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National News
‘Never felt more betrayed’: MAGA rebels over Trump’s ‘treasonous’ Qatar base in Idaho
After years of advocating "America First," President Donald Trump's administration, the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on Friday, "I'm also proud that today we're signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho."
It led to a swift meltdown from some of the president's top allies.
Constitutionalist and MAGA influencer "The General" was furious, calling it outright "treason."
"We are in the middle of rolling out military across the entire USA and then bringing in a non-NATO country military into the USA is TREASON. U.S. and Qatar sign deal to open a Qatari 'air force facility,' in the U.S., at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho," he wrote on X.
"Is this what 'shared defense goals' means now — or just the latest way our politicians get paid to sell out our country?" asked Amy Mek, the editor-in-chief of RAIR, an organization that advocates for the U.S. to return to a country run by Judeo-Christian values. "Twenty-four years after foreign nationals trained in our flight schools flew planes into our buildings, our leaders are inviting their financiers to train inside our bases. This is what happens when you gut national-security training, scrub every mention of Islam, jihad, and Sharia from the manuals, and let Obama- and Biden-era bureaucrats turn counterterrorism into cultural sensitivity class. We’re being led by officials who no longer recognize or refuse to name the enemy they’re inviting into our own backyard.'
Close ally to President Trump, Laura Loomer, lamented the news after advocating that the administration declare the Muslim Brotherhood an international terrorist organization.
"Well, I guess this isn’t going to happen since we just gave the Muslim Brotherhood an air base in Idaho. So much for my decade worth of hard work trying to protect Americans from the threat of Islamic terror," said Loomer about the new base.
"No foreign country should have a military base on U.S. soil," she also said. "Especially Islamic countries. I have never felt more betrayed by the GOP than I do now watching Islamic jihadists get away with implementing Sharia law in the US and now they are getting their own airbase where they will train to kill Americans."
She went on to warn that it would make America less safe by setting up "for America to be attacked by Islamic savages from Qatar, the biggest funders of Islamic terror in the entire world. So much so, the Saudis and Emiratis find Qatar to be TOXIC. I need to see how much more of my life I am going to dedicate to a party that won’t address the threat of Islam in the West. The betrayal stings. WE ARE LOSING OUR COUNTRY!"
Content creator and influencer Red Eagle Politics denied the reporting.
"We aren’t giving Argentina a free $20 Billion handout, and we aren’t building an Air Force Base for Qatar in Idaho. The amount of dishonest lunacy on this app is reaching new heights," he wrote on X.
Utah state Sen. Nate Blouin, a Democrat, pointed out that Idaho Republicans "have been crowing about" legislation similar to that his state enacted "blocking foreign ownership of land in their state."
Dan Caldwell, former senior advisor to Hegseth, wrote on X that it wasn't that big of a deal.
"The freak out around this is of course totally unwarranted since this is actually a pretty common practice with countries that buy and operate a lot of U.S. military aircraft. Singapore has a similar facility and detachment for its F-15 training unit at this very same airbase," he said.
Caldwell is one of the DOD aides who was forced out amid Hegseth's Signalgate scandal. He has denied any wrongdoing.
National News
Trump admin to lay off ‘thousands’ of federal workers on day 10 of government shutdown
MSNBC and CNBC reported Friday afternoon that President Donald Trump intends to usher in "lay-offs" for "thousands" of federal workers.
The government has been shut down for the past ten days as officials in Washington debate a funding measure. Trump had made the threat previously, but now has reportedly made good on the pledge.
The Office of Management and Budget Director, Russell Vought called the job cuts "substantial."
“The RIFs have begun,” Vought wrote on X. The acronym means “Reductions in Force.”
There have already been significant government funding cuts over the past eight months under the Trump administration's efforts to eliminate "waste, fraud, and abuse" in government.
“We expect thousands of people to unfortunately be laid off due to the government shutdown," MSNBC's Vaughn Hillyard said, citing a senior White House official.
National News
‘Reconsider’: Analyst says Trump’s elite supporters are getting clear message to back off
President Donald Trump's big supporters are getting a clear message to "reconsider their relationship to the regime" — and back off — as millions of people prepare to hit the streets for "No Kings" protests across the U.S, according to an analyst.
More than 2,500 events are scheduled across 50 states on Saturday and "the need for resistance is urgent," Chauncey DeVega writes in a commentary piece for Salon.
Trump has been emboldened by the U.S. Supreme Court, moving quickly to impose aggressive immigration tactics, drawing the National Guard to multiple states and unleashing attacks on the media and comedians. He's also signaled invoking the Insurrection Act and targeting "left-wing" groups.
"These lies, and the hostility behind them, reflects a larger dynamic: Trump is seen by many of his supporters as a type of god-king on a divine mission. In this worldview, resisting Trump and the MAGA movement is an act of evil — unpatriotic at best, and outright treasonous at worst," DeVega writes.
His supporters could now see the mounting tension and decide where they stand, the writer argues. And some might have a different view.
"But America is still a democracy, albeit an increasingly weak one, and Trump still needs to maintain a veneer of public support," DeVega writes. "Protests and mass mobilization threaten his legitimacy. They counter the narrative that Trump and the MAGA movement enjoy unstoppable, popular momentum. No Kings will remind political bystanders — and the undecided — that resistance is not futile. Such protests can also send a signal to elites that it may be in their self-interest to reconsider their relationship to the regime."
The protests Saturday could also have a negative impact and empower Trump to move further into attack mode.
"But protests and marches also provide an opportunity for autocrats to expand their power," DeVega writes. "Trump has repeatedly signaled his desire to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to bypass the courts and to 'legally' deploy the military against the American people to put down 'civil unrest' or a 'rebellion.' Such a move could also be a prelude to de facto martial law, cancelling elections and suspending other civil rights and freedoms."
It could set the stage for the Trump administration's increased retaliation against people pushing back — and the stakes are high as people resist.
"Many have observed that Trump, with his actions against Democratic-led cities like Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Portland and Chicago, is looking to create a pretext for a much harsher crackdown. This makes Saturday’s No Kings protests even more consequential. In the event of any violence, whether from protesters or agent provocateurs, the president will doubtless seize on it to expand his power," DeVega explains.
"While important, attending No Kings protests is a beginning and not an end. It should be seen as a first step of sustained political activity to slow down the Trump administration and MAGA movement’s attempts to end multiracial democracy," DeVega writes.
