This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday evening one of the first major actions he will take on his first day in office: "Charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States" due to their "ridiculous Open Borders."

"As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before," Trump said on Truth Social.

"Right now a Caravan coming from Mexico, composed of thousands of people, seems to be unstoppable in its quest to come through our currently Open Border. On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders.

"This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!

"Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!"

Trump did not limit his attention to Mexico and Canada, but turned his concern to China.

"I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States – But to no avail," he explained.

"Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before.

"Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America.

"Thank you for your attention to this matter."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A man who is in prison awaiting trial on charges he tried to assassinate now President-elect Donald Trump has written to Politico to call for peace, a demand that the publication itself describes as "not exactly" coherent.

It is Ryan Routh who sent a letter to Ankush Khardori, a senior writer for Politico, who then described it in excerpts.

He cited Routh's obvious leftist leanings and demands for peace, and advised, "Take this all for what it's worth, which may not be much. After all, the basic message — a call for peace from someone who appears to have attempted an assassination — is not exactly a coherent or compelling one in the first place."

He said Routh "clearly views Trump as a threat to democracy, echoing a major piece of Democrats' case against Trump during this election cycle, as well as that of anti-Trump Republicans."

"In the end, we can't know what may have driven an agitated mind to attempt a heinous act. You don't have to believe Routh based on what he put in his letter. He's not exactly a reliable narrator. But you also don't have to take the word of partisan politicians. The only thing for certain in this polarized climate is that the debate isn't going away."

The column said the publication compared the writing in the letter to known writing from Routh, and it appeared to be the same. His lawyers declined comment.

Khardori explained, "The day after the second attempt on his life this year, Donald Trump blamed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. 'Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at,' Trump said. His running mate, JD Vance, also blamed Harris and other Democrats, and the question of what motivated the alleged would-be assassin, Ryan Routh, remained a hot topic heading into Election Day."

He said that was among the reasons he was intrigued when the four-page letter arrived.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

For years, Jack Smith, appointed "special counsel" by officials in the Department of Justice to handle some of the Democrats' lawfare cases against President Trump, has tried to put the former, and incoming, president in jail.

He's now apparently giving up.

Just the News confirms Smith has filed a motion in court Monday to drop all four felony charges against Trump.

Trump reacted on Truth Social, stating: "These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought. Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Party's fight against their Political Opponent, ME.

"Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before. They have also used State Prosecutors and District Attorneys, such as Fani Willis and her lover, Nathan Wade (who had absolutely zero experience in cases such as this, but was paid MILLIONS, enough for them to take numerous trips and cruises around the globe!), Letitia James, who inappropriately, unethically, and probably illegally, campaigned on 'GETTING TRUMP' in order to win Political Office, and Alvin Bragg, who himself never wanted to bring this case against me, but was forced to do so by the Justice Department and the Democrat Party.

"It was a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

The counts related to Trump's challenges to the suspicious results from the 2020 presidential election, which was subjected to undue influences from several outside sources.

One of those was Mark Zuckerberg's decision to hand out $400 million plus to local elections officials who often used it to recruit voters in Democrat districts. The other was the FBI's decision to interfere by falsely labeling the true information about Biden family scandals found in Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop as Russian disinformation.

A later survey suggested that factor alone could have cost Trump that re-election bid.

The charges were "conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights," the report said.

CNN reported that Trump already had announced plans to fire Smith once he is inaugurated in January, describing Smith's work as among a number of "witch hunts" sponsored by Democrats against him.

Smith explained, "The (Justice) Department's position is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated. This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant."

Smith's campaign against Trump set a number of precedents, as never before has a former president faced federal criminal charges, and the agenda gave rise to discussion of the possibility that outgoing presidents now could face a number of charges leveled by their successors.

For example, still not fully investigated is what members of Congress already have confirmed as an influence peddling scheme operated by the Biden family.

The case against Trump involved a Supreme Court ruling that Trump enjoys great presidential immunity for official actions while in office, and some immunity for other actions.

Smith claimed that the "merits" of the prosecution still existed.

It was a leftist, anti-Trump judge in Washington, Tanya Chutkan, who verbally had criticized Trump's actions, who had been deciding how much of Trump's conduct on which the case was based was shielded by immunity.

When the Supreme Court ruling came out, the prosecutors adjusted their filings to claim that all of Trump's actions were as "an individual."

Chutkan followed later in the day with a ruling that dropped the case.

"The government has moved to dismiss the superseding Indictment without prejudice," Chutkan wrote in a decision. "Defendant does not oppose the Motion…and the court will grant it."

The filing, "without prejudice," means the charges theoretically could be resurrected at some point later.

Smith also has moved to drop his appeal in his classified records case against Trump – a case that was dismissed earlier.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, said it is a "major victory for the rule of law.'

"The American People and President Trump want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country," he confirmed.

Smith's other claims, that Trump violated the law by having government documents with him after he left the presidency, most recently was pending at an appeals court.

Of course, this is the same issue for which Joe Biden was investigated, and the prosecutor there gave Biden a pass. Further, prosecutors found former Vice President Mike Pence also had government documents and gave him a pass.

Those circumstances supported the Trump team contention that the federal government was being weaponized against him, since the cases clearly were based on different standards.

Still in limbo, however, are state cases against Trump that were part of the Democrats' lawfare, a business records conviction in New York as well as the wild claim that he was guilty of fraud – even though the supposed victims testified in court none of them lost anything and his actions were standard for the business, and they would like to do business with him again.

Smith's claims essentially alleged that Trump's' opinions about the 2020 election constituted an attempt to overthrow the government.

Smith's complaint about Trump's possession of government papers had been dismissed by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon after she ruled Smith was improperly appointed to his role.

Smith appealed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals trying to get the case reinstated.

Trump earlier said he would fire Smith and his entire team and then use the DOJ to investigate the 2020 election.

There are dozens of lawyers and staff members involved in Smith's campaign against Trump.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

The 2024 presidential election clearly was more than a political choice.

After all, only the most spiritually ignorant voters could fail to see that the one agenda, the leftist choice, focused on child-mutilating sex change surgeries and unborn-destroying abortion as key points.

The other focused on dedication to patriotism, the nation's economy, and, yes, even faith.

There was a clear – landslide – winner in President-elect Donald Trump's victories in both the Electoral College and the popular vote, and now a report suggests that Christians made up a large part of that margin.

In fact, Catholic voters and Christians "with a biblical worldview" both outperformed their 2020 turnout by three points, according to a report in the Washington Stand.

It cited the results from George Barna, a senior research fellow for the Center for Biblical Worldview at Family Research Council and director of the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.

His bottom line? Christian voters "made the difference in the race."

"Trump was a heavy favorite among most of the three dozen Christian segments studied by the Cultural Research Center survey. The former president received a landslide 56% to 43% margin of victory among all self-identified Christians," Barna said, "

"Among the approximately 75 million votes Trump garnered in the election, more than three-quarters of them — 78% — came from the Christian community."

The Democrat nominee, Kamala Harris, the report said, "scored low among almost all Christian denominations and demographics, with the exception of 'mainline and traditionally black Protestant congregations.'"

The report explained, "The majority of Christian voters also identified their religious beliefs, the differing party platforms, and the insight of their family as the biggest impacts on their choice of candidates."

Barna noted 30% of Trump voters identified their religious faith as a major influence on their choice of candidates, while only 14% of Harris voters said the same.

Joseph Backholm, senior fellow for Biblical Worldview at FRC, told the Washington Stand, "Religion gives people a worldview which, among other things, gives people a way to understand what's wrong with the world and what the solution is. Elections are one way people indicate their understanding of what's wrong and what we need to do to fix it."

He said Barna's results are "evidence that Christians think about these questions differently than people of other faiths or no religion at all, which really shouldn't be surprising. If anything, it might be surprising that Christians aren't more different, but elections never offer perfect choices, and this election was more complicated than others."

Adam Rasmussen, on "Washington Watch," explained, "What we saw is that 72% of those who came out to vote were Christians, and they have values. And we saw that — probably because of the platform of the Republicans and Donald Trump — Christians gave a 17 million vote advantage or cushion to Donald Trump, and because the margin between the two of them was less than that, it was insurmountable."

Inflation and immigration also were of significant concern to that voting bloc, the report said.

And, the polling officials said, pastors and church leaders need to encourage their congregations to vote in accord with Christian principles, because, "we need to be more engaged."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

An entertainer appearing on MSNBC has stunned the American public by confirming a couple of things about the incoming Donald Trump administration, and specifically his choice for attorney general: former Florida AG Pam Bondi.

Democrats should be in fear.

Because she's "competent."

"Occasionally, attorneys general try to behave like they are not the personal lawyer of the President of the United States. That is completely out the window. Pam Bondi is exactly what I was saying in the last segment that we should all fear, because she's competent," explained MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson.

"We may not agree with her ideologically, but she actually knows how to do this job. So if anyone on the Democratic side or anyone who cared about liberty or justice was thinking 'Well maybe Matt Gaetz will screw this up and that will give us time,' no. Pam Bondi knows what she is doing."

He cited her accomplishments in Florida: "She knows what she's doing about immigration. Remember, Florida is one of those states that has been very aggressive about migrants and deportation and moving people to different states and everything else like that. Florida has enacted all sorts of rules and laws to curtail students and what they can do on campuses and finding legal justifications for manipulating education money."

He charged, "She is a dangerous and effective pick, and that's frankly worse than what we would have got with Matt Gaetz, even with the deplorable moral background that he has."

Gaetz, formerly a member of the House, withdrew his name after Trump's nomination because of a firestorm that erupted when Democrats tried to resurrect accusations against him that previously were dismissed by the Department of Justice.

Social media understood a lot from Johnson's admission.

"Nooooooo! This lady is competent! We can't have that! REEEEE!" wrote one.

Explained a commentary at Twitchy, "OH, NO! Competence in government officials? No wonder the left fears her so much. They're not used to that sort of thing after four years of Joe Biden's disastrous administration."

It continued, "Gaetz may have been Trump's 'wild card' pick, but on paper, Bondi is an even better choice. She has an impeccable resume for the job, having been a prominent prosecutor in Hillsborough County, Florida, before becoming the state's first female Attorney General, serving from 2011 to 2019. After her tenure, she also served on Trump's impeachment defense team, infuriating the left with her accurate allegations of Biden family corruption with respect to Ukraine. Yep. We love her already."

Another commenter added," This is so funny. Democrats: 'WE CAN'T HAVE COMPETENCE! THE HORROR!'"

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

An insider has confirmed Democrat plans for a "shadow" government, or "shadow cabinet," that would have the goal of undermining America's elected president, Donald Trump.

"You are now starting to see spots of messaging of how they plan to challenge the agenda of President-elect Trump. Last week, one-term House Member Wiley Nickel, D-N.C., in what can only be described as a Democrat fever dream, proposed a 'shadow cabinet' which appears to be either a desperate attempt to retain power or secure his place as a talking head on whatever is left of mainstream media," explained Ami Sanchez, a life-long Democrat, in a commentary at Human Events.

"There are Left-wing organizations forming and a network of existing organizations picking up the 'shadow government' banner and calling for opposition to the agenda of Trump while making plans to defeat him before he even takes office."

WND had reported earlier on plans by Nickel, who did not seek reelection and is leaving Congress, for the "shadow" operations and operatives.

Social media commenters wondered, "This sounds like a threat to our democracy," and "Just start your own damn country why don't ya?"

Also, "Treason," and "This guy needs to be arrested for inciting division in Congress."

A report at the Gateway Pundit, which reposted the Nickel comments, said, "Democrats and Trump-haters in the DC Swamp went to great lengths to hide their efforts to destroy President Trump, his family, individuals associated with his campaign, his top administration officials, and eventually, his supporters from 2016 to October 2024. This time around, Democrats apparently aren't going to hide their plans to thwart the President and his administration."

It called the video, previously posted by independent journalist Kyle Becker, "disturbing."

Nickel proposed Sen. Adam Schiff as a shadow attorney general, Rep. Jahanna Hayes as shadow education secretary, Rep. Greg Meeks as shadow secretary of state, and more.

The Gateway Pundit said, "They are trying to form a "shadow government" to defy and undermine President Trump's authority. The Democratic Party is trying to lead an unconstitutional 'insurrection' against Trump."

Nickel did not run for re-election this year, and his seat quickly was snapped up by a Republican.

At Human Events, Sanchez confessed to being "a former Democrat Senate staffer and a former campaign junkie who has spent time working for and with Left-wing grassroots organizations and causes for 15 years."

She voted, this year, for Donald Trump "because I believe in his ability to dismantle government bureaucracy, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies so that they cannot be used as a weapon against American citizens."

And she warns leftists "have been working. Behind the scenes, they have been organizing, ready to defeat a Trump administration agenda."

She also pointed to leftist tech companies "like Movement Labs" as part of the scheming to fight expected plans that would require federal employees to do their jobs, and just that.

"In other words, they believed that agencies and civil servants working within those agencies would be required to do their jobs, and would no longer be allowed to use their positions towards their own ends or the ends of their party," the commentary said.

She said there also are state-level activists, such as leftist Colorado's leftist Gov. Jared Polis, who is part of a new "Governors Safeguarding Democracy" ideology.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Firebrand former to future Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be the nation's attorney general and was expected to take a hammer to the weaponized processes the Department of Justice implemented under Joe Biden, has withdrawn his name from that nomination.

Gaetz said, "I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback – and the incredible support of so many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition. There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I'll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump's DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1.

"I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history. I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I'm certain he will Save America."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A judge in Athens, Georgia, Wednesday reached a verdict for Jose Ibarra, the illegal alien accused of murdering Augusta University student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus in February.

Despite pleading not guilty, the suspect was found guilty of all 10 counts, including one count of malice murder, three counts of felony murder, one count of kidnapping, one count of aggravated assault with intent to rape, one count of aggravated battery, one count of hindering a 9-1-1 emergency call, one count of tampering with evidence and one count of being a peeping Tom.

Crying from Riley's friends and family could be heard during the announcement of the verdict by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include that prosecutors say the lawfare weaponization wasn't "adjourned," but has been delayed.

A controversy has developed over Judge Juan Merchan's orders regarding the Democrats' lawfare case, run by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, against President-elect Donald Trump.

Merchan days ago had ordered a delay in case actions, and had told prosecutors to make a recommendation for the next step.

Then the court released a response to an email that cited the "adjournment."

It came just days after he ordered a delay in the case.

A report by Fox News pointedly noted that the court gave no "explanation" for the decision, stating, "The delayed sentencing came on the same day that District Attorney Alvin Bragg was slated to file a recommendation to Judge Juan Merchan on how to proceed."

The Fox report shortly later was changed to include that the DA claimed that reports "sentencing for 34 charges had been 'adjourned' was incorrect."

Fox said, "The wire was based on an automated schedule alert sent out by the court that stemmed from a court email from last week saying that all future dates had been stayed, according to the DA's office."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

An elections judge in the Kamala Harris-supporting state of Minnesota is facing up to 10 years in jail and a fine of $20,000 if convicted on charges in an elections fraud case.

A report in the Federalist identifies the judge as Timothy Michael Scouton and explained he is accused of allowing unregistered individuals to vote.

The report said the Hubbard, Minnesota, County attorney's office has charged Scouton, 63, of Nevis, Minn., with one count of accepting the vote of an unregistered person and another count of neglect of duty.