Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the entire length of the border wall will be painted black as another safeguard preventing people from illegally crossing the southern border, Fox News reported. Noem said this move was ordered "specifically at the request" of President Donald Trump.
Noem made the announcement Tuesday in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, near a portion of the border wall while flanked by other officials and Border Patrol agents. She said the darker color would make the metal heat up, which would deter climbers, while also protecting the material from the elements.
"If you look at the structure that's behind me, it's tall, which makes it very, very difficult to climb, almost impossible. It also goes deep into the ground, which would make it very difficult, if not impossible, to dig under. And today we are also going to be painting it black," Noem said. "That is specifically at the request of the president," Noem clarified in a video of her remarks shared to X, formerly Twitter, by ABC News on Tuesday.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the entire southern border wall will be painted black, so it will get hot in the sun and "make it even harder for people to climb."
"That is specifically at the request of the president." https://t.co/fDAt90dmk6 pic.twitter.com/rZZZhZ3SVx
— ABC News (@ABC) August 19, 2025
After four years of illegal immigrants flooding through the border under then-President Joe Biden, Trump's policies are once again focused on border security. Noem said that thanks to Trump's "one big, beautiful bill" signed on July 4, "an incredible amount of resources" will go toward stopping illegal immigration, including building additional sections onto the border wall.
Noem said they are constructing those sections at breakneck speed, completing up to a half-mile of border fence per day. The Trump administration is also focused on making the border "secure far into the future" with technology such as sensors, cameras, and other physical barriers in waterways.
"We're doing due diligence in securing every single inch of our border. Remember that a nation without borders is no nation at all," Noem said during the news conference. "We're so thankful that we have a president that understands that and understands that a secure border is important to our country's future," Noem credited Trump.
During the press event with Noem, Interim Chief Patrol Agent for the El Paso Sector Walter Slosar boasted that daily apprehensions have dwindled from about 2,300 per day under Biden in 2021 to around just 41 per day. Slosar noted that Biden hamstrung Border Patrol into "observing" migrant crossings, whereas now illegal immigrants are "running from us."
Even the gotaways are in the single digits under Trump. "We're apprehending those individuals. Our gotaways are the lowest they've ever been. And we're putting we're working with the Department of Justice … we're putting criminal charges on those individuals applying consequences and our partners in ICE ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations] are removing those individuals from the United States."
Because Trump is focusing on the problem rather than exacerbating it like Biden did, the left is in a tizzy about anything he suggests regarding border security. This new paint job has elicited the usual whiny responses and lamentations, including suddenly worrying about government spending on something they insist won't work.
"The crazy thing is that despite this costing literally billions of dollars; they have the money for it! That’s right, Congress decided to cut funding for benefits for Americans and instead give CBP billions for the border wall, which they’ll now use to paint the thing black," Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said on X, formerly Twitter.
"Straight out of the Wile E. Coyote playbook," another user posted. User Zack Nelson, who runs the JerryRigEverything YouTube page, similarly mocked Trump's efforts while pretending to care about the cost of a government project in a post to X.
"Do they not sell gloves in Mexico? I could climb that wall with 20 bucks worth of materials from home depot. Such a waste of time and money," Nelson claimed.
This opposition is rich, coming from people who supported Biden's policies that allowed unvetted illegal immigrants to pour into the U.S. for his entire administration while he was wasting taxpayer dollars elsewhere. Trump's plan to paint the wall black is just another layer of protection for the American people, and they can't stand that.
In a decisive declaration on Truth Social, President Trump expressed his plans to outlaw mail-in ballots and certain voting machines to bolster election integrity for the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, Breitbart reported.
President Trump's upcoming executive order aims to eliminate mail-in voting and address alleged vulnerabilities in current voting machines nationwide.
In a post early Monday, President Trump indicated the introduction of this measure, describing it as an effort to curb what he perceives as rampant instances of voter fraud associated with mail-in voting and certain existing voting machines.
He strongly criticized the current voting systems as being "highly inaccurate, very expensive, and seriously controversial," suggesting an alternative approach involving sophisticated watermark paper, which he believes to be more efficient and reliable in verifying election outcomes.
Further exacerbating his disdain for the current system, Trump claimed that the United States is the sole nation still employing mail-in voting—a practice he argues has been abandoned by other countries due to massive fraud risks.
Mail-in ballots, according to Trump, disproportionately affect Democrat-controlled states and cities, heightening concerns over potential civil rights violations and compromised election fairness.
Narrative context recalled during Trump's announcement credited him with past feats viewed by many as unlikely. These include coaxing a birth certificate release from former President Barack Obama and landmark decisions and agreements concerning Roe v. Wade, Iran's nuclear capabilities, and several international peace deals.
Trump anticipates that this executive directive will be met with considerable resistance from Democratic opponents. He underscored his readiness for the legal challenges and intense debates that may follow this bold move.
The former President foresaw the potential for the new executive order to set significant legal precedents, compelling major judicial and federal scrutiny, particularly as the 2026 midterm elections approach.
"I am going to lead a movement to get rid of mail-in ballots, and also, while we’re at it, highly inaccurate, very expensive, and seriously controversial voting machines," Trump wrote, highlighting the perceived inefficiencies and cost discrepancies compared to proposed paper methods.
He elaborated on the economic aspect, asserting that the machines in use are "ten times more expensive than accurate and sophisticated watermark paper," which offers clearer and quicker results on election night.
"We are now the only country in the world that uses mail-in voting. All others gave it up because of the massive voter fraud encountered. We will begin this effort, which the Democrats will strongly oppose because they cheat at levels never seen before, by signing an executive order to help bring honesty to the 2026 midterm elections," Trump added, setting a firm timeline for his proposed reforms.
This initiative underscores Trump's ongoing crusade against what he terms electoral malpractices, aiming to alter the way Americans vote fundamentally. The spotlight now turns to the broader political and public response as these proposed changes head towards implementation.
While certain groups laud the move as a step towards more transparent elections, others are gearing up for a rigorous debate on the constitutionality and practical implications of such sweeping electoral changes.
The journey to realizing Trump's vision will invariably traverse detailed legal landscapes and fierce political battlegrounds, marking a significant chapter in the administration's legacy of controversial yet impactful policies.
Defying President Trump's immigration crackdown, Illinois' Democratic governor J.B. Pritzker is expanding public benefits for illegal aliens at taxpayer expense.
It's a peculiar move from a Democratic governor who has his eyes set on the White House - with one Republican blasting Pritzker's move as a "slap in the face" to hard-working Americans, Fox News reported.
The push comes despite budget shortfalls that have already forced Pritzker to rein in spending on illegal aliens.
Pritzker ended a program in July, Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA), that would have cost the state $404 million this year. The program, which Pritzker launched in 2021, provided health insurance for illegal aliens aged 42 to 64 at taxpayer expense.
But the governor is still finding ways to move leftward on immigration - an issue that Democrats mishandled disastrously under President Biden, turning public opinion sharply against the party.
House Bill 460, which Pritzker has now signed into law, ensures that Illinois students who are "not otherwise eligible for federal financial aid," such as illegal aliens, can receive state and local government benefits such as scholarships, grants, and room and board assistance.
The law was championed by state Sen. Celina Villanueva, a Democrat, who says the law guarantees that "no student is left behind because of where they were born.”
Pritzker's law "eliminates the patchwork of confusing and sometimes conflicting requirements that have excluded undocumented, DACAmented, and mixed-status students from critical aid," Villanueva said.
Rep. Mary Miller (Il.) blasted Pritzker for " a slap in the face to hardworking Illinois families and students.”
“Our state is drowning in debt, yet JB Pritzker is determined to drain even more taxpayer dollars to reward illegals,” she said. “It’s absolutely shameful.”
Pritzker has long championed Illinois as a "sanctuary" where illegal aliens can find refuge from federal immigration law and receive public benefits.
The governor has garnered headlines recently for sheltering Texas Democrats who fled their state to block a Republican redistricting push. Pritzker has threatened to gerrymander Illinois in response, even though the state already has one of the most aggressive Democratic gerrymanders in the nation.
With his latest move to welcome illegal aliens, Pritzker is apparently trying to position himself as an anti-Trump figure ahead of the Democratic presidential primary in 2028 - and Illinois residents will be left paying the price.
“Illinois taxpayers should not have their hard-earned taxpayer dollars pay for benefits to illegal immigrants who shouldn’t be here in the first place,” a spokesperson for the state's Republicans told Fox News Digital.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The administration of President Donald Trump has pressured, successfully, the United Kingdom to drop a pending demand for a "back door" access to Apple product users' data.
And that means Americans' personal information now is more secure.
It's a report at the Blaze that outlines how the confirmation comes from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
The report explained that U.K. residents have been worried by their own government's insistence on having the ability to "tap into their bank records as well as their personal photos and messages through their iPhones."
It was the home secretary in the government there that had insisted Apple remove its "advanced data protection" and "end-to-end encryption" for users of its products there.
That triggered Gabbard, the report said.
"The UK and the EU have gotten in the habit of bullying American companies when they don't have a leg to stand on," said Josh Centers, tech writer.
Taking part in the reported pressure campaign were American officials to include President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and others.
U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper soon dropped the demand, a move that protects not only U.K. consumers but those in the U.S. as well, the report said.
Gabbard announced on social media, "Over the past few months, I've been working closely with our partners in the UK, alongside [Trump] and [Vance], to ensure Americans' private data remains private and our Constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected.
"As a result, the UK has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a 'back door' that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties."
A U.K. government official said in an interview with the Telegraph the agreement with the United States includes "critical safeguards to prevent the U.K. and U.S. from targeting the data of each other's citizens."
Centers said now the American tech industry should push for further privacy protections.
Explained Lewis Brackpool, of Restore Britain, "When the state can read everything you say, your right to freedom of expression is put in the grave before it even begins."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Among all of the other Democrat scandals that now are coming to light: the Russiagate lies, the scheming at the highest levels of the White House to undermine a duly elected president, the undue influences orchestrated to impact the 2020 election, there's another horror being revealed.
Executives of America's banking industry now have confirmed that the Barack Obama and Joe Biden administrations, when they were in office, tried to force the bankers to "debank" the Democrats' political foes.
President Trump, in fact, recently addressed the concept of "debanking," or closing accounts and refusing to do business with companies or individuals because of their politics, by ordering an end.
Bank executives then confirmed that the Obama and Biden agendas were "to deny services to individuals and businesses for political reasons," Fox Business reported.
"Those pressures were very, very real. When your regulator gives you a suggestion, it's not a suggestion, it's an order. The political stuff is very real, those pressures are real," Fox News Digital confirmed a "senior banking official" reported.
Fox News Digital spoke with two executives at leading U.S. banks, who asked to remain anonymous, fearing reprisals.
They reported under Obama, and again under Biden, "banks were pressured to deny services to certain industries as part of Operation Choke Point and Operation Choke Point 2.0."
One official documented, "When there's ambiguity in the law, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and for a long time the beholder was the Obama and Biden administration."
Already, a report from the House Oversight Committee confirmed "Operation Choke Point" involved a DOJ team aiming to "choke" legal companies that Obama disliked.
They worked with regulators to falsely describe industries, such as firearms, as "high risk."
During his first term in the White House, Trump ended Obama's scheme, but then Biden revived them in "2.0," lawmakers have charged.
Trump has confirmed that multiple banks attacked him, his accounts and his business operations, likely a result of the political warfare assembled under the program.
In fact, First lady Melania Trump wrote in her memoir that she and her son Barron were debanked, as well, the report said.
"I was shocked and dismayed to learn that my long time bank decided to terminate my account and deny my son the opportunity to open a new one.… This decision appeared to be rooted in political discrimination, raising serious concerns about civil rights violations," she charged.
Former Republican Sen. Sam Brownback accused JPMorgan Chase of having debanked his nonprofit, the National Committee for Religious Freedom, in 2022, the report said.
Trump's order, "Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans," warns that banks that deny services to customers for their political views or beliefs will be banned.
One executive explained how the agenda from Obama and Biden would work: Politicians would use regulators to pressure banks to inflate "negative press" that had been directed at conservatives or political foes "as a pretext to debank them."
"It's all kind of set up, it's like somebody set the table, and it all ends up focusing on Republicans and conservatives," the executive told Fox.
Banks, in a flurry of activity of late, have been promising that they do not discriminate based on political or religious views.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A new plan has been announced that is intended to weed out "radical leftist ideology" that teachers coming from out of state might bright with them to Oklahoma.
It is Ryan Walters, the public schools chief in the state, who has announced that teachers coming from California and New York states will need to pass an exam to document they are not ideologically warped.
A report at Washington Examiner said those newcomers will need to pass a test conducted by PragerU, a nonprofit founded by radio host Dennis Prager that is known for its short videos advocating for traditional American values and mores.
"As long as I am superintendent, Oklahoma classrooms will be safeguarded from the radical leftist ideology fostered in places like California and New York," he said in a statement.
And department spokesman Quinton Hitchcock said the test already is set up and the requirement will be implemented "very soon."
There will be 50 questions on civics, like naming the two chambers of Congress, providing the number of senators in Congress and reciting the first three words of the Constitution.
There also will be questions about why freedom of religion is important and more.
"We will not allow these leftists' plans and schemes to take place here in Oklahoma," Walters told CNN. "They are trying to warp the minds of our kids to turn them into social justice warriors, instead of kids that are getting the most of their God given talents to go get a good job, to go live a fulfilling life."
As expected, leftists pushing those very ideas were enraged.
Said Randi Weingarten, the controversial chief of the politicized American Federation of Teachers, "This MAGA loyalty test will be yet another turnoff for teachers in a state already struggling with a huge shortage."
The state previously was involved in another controversy, through the state's plan to purchase Bibles to be placed in state classrooms.
Joe Edlow, reinstated as the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) under the Trump administration, has embarked on tackling significant immigration challenges left by the previous administration, the Daily Caller reported.
The focus of Edlow's tenure has been addressing a massive asylum case backlog and enhancing fraud prevention measures, which, he claims, were neglected during the Biden administration.
Originally serving as chief counsel and later as deputy director during Trump's first term, Edlow's return to USCIS comes at a crucial time. The agency faced a backlog surge, jumping from 450,000 pending asylum cases at the end of 2020 to over 1.5 million by 2024.
During the transition between administrations, asylum claims significantly increased. Records show that affirmative asylum backlogs escalated sharply from 311,000 cases in 2018 to more than a million by 2024.
Edlow remarks on his shock at the scale of the issues upon his return, noting a "misalignment of priorities" under the Biden administration. This misalignment, he claims, contributed to the worsening border crisis.
He stated, "What I didn’t know was what some of our backlogs turned into," expressing surprise at the administration's disinterest in controlling fraud.
Under his leadership, USCIS has begun implementing new strategies to combat fraud and ensure the integrity of immigration processes. These changes include scrutinizing the Special Immigrant Juvenile program and addressing election-related fraud.
Amid rising immigrant encounters along the southern U.S. border, Edlow's USCIS also strives to efficiently manage overwhelming numbers, which reached a peak during the fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
Edlow emphasizes the necessity of restoring the USCIS’s role in sustaining the immigration system. He believes these efforts are paramount to reinforcing overall legal compliance and operational integrity.
Facing critiques during Biden's tenure was Matt O’Brien, a former immigration judge noted for his high denial rate of asylum applications. O’Brien accused the administration of favoring a less stringent approach to asylum claims.
O'Brien asserts that such policies were indicative of a broader administrative attitude, claiming, "open borders radicals love immigration fraud." He alleged that under Biden, immigration fraud was treated as a "feature of the system," not a flaw.
Such allegations underscore the contentious nature of immigration policies between different administrations, highlighting the broader national dialogue on how to best manage immigration and border security.
Moving forward, the USCIS under Edlow's command is poised to make substantial reforms. Edlow’s commitment to "return the integrity of the immigration system" is seen as a critical response to past oversights.
The agency's approach includes a stronger emphasis on lawful procedures and a reevaluation of how asylum claims are processed to prevent potential abuses of the system.
This push for reform and focus on structural integrity suggests a transformative period for USCIS, aiming to better align immigration management with national security and policy goals.
President Trump's new pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a right-wing policy advocate with ties to the MAGA movement.
An economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, E.J. Antoni is coming under scrutiny for a perceived lack of expertise, but the White House is vouching for his qualifications.
Trump fired Antoni's predecessor, Erika McEntarfer, for allegedly fudging jobs data that showed the labor market cooling.
“Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE,” Trump said of Antoni in a social media post.
Antoni is a critic of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which has the power to shape monetary policy with its monthly reports on the job market. In particular, Antoni has slammed the agency for releasing unreliable data that overstated job growth during the Biden administration.
“There are better ways to collect, process, and disseminate data – that is the task for the next BLS commissioner, and only consistent delivery of accurate data in a timely manner will rebuild the trust that has been lost over the last several years,” said on X.
Critics of Antoni have challenged his integrity, citing his pro-Trump commentary in various podcasts and articles.
During a recent appearance on Steve Bannon's "War Room," Antoni defended Trump's widely panned July jobs report by highlighting gains among American workers.
“There was some good news in the report, too, that we should definitely highlight,” he said. “All of the net job growth over the last 12 months has gone to native-born Americans.”
Harvard University economist Jason Furman, who worked for the Obama administration, called Antoni, an "extreme partisan" who "would be a break from decades of nonpartisan technocrats."
A skepticism of self-described "experts" has long been an animating force in Trump's populist movement, which emerged after years of ruinous U.S. leadership that hollowed out the middle-class, particularly in the Rust Belt.
Antoni has a Ph.D. in economics from Northern Illinois University and has authored several articles for the Heritage Foundation praising Trump's policies. Despite being labeled a MAGA sycophant, he has expressed doubts about the potential for Trump' tariffs to revitalize manufacturing.
"America must also seriously evaluate what turned the Industrial Belt into the Rust Belt. This hollowing out of the nation’s industrial base was not caused primarily by international trade. Instead, the primary carcinogens were terrible regulatory and tax policies," Antoni wrote in a May article.
Antoni will need Senate confirmation.
California Democrats have released a plan to give their party potentially five more seats in the House of Representatives - further marginalizing Republicans in a state that is notorious for one-sided liberal government.
The push, championed by Governor Gavin Newsom (D), is meant to "neutralize" Republican gains from a redistricting effort in Texas that has sparked furious backlash from the left.
Despite receiving nearly 40% of the vote in 2024, California Republicans currently represent just nine out of the state's 52 House seats.
Newsom's gerrymander would expand the Democrats' supermajority even further, eroding Republican strength in five districts and flipping three of those outright.
The gerrymander targets California Reps. Doug LaMalfa, Ken Calvert, Darrell Issa, Kevin Kiley and David Valadao, all Republicans.
Rep. LaMalfa represents a large, rural stretch of northern California that borders Oregon and Nevada. The 1st district has been reliably Republican for years, but under Newsom's plan it would switch to safely Democratic.
The new map would also dethrone Ken Calvert, another veteran lawmaker representing a onetime GOP stronghold in Southern California. Calvert's 41st district is now considered a swing seat.
Kevin Kiley, a relative newcomer in his second term, would lose his seat in the 3rd district, which spans from the Sacramento suburbs to Lake Tahoe.
The Newsom gerrymander would also tilt Darrell Issa's safely Republican 48th district, in Southern California, and David Valadao's 22nd district in the Central Valley, making them both Democrat-leaning.
The redistricting battle has given Newsom an issue to seize on to elevate his national profile ahead of the 2028 presidential cycle.
"We have the opportunity to de facto end the Trump presidency in less than 18 months. That's what's at stake," Newsom said Thursday.
The governor is putting his map up for a vote in November. A poll found that California voters support the state's redistricting commission, however.
"Governor Newsom is trying to grab power away from the citizens on the commission and give it to Sacramento politicians to gerrymander their own districts,” the state's Republicans wrote in a statement. “Our delegation will stand with the citizens of California and defend their rights as they stand today in our state constitution by opposing Newsom’s ballot measure. All Californians, regardless of their political affiliation, should vote NO on this attempt to eliminate the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission’s ability to draw fair congressional districts.”
The proposed maps were drawn up by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is based in Washington D.C. If approved, the maps would apply for 2026, 2028 and 2030.
California is losing population, a trend that is projected to cost the states House seats after the next census in 2030.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The response of an American company to a campaign of censorship by the United Kingdom has left officials there "humiliated," according to a report at the Gateway Pundit.
It's because the campaign, by the U.K. government under its "Online Safety Act," purports to be able to censor an American company that operates online, and that company's lawyers have delivered a stinging rebuke to attempts to demand it provide information, and behave as the U.K. government demands.
The genesis of the dispute is that the British have targeted 4Chan, a discussion board where users anonymously post unfiltered comments "that sends elites into fits," the report said.
A branch of the U.K. government, Ofcom, for Office of Communications, started investigating it because it didn't like some of the comments, and then demanded the company hand over information.
The American company said no, using more words than just that, including reminding the British of the Battle of Yorktown, the decisive victory in 1781 where the British lost the war, leading to the Treaty of Paris in 1783, "in which the British acknowledged the independence and sovereignty of the Thirteen Colonies and subsequently to the establishment of the United States."
"U.K. law applies on U.K. soil to U.K. people … My objective is to remind the U.K. that the Battle of Yorktown had political consequences, as they seem to have forgotten," said lawyer Preston Byrne, representing the company.
He further posted online an explanation that Ofcom apparently is pursuing – and prosecuting – 4Chan, a "United States company, incorporated in Delaware, with no establishment, assets, or operations in the United KIngdom."
"American businesses do not surrender their First Amendment rights because a foreign bureaucrat sends them an e-mail," the lawyers warned.
"The prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was reportedly warned by the White House to cease targeting Americans with U.K. censorship codes," the lawyers wrote.
Ofcom, in fact, is threatening fines of more than $27,000 plus daily penalties for refusing to cooperate with its censorship, the report said.