UB Softball vs. Canisius Double Header (4/23) @ 1pm

President Donald Trump's niece and vocal critic has called her uncle out for the peace proposal that she says puts Ukrainians — and global democracy — in a dangerous position.

In her Substack essay published Tuesday, Mary Trump described how Trump pressured Ukraine to reach the peace proposal by Nov. 27 and had threatened to withdraw the allied country's access to U.S. intelligence.

"Ten months into his failure of a presidency, Donald has finally offered up a peace proposal. It’s so disadvantageous to Ukraine that it may as well have been written by Putin. And it probably was," Mary Trump wrote.

She described how Trump's adoration for Putin is what led to the controversial proposal that would force Ukraine to surrender "Donbas region, Crimea, and other occupied territories" and scale back its military size, limiting its use of long-range weapons.

"This is unacceptable, but if you consider that Donald has been in Putin’s pocket since the 1980s, it also makes perfect sense," she wrote. "Being easily led and weak-kneed, Donald will not stand up to Putin. In fact, having been brought up by a patriarchal authoritarian sociopath, Donald was raised to admire and be subservient to authoritarians like Putin."

Trump promised to end the war, but his regime and leadership have further damaged the situation, she added.

"How it ends matters greatly, and how it ends must reflect how it began--with an illegal invasion by Russia (ostensibly our adversary) of Ukraine (ostensibly our ally). What also needs to be factored into any peace plan is the fact that Ukraine is not just fighting for its own freedom and sovereignty; it is fighting for the future of Western liberal democracy. We all are the beneficiaries of the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people, and we owe them a debt of gratitude," she wrote.

She argued that the world — and democracy — is at stake.

"Both sides should not have an equal say in the negotiations. Russia should get nothing. It should give back every square foot of territory it has stolen from the Ukrainian people," Mary Trump wrote. "It should give back every resource it has stolen. It should have to pay them for all the damage it has caused. It must be forced to return all the Ukrainian children it has kidnapped. Tragically, it cannot restore the lives of those who have been murdered by Russia."

A former Biden administration official and human rights expert warned Wednesday that harmful MAGA immigration policies have crippled struggling local economies — further damaging Americans.

Michelle Brané, a non-resident fellow at the Cornell Law Migration and Human Rights Program and the executive director of Together and Free, wrote in a Newsweek opinion piece that immigrants working legally have been pulled off job sites, costing them and their employers thousands of dollars fighting legal battles they shouldn't have to.

Brané, who served as the immigration detention ombudsman for the Biden administration and the executive director of the Family Reunification Task Force, shared a story of Jaime in New York, who was detained for almost two months despite showing his work permit. Jaime was pulled from a job during an ICE raid where dozens were arrested.

"Jaime’s detention also harmed his employer, a family-owned business," Brané wrote. "After the raid, the company was forced to reduce output to 25 percent of capacity and could not fulfill orders. In communities already struggling with labor shortages, raids cripple local economies."

Jaime was flown to Texas, where it cost him thousands to fight the legal battle — all because bond wasn't an option for him.

"The almost two months he spent in detention took an enormous emotional toll on him, his family and his community. It also imposed a steep financial burden to taxpayers, local governments and private businesses," she said.

Jaime also had to deal with a "clogged immigration system." Before the detention, he had earned $22.50 an hour and contributed to the American tax system.

"Immigrants contribute $580 billion in taxes per year. Mass detention and deportations shrink that base, harming programs like Social Security and Medicare," Brané argued.

Removing Jaime and other people in the U.S. who work legally creates more damage in communities, she added.

"Mass detention is an expensive illusion of enforcement. It doesn’t make us safer or stronger. It just ensures that everyone—taxpayers, workers and families alike—pays the price," Brané wrote.