Month: January 2025

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

Europe must avoid becoming too dependent on U.S. energy supplies, Germany’s outgoing economy minister Robert Habeck cautioned on Jan. 21, which comes amid President Donald Trump’s demands that the European Union (EU) buy enough American oil and gas to make up for the U.S. trade deficit with the EU – or face tariffs.

Habeck, a member of Germany’s Green Party, said at the Handelsblatt energy summit in Berlin on Jan. 21 that relying too much on U.S. energy supplies risks repeating the same type of “blackmail that we had in Russia.”

Europe’s high degree of reliance on Russian energy constrained the region’s ability to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with forceful sanctions like cutting energy ties entirely to starve Moscow of revenues, which have bolstered the Kremlin’s war chest.

Habeck urged Europe to “meet the Trump administration with an outstretched hand, but not have our hand cut off,” adding that the EU should define its own interests rather than submit to America’s direction.

It comes as Trump recently threatened to impose tariffs on European countries unless they buy large enough quantities of U.S. energy to make up for the EU’s trade gap with the United States, which in 2023, stood at around $57 billion in favor of the EU.

“I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large-scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it is tariffs all the way,” Trump wrote in a Dec. 20 post on Truth Social.

European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill told The Epoch Times in response to an inquiry about Trump’s tariff threat that the bloc is prepared to hold discussions with the Trump administration on how to address its concerns.

“The EU and U.S. have deeply integrated economies, with overall balanced trade and investment. We are ready to discuss with President-elect Trump how we can further strengthen an already strong relationship, including by discussing our common interests in the energy sector,” Gill told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

Trump has long been a critic of America’s trade deficits with other countries and an advocate of using tariffs as a negotiating tool to achieve various policy aims. One of these objectives is for Europe to import more energy from the United States, which would both add to America’s wealth and help European nations bolster their security with a NATO ally by further reducing reliance on Russian imports.

While the EU has dramatically decreased its reliance on Russian energy since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the bloc continues to import significant quantities of Russian natural gas. In fact, Europe imported a record 16.5 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia in 2024, exceeding the prior record of 15.2 million that it imported in 2022. This comes despite the EU’s pledge to cut all energy deals with Russia by 2027.

European officials have acknowledged they need to do more to wean the bloc off Russian energy. European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told reporters in Brussels on Jan. 20 that, despite lack of progress in some areas, the EU is determined to cut all energy ties with Russia and is finalizing a plan to accomplish this aim.

“We cut all Russian coal imports, most Russian oil imports, and over two thirds of Russian gas,” Itkonen said. “Despite these significant results, there is still presence of Russian gas on the EU market. And this is something that we’d rather not see.”

Top EU officials have indicated their intention to increase purchases of American energy. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in November that LNG imports from the United States could replace the bloc’s remaining imports of Russian LNG.

“We still get a whole lot of LNG via Russia, from Russia,” von der Leyen told reporters at a summit in Budapest, Hungary, on Nov. 8. “And why not replace it with American LNG, which is cheaper, and brings down our energy prices.”

Meanwhile, in a bid to bolster domestic U.S. energy production—which would increase its availability for export to allies—Trump on Jan. 20 signed an executive order lifting former President Joe Biden’s freeze on LNG export permitting, as well as other orders promoting oil and gas exploration in Alaska, and reversing Biden’s actions aimed at protecting Arctic lands and coastal waters from drilling.

A top Russian official on Tuesday warned the Trump administration against taking over the Panama Canal after the president stated in his inaugural address that he intended to regain control of the strategic waterway.

Since the election, President Donald Trump has mentioned on several occasions that the United States should reassert control over the canal, which was built by Americans and controlled by the U.S. government until the Carter administration. Panama’s president has said that his government will not give up control of the canal.

As Jack Phillips reports for The Epoch Times, Trump’s comments prompted a response from Alexander Shchetinin, head of the Latin American department at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who said that Moscow expects the leadership of Panama and the Trump administration to respect the “current international legal regime of this key waterway” during any discussions about control of the Panama Canal, according to a translation of comments reported by Russia’s state-run news agency TASS.

“Russia has been a party to the protocol since 1988 and reaffirms its obligations to respect the permanent neutrality of the Panama Canal, advocating for keeping this international transit waterway safe and open,” Shchetinin said, adding that the canal legally belongs to Panama.

The Panama Canal links the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea and is considered one of the most important trade routes in the world. About 40 percent of U.S. container ships pass through the waterway, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The U.S. government built the canal in the early part of the 20th century, starting under the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, after it took over construction in 1904. Under President Jimmy Carter, negotiations started on handing over the waterway to the Panamanian government by the end of the 20th century.

Trump has said that Chinese entities are operating the canal, which he said is unacceptable. In his inauguration speech at the U.S. Capitol on Monday, Trump again spoke about the canal.

“American ships are being severely overcharged … and above all, China is operating the Panama Canal, and we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” he said.

Responding to Trump’s earlier comments, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, in a video released on social media in December 2024, rejected arguments that the United States could reassert control over the canal.

“As president, I want to clearly state that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjoining zone is Panama’s and will remain so,” Mulino said at the time. “The sovereignty and independence of our country is non-negotiable.”

Trump has also suggested that the United States could take control over Greenland, the world’s largest island located in the North Atlantic that is currently part of Denmark’s territory.

Speaking to reporters on Monday as he signed executive orders in the White House, the president said he believes Denmark will “come along” on the possible sale of Greenland to the United States.

“Greenland is a wonderful place. We need fair, international security, and I am sure that Denmark will come along, I think. It’s costing them a lot of money to maintain it, to keep it,” he said.

Thailand could be the next home for a luxury yacht boom after “wealthy residents of Thailand caught the sailing bug during the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to a new Nikkei Asia report.

The enthusiasm wound up boosting marinas, yacht brokers, and related industries. Yacht traffic at Phuket, Koh Samui, and Pattaya surged 63% from 2022 to 2024, with over 2,000 trips through Phuket alone, according to the Ministry of Transport, the report says.

Recognizing the economic potential, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra attended the Phuket boat show on Jan. 12. The global luxury yacht market, valued at $8.75 billion in 2024, is projected to grow to $17.3 billion by 2032, with the Asia-Pacific leading growth due to rising incomes, maritime tourism, and government support.

Paetongtarn said at the show: “The government is ready to fully support luxury marine tourism to continue to grow more.”

Lies Sol, a Phuket-based charter manager for yacht brokerage Northrop & Johnson told Nikkei: “The main aim is to get Thai people more familiar with yachting and let them grow into luxury yachts. Before you buy, why don’t you charter and learn what is essential for you?”

The Nikkei report says that Thailand’s Transport Ministry plans to lower the yacht charter license size requirement from 29 meters to 24 meters, increasing options for day trips and tours.

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has reportedly used chartered yachts for private political meetings, including with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

At the Phuket boat show, Thai buyers remained discreet, while Russian, Chinese, British, and Australian enthusiasts were prominent. Over 5,000 visitors attended the expo, showcasing 50 yachts, since its debut in 2023.

As the report notes, competition from Malaysia and Indonesia is strong due to tax exemptions and relaxed regulations, drawing yacht owners away from Thailand.

And while Thailand promotes yachting as a luxury lifestyle, fuel costs, environmental concerns, and limited infrastructure remain challenges. Despite this, rising local interest, a strong resale market, and regional collaboration to position the Andaman Sea as a global yachting hub indicate significant growth potential.

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

• The outgoing U.S. Administration on January 10 imposed the most severe sanctions on Russia’s oil yet.

• Many of the vessels transporting Russia’s oil from the Arctic and Far East Pacific fields and production clusters to Asia have now been sanctioned.

• India’s refiners have stopped doing business with the Russian tankers and companies sanctioned by the U.S., a source at the Indian government told Reuters on Monday.

One week into the latest – and most aggressive yet – U.S. sanctions on Russian oil exports, the Asian buyers of Russian crude are scrambling for alternative supply, the price of oil has rallied, and analyses suggest that more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of Moscow’s export volumes could be severely constrained, at least in the short term.

The outgoing U.S. Administration on January 10 imposed the most severe sanctions on Russia’s oil yet, designating two major Russian oil companies, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, as well as 183 vessels, dozens of oil traders, oilfield service providers, insurance companies, and energy officials.

Many of the vessels, specialized tankers, and shuttle tankers transporting Russia’s oil from the Arctic and Far East Pacific fields and production clusters to Asia have now been sanctioned. This puts around 1.5 million bpd of Russia’s crude flows from its Pacific and Arctic ports at risk, according to a Bloomberg analysis of the tankers now designated by the U.S.

Most of the flows from the Sakhalin projects require special ice-class tankers—all of these have been sanctioned. The storage tankers and specialized vessels servicing shipments, storage, and loadings at Murmansk are also under sanctions now. The Gazprom Neft fields on the Yamal peninsula will also find it much harder to export crude—the company itself has been sanctioned, as have all its seven ice-class tankers handling shipments at and through the Arctic Gates terminal.

In the Arctic and Russia’s Far East, the crude grades most severely hit by the sanctions are expected to be Sokol, Sakhalin, and ESPO, according to Bloomberg’s analysis.

The least affected shipments are likely to be those of the Urals crude grade from the Baltic and Black Sea, which are mostly going to India.  
Only a quarter of Russia’s shipments of Urals since October were carried on now-sanctioned tankers. That’s the smallest share of designated tankers of any Russian crude grade, Bloomberg’s analysis showed.

The sanctions are already roiling the market. India and China are racing to procure alternative supply while studying the wider implications of the U.S. sanctions on Russian oil deliveries six months from now.

The sanctions caught a few million barrels of crude oil en route to India in a precarious situation. There is a wind-down period until February 27 for parties to complete dealings with now-sanctioned entities and vessels. Indian state-held refiners are targeting to settle the payments for Russian oil in half the time they have taken so far, as part of efforts to complete the deals before the seven-week wind-down period in the latest U.S. sanctions ends.

India’s refiners have stopped doing business with the Russian tankers and companies sanctioned by the U.S., a source at the Indian government told Reuters on Monday.

India doesn’t expect major disruptions during the wind-down period until March.

But “Going forward, it’s early days yet to anticipate the impact, how discounts shape up, if somebody is willing to sell below the $60 price cap,” a source with the Indian government told Reuters earlier this week.

Indian officials and refiners held emergency meetings to discuss the implications of the sanctions on the exports of its single largest crude oil supplier. China’s independent refiners have also held emergency meetings to discuss the fallout and a workaround for the sanctions, sources tell Bloomberg.

Fleet capacity to service Russian exports is expected to tighten significantly, according to Mary Melton, a freight analyst at Vortexa.

So far, U.S. sanctions on individual vessels have been very effective in limiting further employment in Russian trade, Melton said this week.

According to Vortexa, the most likely scenario for Russian crude exports going forward is that they will most likely face serious logistical difficulty due to the lack of available tonnage.

“In order to keep export volumes at the same level, Russia will be forced to sell crude below the price cap. At that point, Western vessel operators would be able to get involved to lift Russian crude,” Vortexa’s Melton noted.

However, greater adherence to the Russian price cap will depend on China’s stance on allowing sanctioned vessels to call in its ports, Vortexa reckons.

Indonesia was admitted as a full member of the BRICS group of major emerging economies on January 6, 2025.

As Statista’s Felix Richter shows in the following chart, the bloc’s footprint in the Global South has continued to expand, growing its economic and political clout on the world stage, establishing a real counterweight to the Western-dominated G7.

Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates formally joined on January 1, 2024.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Speaking on the expansion of the BRICS, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa said at a press briefing:

“We shared our vision of BRICS as a champion of the needs and concerns of the peoples of the Global South. These include the need for beneficial economic growth, sustainable development and reform of multilateral systems.”

He also indicated that the addition of the six new members is just the beginning of the bloc’s expansion process.

“As the five BRICS countries, we have reached agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process, which has been under discussion for quite a while,” he said.

“We have consensus on the first phase of this expansion process, and further phases will follow.”

In August, the bloc had announced that it would be admitting six new members, including Argentina.

However, the South American nation declared a formal rejection of the offer on 29 December, 2023 with Argentina’s President Javier Milei stating in a letter published by several media outlets that the membership “was not considered appropriate at this time.”

Authored by Liz Heflin via Remix News,

Polish President Andrzej Duda had only good things to say about the upcoming Trump administration before he left for the World Economic Forum in Davos (WEF) on Monday, which will be held under the slogan “Cooperation in a Smart Age.”

At the conference preceding his departure, the president answered questions about Donald Trump’s upcoming presidency, among other things.

“I believe that Donald Trump’s second presidency will bring four years of good policy for Poland,” Duda said.

He also expressed hope that his current relationship with the U.S. president will benefit Poland, according to Business Insider. 

Leaders from around the world gather in Davos to discuss current issues and challenges, which this year includes the ongoing war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be present to take part in these meetings, the Polish president noted.

However, all eyes will be on D.C.

Duda said events at the WEF would be “dominated by what is happening in Washington, the inauguration of President Donald Trump,” as it is an “extremely important event” not only for the United States but also for the entire world, in terms of the economy and security.

“I look at this event with satisfaction and great calm,” Duda said, adding that he met with Trump when “many people doubted whether he had any chance” of becoming U.S. president again.

Read more here…

Embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that the Democratic Party “left” him and the working class behind, during an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that aired on Tuesday.

“People often say, ‘You don’t sound like a Democrat. You seem to have left the party,’” Adams told Carlson.

“No, the party left me, and it left working-class people.”

Throughout the interview, Adams tied his indictment on bribery and corruption charges to his decision to speak out against the illegal immigrant surge in New York City.

He claimed those who push back on “the norm” within the Democratic party get “demonized.”

As Katabella Roberts reports for The Epoch Times, Adams was indicted in September 2024 on charges of taking bribes and illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources.

The charges include accepting improper valuable benefits, including luxury international travel, from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him.

The indictment alleges that Adams not only accepted but also sought out illegal campaign contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign.

The mayor has denied the allegations against him and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Adams told Carlson that he felt there were people within the “orbit” of the Justice Department under the Biden administration who felt he was “not a good Democrat” after he raised concerns about the “onslaught” of migrants into the city and various failed border policies.

Those failed policies ultimately cost the city $6.5 billion in clothing, food, and accommodation for migrants, he said.

The mayor also said former President Joe Biden and his aides had “basically” told him to “be a good Democrat” when he raised concerns over the alarming number of illegal immigrants arriving in the city and the impact it was having on the ground.

“You know, one of [Biden’s] aids told me that, ‘Listen, this is like a gallstone, it’ll pass. It’ll hurt now, but it’ll pass,’” Adams said.

Adams Attends Trump Inauguration

Adams traveled to Florida last week to meet with then-President-elect Donald Trump, just days before the Republican was sworn into office for a second term.

In a statement issued shortly after his visit, Adams described the meeting as a “productive conversation” that focused on the city’s needs and how the incoming administration could play a role in improving the lives of New Yorkers.

The meeting came amid growing speculation that the mayor was seeking a possible pardon from the president for the corruption charges he is facing; something that Trump has signaled he is open to doing.

Adams insisted that he and Trump did not discuss the mayor’s legal case during their meeting in Florida.

On Monday, Adams also canceled various planned public appearances at Martin Luther King Jr. Day events across New York, opting instead to attend Trump’s inauguration.

Dozens of recently arrived illegal immigrants camp outside of New York’s Roosevelt Hotel, which has been made into a reception center, as they try to secure temporary housing in New York City, on Aug. 1, 2023. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

That decision drew criticism from Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, who wrote on X that New Yorkers “deserve a Mayor who puts our city’s wellbeing above his own exoneration.”

Elsewhere, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander wrote on X: “Imagine if Mayor Adams applied the same focus to making our city safer and bringing down our cost of living as he does to getting himself a pardon.”

Adams defended attending Trump’s swearing-in ceremony in a statement on X, calling it a “sacred American tradition.”

“Our country has been through so much, and every president has the honor and responsibility to protect and lead the American people,” he said.

“On MLK Day, like Reverend Dr. King said, we must put partisan politics aside to do what’s best for our country.”

The Democrat added that he believes much can be achieved by working alongside the new Trump administration to “support our city’s values and fight for New Yorkers.”

Adams is seeking reelection in June.

A Manhattan judge has scheduled his legal trial to start in April.

*  *  *

Watch the full interview with Tucker Carlson below:

(0:00) Eric Adams’ Indictment Is Ridiculous
(6:04) How Biden Destroyed New York With Immigration
(17:27) What Do New Yorkers Think About the Illegal Immigrants?
(19:10) Pressing Adams on His Sanctuary City Policy
(22:36) How Illegal Immigration Is Fueling America’s Labor Crisis
(29:43) How to Clean Up New York
(37:55) Did Eric Adams Leave the Democrat Party?
(40:34) Will Adams Go to Jail?
(41:32) Adams’ Conversation With Donald Trump
(45:54) America’s Mental Health Crisis

Having been indicted by the Biden DOJ for political crimes, New York Mayor Eric Adams is sounding a lot like a Trump voter these days.

(0:00) Eric Adams’ Indictment Is Ridiculous
(6:04) How Biden Destroyed New York With Immigration
(17:27) What Do New Yorkers Think About the… pic.twitter.com/GZLofb2ZFv

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 22, 2025

Authored by Kevin M. Spivak via RealClearPolicy,

I believe in restraint, tradition, decorum, and the precepts of our system of criminal justice: deterrence, punishment, and retribution. Turning the other cheek accomplishes none of these. Joe Biden’s last-minute pardons for his family, and his unprecedented preemptive pardons for members and staff of the January 6 Committee, Anthony Fauci, and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mike Milley, underscore the necessity for Congress and Donald Trump’s Justice Department to perform their duties to investigate crime.

The Supreme Court made clear in Burdick v. United States (1915) that the “confession of guilt implied in the acceptance of a pardon” may be avoided only by rejecting it. In December, the Biden Justice Department advised a federal judge that January 6 defendants hoping for a pardon from soon-to-be President Trump “would first have to accept the pardon, which necessitates a confession of guilt.”

The Biden administration and its proxies engaged in the unrestricted, weaponized use of our justice system to take down the leading Republican candidate for president and his family, supporters and advisors, as well as Christians, conservatives, and pro-life activists. They censored, investigated, humiliated, intimidated, arrested, indicted, and jailed their political opponents using long-abandoned, novel, and manifestly flawed legal theories.

Democrats express horror that the Trump Justice Department might investigate whether laws were broken by officials who engaged in these tactics. They angrily assert that if the Trump administration exacts “retribution” it would endanger civil liberties and tear asunder the fabric of our justice system.

This reminds me of bullies who strike a classmate and then recoil, wag a finger at the victim, and warn him that he better not hit back.

After ignoring billions of dollars in damage and dozens of deaths caused by violent rioters on the left, the Biden administration terrorized and pursued nearly 1,600 Americans, many with only scant connection to the January 6 demonstrations, jailing some who never entered the Capitol. Trump advisors Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon were imprisoned for refusing to testify before the House January 6 Committee – the first such prosecutions in 65 years. FBI agents targeted parents for advocating conservative values at school board meetings, as well as pro-life advocates and Catholic churches.

The White House and Biden prosecutors coordinated an unconstitutional and unlawful attack on Trump and his supporters. Jack Smith was appointed as special prosecutor, despite never having received Senate confirmation as required by the Appointments Clause (Article II, § 2). He prosecuted Trump and his associates for keeping classified documents, though no other former president had ever been charged for doing the same, and used statutes intended for the Ku Klux Klan and for evidence-tampering and financial crimes to bring a lawless case against Trump for lobbying against ratification of 2020 election. The cases were dismissed, with the latter case decimated when the Supreme Court held that a president is immune from prosecution for official acts. Contrary to its policies, the Justice Department then issued scathing reports, in which Smith proclaimed that Trump would have been convicted. Who needs trials or juries?

Matthew Colangelo left the third-ranking position in the Biden Justice Department to concoct sham fraud cases against Trump in New York. Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump and his children liable for “civil fraud,” imposed a $455 million fine, and stripped Trump of his New York businesses, even though there was no fraud, victim, or losses. Colangelo, district attorney Alvin Bragg, and Judge Juan Merchan mangled New York law, convincing a jury to find Trump guilty of 34 felony counts for his private check stubs and legal payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

Hired by his lover, Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis, to lead an abusive Georgia RICO case against Trump and 18 others, Nathan Wade spent at least 16 hours in the White House developing the strategy. Democratic elected officials declared Trump an “insurrectionist,” and for the first time in American history, tried to throw a major party candidate off the ballot. The Supreme Court unanimously rejected this travesty.

More than 100 Trump family members, supporters, and advisors were indicted or targeted in these cases. At least 10 Trump lawyers face disbarment and other financially devastating discipline, including Rudy Guliani and John Eastman.

There is compelling evidence that many of these actions constitute conspiracies to injure, oppress, threaten, intimidate, and abuse power under color of authority, subjecting officials to criminal and civil liability pursuant to 18 U.S. Code §241 and § 245, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, and other federal and state laws and regulations.

Trump says that success will be his retribution. Attorney General nominee Pat Biondi testified during her confirmation hearing that she will not pursue retribution. Some commentators whom I greatly respect argue that to restore normalcy, the Trump administration should move on.

I disagree.

“Retribution” would mean doing what the Biden administration did – stretching laws to improperly pursue political opponents. I agree that that should never happen.

But anyone involved in the weaponization of our justice system who accepts a Biden pardon should be hauled before congressional committees, federal investigators, and grand juries so we can learn the truth. The pardon will strip them of their right to avoid self-incrimination. Any witness who fails to testify fully and honestly should be prosecuted for obstruction of justice, perjury, and other appropriate crimes.

Other officials involved in lawfare who broke no laws that are traditionally prosecuted should be subject to appropriate discipline. But any official who broke laws that are historically prosecuted should be held to account for lives ruined, as well as the assault on democracy.

Doing this will restore normalcy.

Kenin M. Spivak is founder and chairman of SMI Group LLC, an international consulting firm and investment bank. He is the author of fiction and non-fiction books and a frequent speaker and contributor to media, including The American Mind, National Review, the National Association of Scholars, television, radio, and podcasts.

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) voted on Jan. 21 with Republicans to advance the nomination of Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary, but said that he will not switch to the Republican Party.

Fetterman was the only member of the Democratic Party to join Republicans in passing a motion to proceed with Hegseth’s nomination. Every other Democrat who voted, as well as the two independents in the Senate, voted against advancing the nomination.

Fetterman’s vote was not required to move the nomination forward because Republicans hold 53 seats in the 100-member chamber, and a simple majority was needed. However, the vote marks the latest instance in which Fetterman has taken a position that differs from many members of his party.

Fetterman met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago recently, appearing to be the only lawmaker from the Democratic Party to do so. He has also said he would vote for Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, joined Trump’s social media website, Truth Social, and attended Trump’s inauguration.

Fetterman said in a new interview that he will not be switching parties or even leaving the Democratic Party.

“If they think, ‘oh, it’s going to be like a Manchin or a Sinema play,’ that’s just not true, and that’s not going to happen,” Fetterman told Semafor. “It’s not gonna happen.”

Fetterman said that he has informed leaders of the Democratic Party that his party affiliation and his membership in the Senate Democratic caucus is not going to change.

Former Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), during the most recently completed session of Congress, left the Democratic Party to become independents.

Neither senator caucused with Republicans, although they each cast some votes with the GOP.

Fetterman said on Truth Social before Trump was sworn in that it was “appropriate and the responsibility of a U.S. Senator to have a conversation with President-elect Trump’s nominees.”

He added later: “My votes will come from an open-mind and an informed opinion after having a conversation with them. That’s not controversial, it’s my job.”

The Jan. 21 full Senate vote followed a party-line vote by the Senate Armed Services Committee on Jan. 20 to advance Hegseth’s nomination to all senators.

The final vote on Hegseth is expected in the coming days.

Other Democratic Party senators have expressed opposition to the nomination.

“The Secretary of Defense is one of the most important roles for keeping our country safe and we need someone who is ready to step into the job and succeed on day one. Pete Hegseth doesn’t bring the kind of experience that prepares someone to do this massive job,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said this week.

Republicans, on the other hand, have said they still support Hegseth.

“The President’s pick for Secretary of Defense, Mr. Hegseth, has impressive academic qualifications, conducted himself very well in the Senate Armed Services hearing, and has a commendable record of service in uniform. He assured me he will surround himself with a strong support team,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said in a statement. “I will vote for his confirmation.”

Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

There is plenty of time ahead for the peanut gallery to discuss the ins and outs of the daily goings-on with the new Trump administration. There will be good and bad, and everyone is free to call out which is what and can do so for fully four years.

For now, we pause to consider the historic nature of what is taking place in our times and be grateful that we are all around to watch it unfold. And we should consider the lessons it offers for our own lives.

 

There is the obvious data point that President Donald Trump is only the second nonconsecutive second-term president after Grover Cleveland. That’s interesting but hardly scratches the surface of the significance of this presidency.

 

Anyone who prophesied two years ago that Trump would be taking the oath of office would have likely been considered a lunatic.

The whole of corporate media was railing against his legacy. The historians were writing him off. Google was gaming its search results to shame anyone who still defended him. Big tech and nearly the whole of academia were united in loathing. The sneering on late-night television was the only consistent theme.

Meanwhile, the big guns were coming for him personally with indictment after indictment. There is warfare and there is lawfare but the desire to destroy is the same. There was talk of confiscating Trump Tower and even jail. The revenge fantasies were out of control, while his attorneys’ fees were sky-high, millions upon millions of dollars.

There was no power center in the United States or really the world that was not overflowing with loathing and brutal attacks, including every attempted extortion and smear.

It is impossible to not give Trump personal credit for seeing his way through a series of threats and attacks that would have broken even the strongest character. Somehow he managed to get through it all with his physical and mental well-being not only saved but even strengthened.

How did he sleep? How did he keep his spirits high? How did he see the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel? It’s unfathomable.

I don’t care what your politics are: If you cannot see this example of steadfastness and courage as inspiring, there is something wrong. Is there anything wrong in your life to compare? It’s doubtful. He made it through and so can you. If nothing else is true, his personal example of courage in the face of grave danger is exemplary.

He had plenty of competitors for the Republican nomination, and they were right to challenge him, not based on a lack of respect but simply because of their own confidence that they could do the job. But at this stage of history, Trump was already legendary and approaching a status of personal grandeur that no one could match. Thus did he get the nomination and his competitors defer.

Panic among mainstream opinion makers ensued once again. The unthinkable happened: the first assassination attempt. It’s impossible to look at the circumstances surrounding that quarter-inch miss and not feel a sense of awe.

It’s difficult to explain without taking recourse to divine intervention. Equally remarkable was Trump’s response, not to cower and collapse but stand and assure the people for whom he felt responsibility that he was alive. And he used that precious and catastrophic moment to rally the people with immortal words, fist in the air.

Will that moment go down in history? It became obvious in the days following that the powers that be did not want it to do so. Within a week or so, it was hard to find information about this at all, as the major national media simply stopped talking about it. That left it to the masses of regular people who simply could not suppress their astonishment at what transpired.

Alternative media swung into action as did the meme makers and the merchants with shirts, cups, and posters. There was to be no burying this event.

Our times are absolutely desperate for examples of masculine heroism. The culture has been nearly purged of such, from movies to television to music. What Trump did was countercultural in every sense of the term: It went against the grain and disturbed the powers that be. This event became a mighty symbol of cultural renewal, a template for an entire generation to understand the sacrifices that are often necessary for success.

Behind the scenes, the Trump loyalists were hard at work, mostly in private by design, and with one focus: Get him to a second term. How in the world could they have confidence that this was possible? It comes down to one word—math. They knew what the whole of mainstream culture denied, namely that the results of the 2020 election were not mathematically possible.

Trump actually won more popular votes than he did four years earlier. The difference was the implausible appearance of 15 million to 20 million votes for his opponent that could not have reflected the choices and behaviors of real people. To right this wrong—or at least expose it—they attempted to use the courts, but the challenges were rejected on grounds of standing, as if voters themselves have no right at all to challenge what, for appearances, looked like voter fraud.

Team Trump knew that the numbers did not add up, and so they plotted a return.

It broke down to three steps.

No. 1: They would work with states that were willing to tighten voter registration laws and crack down on mail-in balloting that everyone on the planet knows is more susceptible to fraud. They would recruit monitors. They would empower a grassroots movement to be vigilant against illicit balloting. And they would encourage early voting among the base. They knew that blue states would not cooperate, but they counted on a cultural movement to shame attempts to game the system.

No. 2: They would fire up the most disenfranchised group in the United States about whom no one seems to care, namely men younger than the age of 35. This is a group that had long lost any hope in elections and has been wholly overlooked by cultural elites. To reach them, Trump went on many podcasts, including Joe Rogan’s and many others. He knew he already had their support, but he needed something else: for them to register and actually vote. That’s a big ask, but it worked.

No. 3: The need to create a mass cultural movement that was larger and more powerful than the mass media. It needed hats, songs, rallies, and meetings. To this end, he flew all over the country to hold rallies at which he did what he does best, extemporaneous stand-ups talking about the events of the day, filled with humor, fun, and fury. These became massive events, with people lining up for a mile outside the venue, waiting in all weather for 12 hours and longer.

By the end of the campaign, there was not a single indoor venue in America that could hold all the people who lined up to see Trump speak in any town or city in this country. That is an amazing accomplishment, never before seen in our history. The result was precisely what was planned, a mass movement that competed with or even outpaced the smearbund working to defeat him.

Again, this was the plan all along, although it was never announced. It was like clockwork. The people least surprised on Election Night were all associated with Team Trump. They had mapped it out for years. As part of their planning, they deployed a method that has never before been seen in U.S. politics: absolute security of all information. No one associated with this group spoke to the press for four years.

It’s been the same for the transition. It has been privately financed to keep the prying eyes of the administrative state away from understanding and thus subverting what it is they have been planning. This is why nearly every pick for the Cabinet and agency heads has been a shock but for those whom the team released early as a deliberate trial balloon.

One must stand in admiration of all this, not just the administrative sophistication of the campaign and transition team but also the courage it required to follow through on all these plans despite the terrible odds. This alone is for the ages.

Now we are at the moment that is the real test: the time of governing. We are in for some huge surprises, of that I am sure. The national media has been locked out and understandably so. Some of what will unfold in the coming days, weeks, and months I will like and some I will not. I’m sure you will say the same. That’s the way the real world works. We have plenty of time to argue about this or that.

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate that we have this opportunity at all. Against all odds, Trump is president again. Let that be a lesson to all of us. Nothing is written that moral courage cannot overcome. That’s true in politics, and it is true in our own lives.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.