Commentary Culture Investigations

The Department of Education (ED) took a “historic” step of winding down its operations by shifting student lending to the Department of the Treasury.
The post Department of Education Takes ‘Historic Step’ Toward Shutting Down in Partnership with Treasury appeared first on Breitbart.

Two Chinese pharmaceutical companies and six Chinese citizens have been indicted for allegedly supplying chemical precursors used to make fentanyl to be smuggled into the United States. According to FBI Director Kash Patel, the indictments handed down by a federal grand jury in Ohio were connected to Operation Box Cutter and revealed an alliance between the Chinese companies and Mexico’s Gulf Cartel.
The post Chinese Chemical Companies Charged in Fentanyl Precursor Supply Scheme Linked to Mexico’s Gulf Cartel appeared first on Breitbart.

Wednesday on “The Alex Marlow Show,” host and Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow talked about Iran. Marlow said, “So, the sweeping of these mines can be a massive job, a real pain in the butt, very time-consuming, but it wasn’t as many
The post Trump Reveals Conditions for Iran’s Surrender appeared first on Breitbart.

Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart welcomed former spokesman for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell, to Wednesday’s episode of The Weekly Show podcast to discuss the war in Iran. At one point, Stewart would allege that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gets a perverse sense of sexual satisfaction from the violence he is able to inflict on other people as a result of being a wartime secretary.

For Stewart, one of the lessons that the Trump administration failed to learn from Iraq was “this idea that we can say to Iranians, ‘Your government is terrible and you’re suffering’—and they clearly are and they clearly hate them and they clear—‘And so we’re going to make the decision as we did in Iraq and now that you’ll be better off.’ And that’s the arrogance that I’m talking about. China does it a different way. They say, ‘I’m going to influence you through infrastructure or I’m going to flood your markets with cheap goods,’ but it’s certainly different than how the West does it.”

 

After former Tony Blair spokesman Alastair Campbell says “when you hear that vile Hegseth, sort of spraying this with stuff from the Bible and telling us about what to believe and all this stuff, whilst clearly glorifying in the sense of domination and violence of other people,”… pic.twitter.com/VHvYAWFDFP
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 26, 2026
 

While Campbell played a large role in trying to sell the Iraq War to the British people, he nevertheless agreed, “I totally agree with that, and I think that is a lesson that Keir Starmer was pointing to when he said we have to learn some of the lessons of these past interventions. And I think we’re in a place in the world right now, exacerbated by the character and the personality of the current incumbent occupant of the White House.”

He then transitioned into how both the U.S. and U.K. seem to be comfortable with the idea of national decline, but his examples were not the best, “You mentioned Brexit earlier. I would argue that Brexit was an indication of a country, our country, for whatever reason, deciding to go along with its own decline, okay? I think your choice of Trump for a second term is an indication of America deciding to go along with its own decline. And the arrogance that you talk about, when you hear that vile Hegseth, sort of spraying this with stuff from the Bible and telling us about what to believe and all this stuff, whilst clearly glorifying in the sense of domination and violence of other people.”

That’s when Stewart interrupted to add, “It’s almost sexual for him. It almost feels as though it’s erotic.”

Campbell was amazed by the idea, “Wow. I mean, that is a horrible thought that I’ve never had before.”

Stewart insisted, “Oh, you got to watch him. You got to watch him more. There’s a reveling in it that’s stunning.”

He also continued the media trend of taking some of Hegseth’s remarks wildly out of context, “He came out the other day, ‘no quarter, no mercy,’ just blatantly saying, ‘You know those things that we came up after World War Two to try and prevent the horrors? Yeah. We’re getting rid of all that. We’re just going in. Might make right.”

Campbell joined in, “Stupid rules of engagement,” as Stewart echoed, “Stupid rules of engagement. When did you ever think of somebody that has some authority over the worst weapons in the entire universe?” Campbell could only add “never.”

If you actually read Hegseth’s remarks in context, it is unambiguously obvious that he is talking about the pace of air operations and not the literal definition of “no quarter,” where you execute someone trying to surrender. As for “stupid rules of engagement,” previous secretaries and presidents have micromanaged war efforts to such an extent that they were personally picking targets and needlessly prolonging the war. Tellingly, for all the criticism people like Stewart have lobbed at people like Hegseth, Tehran does not look like Dresden.

Here is a transcript for the March 25 show:

Comedy Central The Weekly Show

3/25/2026

JON STEWART: But this idea that we can say to Iranians, “Your government is terrible and you’re suffering”—and they clearly are and they clearly hate them and they clear—“And so we’re going to make the decision as we did in Iraq and now that you’ll be better off.”

And that’s the arrogance that I’m talking about. China does it a different way. They say, “I’m going to influence you through infrastructure or I’m going to flood your markets with cheap goods,”—

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL: Yeah.

STEWART:—but it’s certainly different than how the West does it.

CAMPBELL: I totally agree with that, and I think that is a lesson that Keir Starmer was pointing to when he said we have to learn some of the lessons of these past interventions. And I think we’re in a place in the world right now, exacerbated by the character and the personality of the current incumbent occupant of the White House.

You mentioned Brexit earlier. I would argue that Brexit was an indication of a country, our country, for whatever reason, deciding to go along with its own decline, okay? I think your choice of Trump for a second term is an indication of America deciding to go along with its own decline. And the arrogance that you talk about, when you hear that vile Hegseth, sort of spraying this with stuff from the Bible and telling us about what to believe and all this stuff, whilst clearly glorifying in the sense of domination and violence of other people.

STEWART: It’s almost sexual for him. It almost feels as though it’s erotic. This—

CAMPBELL: Wow. I mean, that is a horrible thought that I’ve never had before.

STEWART: Oh, you got to watch him. You got to watch him more. There’s a reveling in it that’s—

CAMPBELL: There is a reveling. No doubt about it.

STEWART: —stunning. He came out the other day, “no quarter, no mercy,” just blatantly saying like, “You know those things that we came up after World War Two to try and prevent the horrors? Yeah. We’re getting rid of all that.

CAMPBELL: Yeah.

STEWART: We’re just going in.

CAMPBELL: Yeah.

STEWART: Might make right.”

CAMPBELL: Stupid rules of engagement.

STEWART: Stupid rules of engagement. When did you ever think of somebody that has some authority over the worst weapons in the entire universe?

CAMPBELL: Never.

As America’s semiquincentennial rolls around, is the Trump Administration whitewashing the evils of America’s history? The PBS News Hour thinks so. On their “Politics Monday” segment with pollster Amy Walter and NPR White House reporter Tamara Keith, co-host Geoff Bennett asked his guests about the White House installing a statute of Christopher Columbus on the grounds.

Tamara Keith: [Anti-wokeness] is a strong focus of the president. Whether it’s a distraction for others or not, he’s very focused on it. And this is the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. President Trump has a very specific view of what should be part of American history. He is attempting to airbrush American history, to sort of remove any hints that maybe America wasn’t always perfect.

And this statement from Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman, just part of it here, I think gets at this: “President Trump has rightly hailed Christopher Columbus as the original American hero, a giant of Western civilization.” This is very in line with the way President Trump views America. He’s also working on this Garden of American Heroes, which are statues that were removed from town squares because of complicated history.

Or perhaps Trump is fighting against the corrosive liberal idea, ascendant among professors and curators, that America, and only America, must constantly obsess over its historical flaws and downplay its world-changing achievements. 

Earlier in the show, during the “news wrap,” Bennett explained how controversial the Columbus statue was on the Left: “The original was toppled and tossed into Baltimore’s Inner Harbor during the 2020 racial justice protests following the death of George Floyd. Other statues of Columbus were taken down at the height of those protests for his role in colonization. The White House has called Columbus a hero.”

 

On March 18, senior reporter Judy Woodruff also suggested the Trump Administration was airbrushing American history. Her main source was Alan Spears of the National Parks Conservation Association who laid out liberal straw men.

Alan Spears: There are some folks who feel like, in the name of combating diversity, equity and inclusion, in the name of fighting or combating or pushing back against wokeness, that we have to restore our history to a point where it simply celebrates everything that’s happened in this country. And if you have challenging elements of our history, the forced removal of indigenous people and tribes, the issue of slavery, emancipation, the civil rights movement, those sorts of things, those elements complicate our national narrative.

Later, Spears gave the game away:

Spears: I think that there are people who are overly concerned about balance, because they’re not seeing that we have had to come from almost nothing to get to a point where we have a minimum amount of information available to the public at these places about race, about labor, about women’s rights, about the LGBTQ experience, and these things that are important, equally important, in American history….

Yes, that’s the problem: Too much ideological balance in federal museums and landmarks!

A transcript is available, click “Expand.”

PBS News Hour

3/23/26

7:43:06 p.m. (ET)

GEOFF BENNETT: We should also, before we wrap up this conversation, talk about what happened over the weekend. We reported the White House installed this statue of Christopher Columbus. It was a replica. You see it there. It`s a replica of the one that was torn down in 2020.

And he also approved a commemorative coin that bears his own image, President Trump`s image. I`m not sure we have a picture of that.

But Amy, what`s the — strategy is not the right word. There might not be a strategy. But what does this symbolism, what does this iconography, what does it suggest?

AMY WALTER: This is a president who has long loved seeing his name on things, buildings, et cetera. So that`s not particularly new.

But it`s also a president who wants — who believes very strongly in putting his stamp on Washington, not just figuratively, but literally, this will stand the test of time.

It`s also — going back to Tam`s point, especially with the Christopher Columbus statue, it`s going back to the things that have traditionally worked for the president, especially when it`s about keeping his base engaged and excited are things that evoke what that Christopher Columbus statue looks, which is, we`re in a battle for the identity of the U.S. The left is supporting this woke ideology. We`re supporting sort of where real Americans are.

So it is his comfortable place. And that is also the place, when he`s talking about those things, his base does get united, even as they`re getting divided, at least in Congress, on this issue of the shutdown.

GEOFF BENNETT: How do you read it, Tam? Is it symbolism as politics or distraction from bigger challenges, or both?

TAMARA KEITH: It is a strong focus of the president. Whether it`s a distraction for others or not, he`s very focused on it.

And this is the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. President Trump has a very specific view of what should be part of American history. He is attempting to airbrush American history, to sort of remove any hints that maybe America wasn`t always perfect.

And this statement from Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman, just part of it here, I think gets at this: “President Trump has rightly hailed Christopher Columbus as the original American hero, a giant of Western civilization.”

This is very in line with the way President Trump views America. He`s also working on this Garden of American Heroes, which are statues that were removed from town squares because of complicated history.

A California woman was sentenced Tuesday to roughly three years in prison for her involvement in a $14 million Medicare fraud scheme.
The post Los Angeles Woman Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for $14 Million Medicare Fraud appeared first on Breitbart.

Colleges across Cuba announced on Tuesday that they would organize a “University Student Bastion Exercise” forcing students to engage in military training and “revolutionary, patriotic, and anti-imperialist activities.”
The post Cuba Intimidates Dissident Youth with Military Event to ‘Defend Socialism’ on College Campuses appeared first on Breitbart.

First Lady Melania Trump on Tuesday welcomed leaders from around the world, including first spouses, to the White House for day two of the Fostering The Future Together Global Coalition Summit, which is focused on empowering children worldwide through technology and education.
The post Melania Trump Hosts 45 First Spouses at White House for Second Day of Fostering the Future Together Summit appeared first on Breitbart.

The light, six-month jail sentence given to a transgender illegal migrant convicted of raping a child is sparking outrage in New York City and beyond.
The post Outrage After Transgender Migrant Gets Just 6 Months in New York Jail for Raping Teen appeared first on Breitbart.

America’s newest political battlefield runs through one of the most miserable places in the country: the airport.Democrats have held up funding for the Department of Homeland Security amid their ongoing war over ICE, and after a month without pay, TSA employees have started refusing to come to work. The result has been crippling delays at major airports, with waits stretching four hours or more and turning an already degraded flying experience into something closer to a public humiliation ritual.The GOP theoretically holds the levers of power, but in practice it remains terrified of disturbing the status quo.The brutal truth is that one political party is willing to disrupt travel across the country to protect illegal immigrants and preserve a future voter pipeline. Even after assassination attempts, lawfare against political opponents, and an open push for demographic replacement, conservatives still hesitate to admit that our political battles have become existential.In theory, the United States remains the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. In practice, basic air travel now is a dysfunctional disaster. Seats are cramped, service is miserable, fellow passengers are often feral, and airlines charge extra for every scrap of convenience in the hope of squeezing one last dollar from exhausted travelers.For a while, the indignity at least purchased speed. Flying still got you from one place to another faster than anything else. But incompetence, cost-cutting, and crumbling infrastructure have made significant delays routine. Travelers now regularly build an extra day into both ends of a trip because same-day arrival has become an increasingly reckless assumption.Adding four-hour TSA lines to that ordeal is more than just another inconvenience. It’s simply insulting.To his credit, President Trump has moved ICE officers into airports to assist with screening. It is less satisfying than watching those officers execute deportation raids, but early signs suggest the move has worked. Atlanta reportedly went from nearly five hours of screening delays to roughly five minutes. ICE officers appear to be in good spirits, and the agency itself seems to be recovering some badly needed public goodwill. Tom Homan has even said ICE agents will continue deportation operations while helping with TSA duties. It is not an ideal arrangement, but Trump has once again found a way to turn executive action into a political win.RELATED: The right’s only way out of podcast chaos is radical honesty Blaze Media IllustrationStill, the TSA mess raises a larger strategic question, one that extends well beyond airports.During the COVID lockdowns, public schools across the country shut their doors. Conservatives had spent years correctly describing government education as a progressive propaganda machine and a patronage network for Democratic clients. Yet when the system buckled, the right did not use the opening to challenge the legitimacy of the whole structure. Republicans begged for schools to reopen as quickly as possible. Faced with a rare chance to dismantle an atrocious institution, conservatives instead demanded a “return to normal.” But normal was already a disaster.The same pattern now applies to the TSA.The agency did not even exist before 2001, and it has performed badly almost from the start. Most contraband still gets through screening. The TSA has not stopped a single terrorist attack. Like the public school system, it functions largely as a jobs program for Democrat clients while draining billions from taxpayers and making ordinary life demonstrably worse.Republicans still act as though enduring a few nasty New York Times editorials is too high a price to pay to save the country.Rather than using this crisis to argue for dismantling the TSA, Republicans have rushed to prove that it is indispensable. The short-term political benefit is obvious enough. No administration wants to own airport chaos. But every such rescue reinforces a deeper assumption shared by both parties: Any government program, once created, becomes permanent. No one is going to vote himself into a smaller state. The incentives do not allow it. America is far more likely to watch the regime collapse than to see it willingly scale itself back.That failure of imagination points to a larger problem.Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the presidency while holding a friendly Supreme Court, yet they still appear terrified to govern. Only Trump, in his early burst of executive orders, showed much appetite for using the moment. Even that momentum slowed once the administration ran into the courts and Congress refused to codify any serious part of the MAGA agenda. The GOP theoretically holds the levers of power, but in practice it remains terrified of disturbing the status quo.RELATED: The taboo conservatives refuse to confront Blaze Media IllustrationDemocrats behave very differently. Even from a minority position, they are willing to shut down travel across the country for the explicit purpose of keeping illegal immigrants here. Members of the Democratic Party understand that their coalition depends on dissolving the old American nation and distributing its assets to clients in exchange for votes. That agenda is not particularly popular with the historic American population, but it is attractive to new arrivals who did not build the country and feel no inherited obligation toward it.To remain electorally viable, Democrats need an ever-expanding pool of imported voters dependent on public wealth transfers to cancel out the votes of the native population. If they can replace enough of the country, they can govern it indefinitely. Progressives celebrate that possibility whenever they are not dismissing it as a conspiracy theory.If one party is willing to grind national air travel to a halt to preserve its electoral advantage while the other will not pass basic legislation for fear of offending someone, the country has a big problem. Trump has pressed Congress to pass the SAVE America Act to strengthen election integrity and give Republicans a tactical advantage, yet the GOP continues to drag its feet. One party behaves as if politics actually matters. The other behaves as if politics is an embarrassing chore.Democrats are willing to hold the nation hostage in airport security lines to secure victory. Republicans still act as though enduring a few nasty New York Times editorials is too high a price to pay to save the country. A movement that fears bad press more than national dispossession has surrendered the habits of self-government and forgotten what political power is for.