Trump’s unconventional migration strategy is working in America and abroad

 President Trump has declared a National Emergency over the immigration crisis. He is willing to change things at home and abroad. It is not just about building walls and deporting migrants. No. It is about ensuring national security and guaranteeing that all countries assume responsibility for illegal migration and drug violence.

Even though the challenge is massive and not free from controversies, his unconventional strategy seems to be working.

For the last four years, the leftist governments of Mexico, Colombia and Honduras have been using migration as a political weapon. That’s all over now. In just one week, Trump managed to make clear that deportations will not be subject to negotiation.

Mexico has been using migration as part of a domestic political campaign on behalf of its ruling party. Rather than help her migrants with more resources in Mexico’s consulates or through educational campaigns, President Claudia Sheinbaum has used the immigration issue as a political lever. She has been spouting nationalistic rhetoric against the U.S. “We are safer than the U.S. … We are not a colony of anyone. … Sovereignty is not to be trifled with.”

But how her tone has changed. Last week, she accepted four flights full of migrants into Mexico within less than 24 hours — a record one-day number, according to White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

“Remain in Mexico” has been reactivated as of Jan. 21, as Sheinbaum bends the knee to Trump. Mexico’s government is welcoming back migrants from Mexico and other nations. Asylum-seekers traveling to the U.S. through Mexico will now have to do their paperwork and wait for adjudication in that country instead of coming into the U.S.

Colombian president Gustavo Petro, the former M-19 guerrilla leader, started a battle on X against Trump’s deportation policy, and he soon regretted it.

Petro, who received thousands of migrants under previous administrations, prohibited the entry of U.S. aircrafts filled with migrants. He called Trump a slave owner, announced an economic war and threatened American residents in Colombia with irregular status. With this action, Petro threatened to dynamite the 200-year diplomatic relationship between Colombia and the United States.

Trump wasted no time responding. He reportedly paused his round of golf, whipped out his phone and announced massive economic tariffs and sanctions against Colombia. Within hours, Petro had swallowed his words. After hurling a few face-saving insults toward Trump, he capitulated, agreeing to accept deported immigrants on Trump’s terms and even to lend out his presidential plane to repatriate other Colombians.

Colombia is not alone on its submission to U.S. migration policies. Honduras has backed down as well from its anti-imperialist rhetoric. President Xiomara Castro initially threatened to end anti-drug cooperation with the U.S., close military bases and reject Hondurans migrants. But the threats did not last long. Honduras has now agreed to receive the migrants and created a new program called “Brother Come Home,” to support them upon their return. The Honduras-U.S. relationship is still complex, but it has taken a dramatic turn for the better.

Trump’s policy of peace through strength is working. The new U.S. government has taken up the vision of Ronald Reagan and wants to regain the lost respect for the world power. It has become clear: There are no permanent friends or alliances, only the interest of putting America first.

Although Trump was successful with his migration strategy toward Mexico, Honduras, Colombia and even Canada, the real challenge remains the dictatorships of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. This is where the real battle lies ahead.

Breaking the stranglehold of these dictatorships, which openly promote migration to the U.S., would be not only a political victory but an enduring legacy for the Trump administration. In the meantime, his unconventional and disruptive approach is proving to be successful.

Arturo McFields is an exiled journalist, former ambassador to the Organization of American States and former member of the Norwegian Peace Corps. He is an alumnus of the National Defense University’s Security and Defense seminar and the Harvard and HarvardX Leadership course.

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5119375-trump-national-emergency-immigration-crisis/

SNAP shouldn’t subsidize America’s obesity epidemic

 The Trump administration has pledged to slash government spending while promising to “make America healthy again.”

Congress could take a firm stride in this direction by enacting the recently reintroduced “Healthy SNAP Act,” to exclude unhealthy food and beverages, starting with soda, from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program program — something that is already done for alcohol and tobacco.

SNAP is a lifeline for millions of Americans experiencing food insecurity. But it is also a lifeline for the producers of unhealthy, sometimes addictive, ultra-processed foods and beverages. An astounding 20 percent of the $113 billion annual SNAP budget — $23 billion annually — is used to pay for unhealthy foods and beverages purchased by SNAP participants. 

Without a policy change, taxpayers are projected to spend $240 billion on unhealthy food through SNAP over the coming decade — a staggering $60 billion for soda alone. This serves neither the economic interests of taxpayers nor the health interests of SNAP participants, most of whom support ending the use of SNAP for purchasing soda, snacks and other unhealthy foods.

In its current form, SNAP operates as a de facto subsidy program that props up some of the unhealthiest parts of the food industry. Take, for example, the most frequently purchased item in SNAP — sugar-sweetened beverages, which comprise 9.3 percent of all SNAP expenditures. This part of the SNAP subsidy, by our estimates, drives 20 to 25 percent of U.S. revenues for Coca-Cola and Pepsico.

Besides providing no nutritional value, the regular consumption of sugary drinks produces health outcomes similar to alcohol, including liver disease, obesity, high blood pressure and other cardiometabolic diseases. 

Current policy is also economically inefficient because taxpayers pay twice to keep unhealthy foods in SNAP. First, they pay for procuring the unhealthy food itself, at a rate of $23 billion annually. Second, they pay for the healthcare of SNAP participants who develop nutrition-related diseases from consuming these foods, and the costs here are staggering. 

A recent Rockefeller Foundation report found that diet-related diseases cost the U.S. $1.1 trillion annually, amounting to 25 percent of total health expenditures. Medicaid alone cost $606 billion in 2023 — about 10 percent of the federal budget. 

Because so much of the diet of low-income Americans currently comprises unhealthy ultra-processed foods and beverages, and because these products can be addictive, Congress should take an incremental approach to phasing out the SNAP subsidy. It should start by excluding soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages from SNAP. 

Initially, program savings should be used to incentivize SNAP participants to purchase more fresh fruits and vegetables, providing a much-needed agricultural stimulus for specialty crop production.

One study found that, by just excluding soda from SNAP while incentivizing fruit and vegetable purchases, we could prevent 93,933 cardiovascular disease events annually, saving $4.33 billion. Over 10 years, that’s another $43 billion in taxpayer savings. 

Like cigarettes and alcohol, which are already excluded from SNAP, unhealthy ultra-processed foods are hard to quit. This is because many ultra-processed foods and beverages are intentionally designed to be addictive, or “hyper-palatable,” by combining unnatural amounts of sugar, fat and salt with “cosmetic” chemical additives that enhance flavor, mouthfeel, and texture.

Many major U.S. food producers, including Kraft, Nabisco, 7UP, General Foods and Del Monte, were owned for decades by the tobacco giants Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds. These companies shared their sophisticated product formulation and marketing tactics with their food subsidiaries. As a result, people on an ultra-processed diet eat significantly more calories and gain weight. And over time, populations on diets high in ultra-processed food are prone to diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and premature mortality. 

While the new class of GLP-1 agonist medications (e.g., Ozempic, Mounjaro) may help some patients manage their cravings for hyper-palatable foods, heightened demand for these medications is producing unsustainable spending increases in state Medicaid programs and Medicare.

Due to their health harms and addiction potential, alcohol and tobacco have been excluded from SNAP for many decades, although participants have always been free to buy these products with their own money whenever they wish. The same rule should apply to unhealthy ultra-processed foods, starting with soda, that have a negative footprint on health like alcohol and tobacco.

Food industry lobbyists may claim that they seek to preserve SNAP as is in the name of fighting hunger and protecting participants from government paternalism. But the real debate comes down to ending a hidden subsidy program that enriches the food industry at the expense of everyone else.

Laura Schmidt is a professor in the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. Hans Taparia is a clinical professor at the New York University Stern School of Business. Robert Lustig is a professor emeritus at the University of California San Francisco.

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5118876-healthy-snap-act-reducing-unhealthy-food/

'Illegal Migrant Protests Ramp Up In US Cities In Response To Trump Deportations'

Civil actions from the political left are notoriously seasonal and the winter cold usually keeps fragile progressives indoors.  However, in southern states where temps are warming up we're getting an early glimpse of what larger US cities will probably look like with the arrival of spring.  Illegal migrants and their leftist "allies" are up in arms this week and they're feeling bold - Donald Trump's mass deportation initiatives, which have so far focused on criminal gangs and violent offenders, are unacceptable they say.

     

Protest groups of hundreds and in some cases thousands of people have erupted in San Diego, LA, San Fransisco, Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix and a handful of other cities.  The events have remained generally peaceful, though in some cases protesters have blocked traffic and attacked vehicles trying to get through.  

Mass deportations have received wide support, with 66% of US citizens backing the policy in light of the border crisis created by the Biden Administration.  Current projections indicate 16 million to 20 million illegals currently reside in the US, with up to 10 million entering the country in the past four years alone (DHS has admitted that 85% of migrants caught at the border were allowed to enter under amnesty rules during the Biden Administration).  Official government statistics have proven to be faulty, reporting only half the actual number of migrants entering the US at any given time.

It's hard to imagine many countries outside the US (or Europe) where illegal migrants are so entitled that they're willing demand access by taking to the streets, but here it is.  Imagine if a foreign army marched up to the southern border and then threw a temper tantrum because the US wouldn't let them invade?  This is essentially what's happening now.

A common mantra among protesters is that "no human is illegal on stolen land".  It's actually conquered land, and the conquerors get to make the rules.    

The more diplomatic illegal alien position is that "migrant rights are human rights", but human rights do not give foreigners license to invade another country or break that country's laws.  It's rather convenient to use "human rights" as a social justice shield when the majority of illegals are actively siphoning welfare handouts and other subsidies paid for by legal citizens. 

What about the human rights of native born Americans? 

Another argument from migrants is that "they make America great" by gracing the US with their presence.  But one might notice that at most of these rallies there is hardly an American flag in sight.  In fact, every march is canvassed in the red, white and green of the Mexican flag.  This would suggest that migrants have far more loyalty to Mexico than to the US and that their presence in the states is not part of some "immigrant dream" to assimilate into American culture.

Rather, it is common for illegals to see the US as a cash cow; a place to sneak in, grab as many handouts and as much money as possible and then wire that wealth back to Mexico (or any number of countries) where they plan to retire.  This ongoing international scam has become a kind of institution; certain US businesses and industries get labor for 30% less while migrants get to comfortably feed off system that US taxpayers support.   

The scam is treated as a tradition.  It is so entrenched that illegals are shocked and enraged that it might actually come to an end.  It's a cultural phenomenon that most westerners just don't understand, but in the third world empathy and charity are often seen as signs of weakness.  If you give them an inch they will take a mile because this is how people learn to survive in places where corruption is the cultural norm.     

It's hard to say what could possibly come from these protests other than making it easy for ICE to round up hundreds of migrants at one time.  The notion that illegals have a right to protest at all is absurd, but if they want to serve themselves up on a platter for deportation it's probably not going to bother Tom Homan.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/illegal-migrant-protests-ramp-us-cities-response-trump-deportations

Panama Bends The Knee, Will Not Renew "Silk Road" Deal With China After Rubio Visit

 The Trump administration is not messing around.

Let's review. In the past thirteen days;

• Border crossings are down 94% after Trump declared a national emergency and sent US troops to the southern US Border

• Special Envoy Ric Grenell flew down to oil-rich Venezuela, got 6 hostages freed (that Biden didn't even care to check up on), and convinced Maduro to accept tens of thousands of migrants we're about to deport.

• Trump halted almost all foreign aid for 90 days, including to Ukraine, while each program undergoes review to make sure they align with the new agenda.

• Elon Musk's DOGE descended upon the US Treasury and revealed that we've been 'auto paying' all sorts of bad actors, including terrorist groups. DOGE then kicked the door down at Deep State slush fund USAID, where employees were placed on paid leave last week for trying to circumvent Trump's orders, causing a massive Democrat freakout.

• Trump just slapped tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico for failing to control the flow of illegal immigration and fentanyl.

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a worldwide cable announcing the end of DEI policies within State, prioritizing American interests, and told his Chinese counterpart that America is done kowtowing.

See below for more!

And now, Rubio has convinced Panama not to renew its deal with China's Belt and Road economic program, after applying pressure to the Panamanian government to immediately take steps to address US concerns over Chinese businesses operating ports near the canal - which President Trump says represents a threat to US national security.

"Trump has made a preliminary determination that the current position of influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal," said US State Department spox Tammy Bruce.

Trump had also refused to rule out the use of military force over Panama, while US officials said in a senate hearing last week that fines and restrictions on Panamanian-flag vessels entering US ports could be imposed due to the dispute over the canal.

Now, Secretary of State Rubio has convinced Panama to reverse course on their deal with China - with President Jose Mulino making an announcement following a "respectful and cordial" meeting with Rubio in which Panama also agreed to expand a July MoU so that Venezuelans, Colombians and Ecuadoreans can be returned from the perilous Darien Gap at U.S. cost, through an airstrip in Panama, Reuters reports.

According to the PanAm Post, Panama will not renew the memorandum of understanding on the "Silk Road" signed with China.

"We are going to study the possibility of whether it can be finished earlier or not. I think it is due for renewal in one or two years," said Molino.

Rubio already getting results.

“Mulino announces his government won’t renew the memorandum of understanding on the ‘Silk Road’ signed in 2017 between Panama & China.”

“We are going to study the possibility of whether it can be finished earlier or not.”pic.twitter.com/mzazFyFCiH

— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) February 2, 2025

As one ZH reader, the esteemed Pooper Popper, noted earlier today...

• All federal prosecutors handling January 6th cases fired, computers locked and marched out of their offices by security.

• David Sundberg, the FBI Assistant Director at the helm of the January 6th investigations, has been fired.

• 20 leaders of FBI field offices have been escorted out of FBI buildings around the country

• The 51 intelligence officers who spread misinformation about Hunter Biden's laptop and interfered in elections are now banned from entering federal properties.

• Federal employees are now required to return to the office, with non-compliance leading to termination.

• John Bolton and John Brennan have been permanently banned from government buildings.

• Jarold Harold Rogers has been indicted for compromising U.S. trade secrets to China.

• Ban on all use of pronouns in government communications.

• All 2 million Feds sent a resignation offer.

At this rate both Canada and Greenland will be US territories by the end of the month.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-effect-continues-panama-bends-knee-will-not-renew-silk-road-deal-china-after-rubio

US probing if DeepSeek got Nvidia chips in Singapore — despite export controls blocking sale: report

 The Trump administration is reportedly probing whether DeepSeek bought Nvidia’s advanced computer chips through Singapore – despite US export controls blocking the sale of the powerful technology to China-based firms.

Key tech leaders, including Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey, have been skeptical of DeepSeek’s claim that it trained an AI model on par with US rivals for less than $6 million and without Nvidia’s most powerful chips.

Officials at the White House and the FBI are investigating whether DeepSeek may have acquired the banned chips from third parties in Singapore to get around the ban, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

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The US has banned the sale of Nvidia’s most advanced chips to China.Bloomberg via Getty Images

Separately, top lawmakers in the House’s select committee on China urged the Trump administration to “ensure [China] will not exploit regulatory gaps and loopholes to advance their AI ambitions.

“We ask that you look for ways to strengthen controls on shipments through third countries that pose a high risk of diversion,” the letter to Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said.

“For example, Singapore represented 22% of Nvidia’s revenue in its most recently quarterly statement, despite the company itself revealing most of these shipments ultimately went to users outside of Singapore.”

DeepSeek’s claim of having developed an ultra-efficient chatbot so cheaply sparked a $1 trillion selloff as investors feared that Nvidia chips were less essential to the AI race than previously thought.

Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang recently asserted that DeepSeek had a supply of advanced Nvidia chips it couldn’t publicly acknowledge due to the export controls.

Representatives for the White House, the FBI and DeepSeek did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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DeepSeek claims to have trained an advanced AI model for less than $6 million.REUTERS

Nvidia said in a statement that “we insist that our partners comply with all applicable laws, and if we receive any information to the contrary, act accordingly.” 

Nvidia earlier said that DeepSeek had not violated any export controls.

Earlier this week, Howard Lutnick, President Trump’s Commerce Secretary nominee, asserted earlier this week that DeepSeek likely had improper access to Nvidia’s chips.

“Nvidia’s chips, which they bought tons of, and they found their ways around it, drive their DeepSeek model,” Lutnick said Wednesday during his confirmation hearing. “It’s got to end. If they are going to compete with us, let them compete, but stop using our tools to compete with us. So I’m going to be very strong on that.”

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US officials are reportedly probing whether DeepSeek skirted US export controls.REUTERS

In a research paper released last month, DeepSeek said it had trained its V3 model using just 2,048 of Nvidia’s H800 chips.

Nvidia specifically created the less-power H800 for sale to Chinese firms after the Biden administration blocked the sale of more advanced chips.

In October 2023, the Biden administration also blocked the sale of the H800, leading Nvidia to develop another less-powerful version called the H20.

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Anduril’s Palmer Luckey has expressed doubt about DeepSeek’s claims.AFP via Getty Images

The Trump administration is now considering whether to place export controls on the H20, according to Bloomberg.

Luckey, who leads the AI defense firm Anduril, has been among the most vocal critics of DeepSeek’s claims.

Earlier this week, he blasted DeepSeek for spreading “CCP propaganda” meant to fuel doubt about America’s efforts to develop advanced AI.

“You had a lot of useful idiots in US media kind of just mindlessly reporting that that’s the case, and neither China nor the media nor DeepSeek has any kind of incentive to correct the record as a lot of US companies like Nvidia crashed to the tunes of hundreds of billions of dollars,” Luckey said.

Meanwhile, executives at Meta and Microsoft have confirmed they still plan to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on computer chips and other AI-related infrastructure in the next few years.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/31/business/us-probes-whether-deepseek-got-nvidia-chips-in-singapore-despite-export-controls-report/