her unwavering commitment to creating a better world for future generations,” the family said.
According to an obituary posted by Mitchell's Funeral Home in Orlando, Thompson is survived by Judge Emerson Thompson, II, to whom she was married for 54 years.
Also left to mourn the late lawmaker are her three children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild, as well as a world of friends, constituents, and co-workers who admired the dedication she exhibited throughout her public service career.
In the wake of Donald Trump's election to a second term in the Oval Office, some observers speculated about just how involved his wife, Melania Trump, would be in official events over the course of the next four years.
Skepticism about the first lady's enthusiasm for official events should now begin to recede, given that Mrs. Trump has just announced that preparations for the beloved tradition of the White House Easter Egg roll are well underway, as Fox News reports.
As the White House Historical Association explains, the initial Easter Egg Roll took place on April 22, 1878, during the administration of Rutherford B. Hayes, marking the start of a much-loved custom that has endured across the decades.
A statement released by the White House heralded this year's festive plans, saying, “The president and first lady look forward to continuing this entertaining tradition and making it a truly memorable experience for all.”
As Fox News noted, the egg roll is generally an event overseen by the resident first lady, with each one bringing their personal signature to the proceedings.
Recent years have seen additions to the expected egg rolling races, such as dancing, music, and the like, with attendees receiving a keepsake souvenir from the event to take home with them.
Tickets to the annual gathering are free but must be requested via an online lottery that will run between March 4 and March 10, with lucky winners set to be informed on March 18 of their ability to attend the April 21 event.
As Fox News reported separately, another favorite White House tradition recently resumed, a move that was surely greeted with great excitement by legions of Americans.
Amid the recent transition between the Biden and Trump administrations, public tours of the White House were put on hiatus, a scenario that likely proved frustrating to those visiting the nation's capital during that time.
However, the Office of First Lady Melania Trump announced earlier this month that the aforementioned tours were slated to begin again on Feb. 25.
In a press release revealing the date tours would restart, Mrs. Trump declared, “The President and I are excited to reopen the White House to those interested in the extraordinary story of this iconic and beautiful landmark.”
The first lady continued, “There is much to learn about the American Presidency, the First Families who have lived here, and our Nation's rich history from a firsthand experience at the White House.”
The vigor and happiness with which Mrs. and Mrs. Trump have resumed life at the White House was evident yet again last week when, during the first public tour since the transition-related closure, the president himself made an appearance, thanking attendees and promising them a “great” time, as the New York Post reported.
“The first lady worked very hard in making it perfect, and I think you're going to really love it,” Mr. Trump assured the group, and it seems certain that the same will be true of the upcoming Egg Roll on the White House grounds.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
IRS officials have decided to conceal the home addresses of some 700,000 people suspected of being in the United States illegally, according to a report from the Washington Post.
The decision came on a request from immigration enforcement officials for those locations, and it was the IRS "rebuffing" attempts by the administration of President Donald Trump to gain access to that information for his crackdown on illegals.
The report noted that the Internal Revenue Service had promised "undocumented immigrants" over the years that it would protect their information and it would be safe for them to file income tax documents "without fear of being deported."
And the IRS said the law doesn't allow the release of personal information, even to another government agency.
AT the time, the IRS claimed, "There is no authorization under this provision to share tax data with ICE."
The report said an estimated one-half of the 11 million illegal aliens in the country file income tax returns, filing with individual taxpayer numbers, or ITINs, as they are ineligible for Social Security numbers.
The report credited this population with paying billions of dollars in federal taxes.
The report said the Washington Post got access to a memo in which Department of Homeland Security officials asked the IRS to link the names with a last known address, phone number or email, and the request was a followup to a DHS request weeks ago that would let immigration officials turn over a list of names to the IRS in order to get home addresses.
The publication said five anonymous people familiar with the scenario made those claims.
Then this week a memo asked the IRS "to deploy dozens of highly skilled IRS auditors and criminal investigators to launch probes of businesses suspected of hiring immigrants not authorized to work in the United States," the report said.
It said, "IRS investigations should be conducted, and assistance should be provided without regard for any threshold, floor, or internal policy for opening an investigation. Further, IRS should provide leads on businesses that are circumventing tax laws or violating worksite-related statutes, many of which are from prior leads or complaints that IRS did not investigate due to not meeting internal IRS policy for opening an investigation."
While the IRS rejected the plan, the report said, the agency is trying to reach agreement on ways to help immigration officials without violating privacy laws.
The publication's sources claimed the idea is triggering alarm inside the IRS because handing out taxpayer information to third parties in both a civil and criminal offense.
Dorothy A. Brown, of Georgetown University Law Center, claimed the program sounded like "racial profiling on steroids."
And the report noted an anonymous federal official said ICE would be viewing IRS records as a way to locate illegal aliens through their address, workplaces, children and more.
The mysterious and disturbing death of Gene Hackman and his wife and dog rocked the nation, and still has many scratching their heads as to what could have possibly happened to them.
Many speculated initially, including family members, that the likely cause of death was carbon monoxide or possibly gas poisoning.
However, according to Fox News, Hackman and his wife tested negative for carbon monoxide, making their deaths even more perplexing as authorities said that based on his pacemaker data, Hackman had been dead for about nine days.
According to Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, the last event recorded on Hackman's pacemaker was on Feb. 17.
According to the pathologist, I think that is a very good assumption that that was his last day of life," the Santa Fe sheriff told reporters this week, referring to the last dated event on his pacemaker.
Sheriff Mendoza also confirmed that Hackman and his wife "tested negative for carbon monoxide," adding, "The manner and cause of death has not been determined."
"One of the things is, in an investigation we try to piece the timeline together, usually before the event happens, and that gives us a lot of information," Mendoza said. "But in this case, it seems like we're doing a reverse timeline," the sheriff added.
Gene Hackman and his wife tested negative for carbon monoxide poisoning as their cause of death remains unknown.
The actor’s pacemaker indicates he died on February 17 — over a week before he, his wife, and dog were found dead. pic.twitter.com/mfCh2BIRiM
— Pop Base (@PopBase) February 28, 2025
Mendoza added, "We're doing a timeline from the time of death and the autopsy and the results. We're going to start working our way backwards. We're going to do both and then hopefully make a determination as to what may have happened to both of the individuals."
The two were last photographed together in March of 2024.
Users across social media weighed in on the mysterious deaths.
"When did the wife die. That is the real question," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "I'm gonna take a stab at this. Gene’s heart gives out. His wife finds his body. So distraught, she takes her own life with pills. The dog senses something is up. He won't stop barking. She puts him in the kennel and downs the pills. As she falls, she knocks over the pills."
Regardless of how it all happened, it's beyond sad. Hopefully, the family receives some closure soon.