News
Compiled by Michael Hernandez, 5-16-25
There are so many stories making up the mosaic of national/international news that we can’t cover them all every week. The biggest stories now seem to be: the Trump presidency, immigration (migrants and illegals), wars, weaponization of government (the deep state) against Trump and conservatives, our nation’s debt, massive inflation, climate change controversy and related expenses of government, industry attempting to address these issues, the Chinese threat, national security, abortion, Elon Musk’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), taxpayer cuts, and Ukraine peace and hatred and violence against Christians. Here are just a few:
May 12: Fox News By Greg Norman
President Trump Takes On ‘Big Pharma’ By Signing Executive Order To Lower Drug Prices
President Donald Trump declared Monday that the U.S. “will no longer tolerate profiteering and price gouging from Big Pharma” as he signed an executive order implementing what his administration is calling “most favored nations drug pricing.”
“The principle is simple – whatever the lowest price paid for a drug in other developed countries, that is the price that Americans will pay,” Trump said at the White House. “Some prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices will be reduced almost immediately by 50 to 80 to 90 percent.”
Trump said that “starting today, the United States will no longer subsidize the healthcare of foreign countries, which is what we were doing. We’re subsidizing others’ healthcare, the countries where they paid a small fraction of what for the same drug that what we pay many, many times more for and will no longer tolerate profiteering and price gouging from Big Pharma. Even though the United States is home to only four percent of the world’s population, pharmaceutical companies make more than two-thirds of their profits in America. So think of that with four percent of the population, the pharmaceutical companies make most of their money. Most of their profits come from America. That’s not a good thing,” Trump said.
May 12: Gateway Pundit By Cullen Linebarger
Kristi Noem Issues Stern Warning As Trump Admin. Launches Landmark Investigation Into California Providing Federal Benefits To Illegal Aliens
California Governor Gavin Newsom and his fellow Democrat cronies are in hot water with Team Trump for openly flouting immigration law, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has a brutal message for those illegal aliens and states who continue to break the law.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday morning in a press release that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles Field Office issued a Title 8 subpoena to the State of California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI). California Democrats have utilized this program for years to provide benefits to migrants ineligible for Social Security benefits due to their immigration status.
The DHS is demanding all records from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services to ascertain whether illegals received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from the Social Security Administration. The subpoena covers the years since 2021.
Per the press release, HSI Los Angeles has subpoenaed the following records:
• Applicant’s Name and Date of Birth
• Copies of Applications
• Immigration Status
• Proof of Ineligibility for SSI from the Social Security Administration
• Affidavits in Support of the Application
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem released a statement warning that this action from the administration was only the beginning against lawless states, and illegals should get out while they still can.
March 13: Breitbart By Simon Kent
Trump Lands In Saudi Arabia To Begin Whirlwind Gulf Tour
Donald Trump touched down in Saudi Arabia early Tuesday morning to a warm welcome by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as he began the first leg of a whirlwind Gulf tour. Business deals are at the top of the U.S. president’s busy agenda that also takes in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The four-day, multi-nation diplomatic sweep marks Trump’s first major visit abroad of his second term with the White House saying he looked forward to a “historic return” to the region.
Saudi fighter jets escorted Air Force One as Trump landed in the capital Riyadh. The Saudi royal family plans a lavish stay for the 78-year-old Republican who will also address an investment forum. The president will take part in a summit of Gulf Arab leaders Tuesday before heading to Qatar. Trump’s visit came after he said Monday he’s ready to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet as a gift from the ruling family of Qatar and thanked them for the gesture.
“White House sources have indicated that the president will focus on ‘deals’,” wrote Daniel B. Shapiro, a distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, according to the AFP report. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Trump will promote a vision where “extremism is defeated in place of commerce and cultural exchanges.”
The Gulf states have positioned themselves as key diplomatic partners during Trump’s second term. Doha remains a major broker for negotiations between Hamas and Israel, while Saudi Arabia has facilitated talks on the war in Ukraine.
May 13: Gateway Pundit By Cristina Laila
President Trump Brings The House Down After Lavish Welcome In Saudi Arabia
President Trump arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as part of his four-day trip to the Middle East to discuss investments and military cooperation. The Saudis rolled out a lavish purple carpet for Trump as he arrived in Air Force One.
The Trump White House on Tuesday announced “Saudi Arabia’s $600-billion commitment to invest in the United States, building economic ties that will endure for generations to come. The first deals under the announcement strengthen our energy security, defense industry, technology leadership, and access to global infrastructure and critical minerals.”
The deal also included the “largest defense sales agreement in history” for Saudi Arabia to purchase nearly $142 billion in equipment from US firms. Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’ played as President Trump took the stage of the Saudi-US Investment Forum. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had a huge smile on his face as Trump took the stage.
May 13: Breitbart By Alana Mastrangelo
Joe Biden Didn’t Recognize Longtime Friend George Clooney At Fundraiser Four Months Before Election
Former President Joe Biden reportedly failed to recognize his longtime friend George Clooney at a fundraiser for his reelection campaign last year. Biden did not recognize Clooney at a June 2024 fundraiser for his presidential campaign, according to an excerpt from the upcoming book, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson, posted in The New Yorker.
After last seeing Biden on December 4, 2022, the Ides of March star reportedly attended a June 15, 2024 fundraiser spearheaded by Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles. “The president appeared severely diminished, as if he’d aged a decade since Clooney last saw him,” the journalists’ forthcoming book continued, noting that Biden “was taking tiny steps, and an aide seemed to be guiding him by the arm.”
An unnamed Hollywood VIP was quoted in the excerpt saying, “It was like watching someone who was not alive,” adding, “It was startling. And we all looked at each other. It was so awful.”
May 14: NewsMax By Eric Mack
Trump Signs $1.2 Trillion Economic Deal With Qatar
Agreements signed by President Donald Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Wednesday will “generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion,” the White House wrote in a fact sheet summarizing some of the deals’ details.
“The landmark deals celebrated today will drive innovation and prosperity for generations, bolster American manufacturing and technological leadership, and put America on the path to a new Golden Age,” the White House wrote in a statement. “Since President Trump took office, his commitment to American manufacturing and innovation has attracted trillions of dollars in investments and global commercial deals. Allies like Qatar are partnering in the United States’ success.”
The agreements include a $96 billion deal with Qatar Airways to buy up to 210 Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X airplanes with GE Aerospace engines, the fact sheet said. “This is Boeing’s largest-ever widebody order and largest-ever 787 order,” the White House wrote. “This historic agreement will support 154,000 U.S. jobs annually, totaling over 1 million jobs in the United States during the course of production and delivery of this deal.”
The deals also include a statement of intent that could lead to $38 billion in investments at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base and other air defense and maritime security capabilities, according to the White House.
https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/qatar-economic-deal/2025/05/14/id/1210908
May 14: Gateway Pundit By Vigilant Fox
RFK Jr. Stuns Critics in His First Major Hearing as HHS Secretary
RFK Jr. just walked into Congress and took down his biggest critics in one fell swoop. This was a masterclass.
A dentist congressman came out swinging on fluoride. By the time Kennedy finished, he realized he picked the wrong fight. Then, a Democrat tried to accuse Kennedy of politicizing children’s health—but he got emotional, broke through the noise, and completely flipped the script on her.
Right out of the gate in his first major congressional hearing as HHS Secretary, Kennedy laid out a sweeping plan to reshape HHS from the ground up.
Here’s what’s on deck:
- Ending “gain-of-function experiments and research based upon radical gender ideology”
- A full-scale crackdown on fentanyl and drug addiction
- $94 billion toward better food, fitness, and childcare
- FDA action to remove toxic chemicals from the food supply
- Slashing wasteful NIH projects
- Merging mental health and addiction programs for faster, better care
- Giving local leaders more power to fix problems in their own communities
- A major upgrade to Head Start, the early education program for low-income children
May 15: Gateway Pundit By Patriots Legal Defense Fund
New Bill Proposed To Answer Courts’ War On Trump And America
A bold legislative proposal, the “Restoring Constitutional Mandate for Congress to Set Rules for the Federal Courts Act” in what its author warns is an existential crisis – a “judicial coup” targeting President Donald Trump and the American people.Drafted by Jonathon Moseley, a 24-year legal veteran and founder of the Patriot Legal Defense Fund, the bill aims to rescind the Rules Enabling Act. The Constitution empowers Congress to set the rules for the Federal courts.
The proposed measure argues that the current system has enabled lower courts to undermine justice. “Congress cannot change the existence of the Supreme Court because it’s in the Constitution,” he said. But the bill would rescind the Rules Enabling Act (28 U.S.C. §§ 2071–2077), which delegated Congress’s constitutional power to the Supreme Court to establish how lower federal courts operate. The proposed measure argues that the current system has enabled lower courts to undermine justice, particularly in politically charged cases involving Trump and his supporters. The bill asserts that trusting the Supreme Court has led to “disappointment and widespread injustice,” including:
- Nationwide injunctions by cherry-picked single, biased lower court judges.
- “Deadlines… which have become in and of themselves unjust and harmful to many seeking their legal rights in court” such as 14 days to challenge a conviction under Rules 29 and 33.
- “Resistance to changes of venue necessary to give the public confidence in the appearance and the reality of an unbiased judge and juries.”
- “Illogical, inconsistent, and unconvincing admission of evidence….”
May 16: Gateway Pundit By Cullen LInebarger
President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful” Bill FAILS In Committee After Five House Republicans Vote NO – Largest Tax Increase in American History Looms
The Trump agenda suffered a major setback today after a handful of Republicans voted a key bill delivering it down in committee. Now, the largest tax increase in American history looms unless the GOP does an about-face.
The House Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee—led by Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO)—previously released the text of a monumental new tax reform package titled “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill.” The bill, strongly backed by President Donald Trump, is aimed at delivering historic cuts to American families, workers, and small businesses. The 389-page bill includes a long list of pro-growth, America-First provisions that echo many of the successful features of the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts—this time with added firepower. This includes no taxes on tips and overtime.
But five GOPers in the House Budget Committee shot it down primarily over cost concerns. One particular gripe was the Medicaid “cuts” and the expiration of several wasteful ‘green’ energy tax credits were pushed back several years, while most of the “goodies” were delivered up front. Trump’s “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill” cannot move forward to a full vote in the House or Senate—at least not in its current form.
The final vote was 16-21 against. Here were the Republicans who voted against the President’s agenda:
- Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia
- Rep. Chip Roy of Texas
- Rep. Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma
- Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina
- Rep. Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania
The committee is not expected to come back today, according to Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX)
May 16: Gateway Pundit By Cristina Laila
Supreme Court Blocks Trump From Deporting Venezuelan Gang Members Under Alien Enemies Act – Alito, Thomas Dissent
The US Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump Administration from deporting dangerous Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act. In an unsigned order, the high court said the Trump DOJ did not give the Venezuelans enough time to challenge their removals.
“Under these circumstances, notice roughly 24 hours before removal, devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal, surely does not pass muster,” the unsigned decision read. Justices Alito and Thomas dissented. The case will now go back down the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to decide how much notice detainees must be given prior to removal.
Michael Hernandez, is co-founder of the Citizens Journal–Ventura County’s online news service and writes for CitizensJournal.net. He is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor, writer of CaliRed News on Substack.com and “Prayer Over News Daily” and edits the weekly “Beyond Shasta County: Battle For California!” and “Stories Speak Volumes” and other columns. Mr. Hernandez mentors citizen journalists/podcasters and can be contacted at: [email protected].
