Raw Story

President-elect Donald Trump has turned toward an obsession with acquiring various neighboring lands, from Greenland and Canada to the Panama Canal, with his ally Steve Bannon even fantasizing about conquering the entire continent of North America. But the irony, wrote conservative analyst Noah Rothman for the National Review, is that such conquests were made unnecessary by the modern international order of free trade and cooperation — which Trump is now seeking to tear down.

Specifically, Trump is pushing for massive trade wars against all of the U.S.' major trade partners, which economists have raised alarms would be devastating to U.S. consumers. But, wrote Rothman, it goes deeper than that.

"There is something to be said about a particular disposition that regards territorial expansionism as a necessary tool of statecraft. It is the sort of outlook that was common to policymakers in the pre-War world — an environment typified by inviolable spheres of influence in which international free trade agreements were far rarer," wrote Rothman. "If you are inclined to see resource acquisition as a zero-sum competition for finite commodities — indeed, if you view trade as a form of war by other means, as Moscow did in the years preceding its adventurism in Ukraine — you’re more likely to see expansionist wars of conquest as vital national projects."

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Indeed, he noted, research published in recent years suggests that nations with more expansive free trade agreements are less likely to get involved in territorial wars — while more isolated ones display greater military aggression to their neighbors.

The bottom line, Rothman argued, is that Trump plans to tear down the very institutions and systems that currently let the United States freely use the resources of the countries and territories he now says America should seize for itself.

"Trump is not 'thinking big.' Rather, the president-elect and those who have entertained his thought bubble as though it was a serious proposition have demonstrated their adherence to a dangerous fallacy," Rothman concluded. "It’s no coincidence that the renewed popularity of protectionist thinking has made the prospect of war more thinkable."

President-elect Donald Trump continued his rants about the California wildfires on Wednesday afternoon by once again blaming the ordeal on Democrats.

Trump for years has claimed that California is suffering from fires because it does not properly "rake" its forests, which was a theme he continued when it comes to the current fire despite the fact that it started in a residential area.

"As of this moment, Gavin Newscum and his Los Angeles crew have contained exactly ZERO percent of the fire. It is burning at levels that even surpass last night. This is not Government. I can’t wait till January 20th!" Trump first posted.

A few moments later, he raged: "NO WATER IN THE FIRE HYDRANTS, NO MONEY IN FEMA. THIS IS WHAT JOE BIDEN IS LEAVING ME. THANKS JOE!"

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FEMA continues to dispel the myth that they don't have any funds to aid Americans in disasters. This particular myth began after hurricanes hit Florida and the east coast this past fall.

The Palisades Fire largely burned populated areas like Santa Monica, Malibu, and the Pacific Palisades. Fire officials said that they are investigating the cause of the blaze that began around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The California fire chief briefed the press and President Joe Biden on Wednesday, saying that in her 25-year career, she's never seen winds that strong. She explained that firefighters are being forced to lean into the wind just to continue standing and holding a firehose.

The police chief echoed the comments, saying, "I've never seen anything like this."

Southern California is suffering from drought conditions and strong Santa Ana winds. The National Weather Service announced on Monday that the winds were coming and that they would be powerful and destructive.

"The combination of low humidity, dry fuels and shifting winds has heightened the potential for spot fires and rapid expansion," Cal Fire said in an update.

Fox News senior national correspondent William La Jeunesse on Wednesday pushed back when anchor John Roberts asked him about President-elect Donald Trump's comments about devastating fires consuming California.

As La Jeunesse was covering the fires live from Malibu, Roberts asked him about why California had supposedly left itself open to such a disaster by not following Trump's recommendations for "clearing underbrush to make sure that the forests' floors were clean."

"Why does this keep happening again and again?" Roberts demanded to know.

La Jeunesse paused for a couple of seconds before answering.

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"Number one, this fire... started in a residential area," he replied. "That didn't have anything to do with the wild fires that we often see that start in the national forest or in what we call the urban-rural interface where a lot of people have moved into and where, frankly, they don't take proper care."

La Jeunesse then added that California right now has a "year-round fire season" because "we've had marginal rain the last few months."

"I think you can blame California on some things," he acknowledged. "But other things, I don't want to say it's Mother Nature, I haven't looked at the total statistics for acres burned, but in a situation like this, as I said, where it starts in the middle of a community, you're going to have problems."

Watch the video below or at this link.

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Donald Trump’s pick for chief of staff is already making clear that the incoming president’s next administration will be devoid of drama – and that she won’t tolerate grandstanders or attempts to sabotage “the mission.”

Susie Wiles, who Trump tapped two days after Election Day to become his first major staff pick, made the comments Monday in an interview with Axios days before Trump is set to return to the White House.

“I don't welcome people who want to work solo or be a star,” Wiles said in the Axios interview. “My team and I will not tolerate backbiting, second-guessing inappropriately, or drama. These are counterproductive to the mission.”

Wiles, 67, who is referred to by her boss as the “Ice Maiden,” reportedly expressed concerns to Trump over who he would make himself available to in the Oval Office. Notably, in his last administration, Trump’s past chiefs of staff struggled to rein in a revolving door of informal advisers, friends and family members from reaching the president's ear.

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Wiles said that the administration’s focus will be on “getting off to a quick start and staying on that pace, together with an expectation of excellence every day.”

Plans include "rolling back redundant and burdensome regulations, keeping taxes low, cutting government waste through DOGE [the new Department of Government Efficiency], and most importantly, sealing the border and deporting criminals who are in this country illegally,” Wiles told Axios.

While the longtime Florida campaign operative called the first 100 days of any new administration "an artificial metric," Wiles is instead looking toward the period between the inauguration and the 2026 midterms as critical to pushing through Trump's political agenda. Republicans will have a rare trifecta of the federal government for the next two years once Trump is sworn into office.

"I have every hope that the 47 administration will not have the same number of attempts to put sand in the gears," she told Axios. "We are off to a fast start with congressional work, hiring the best people, preliminary discussion with heads of state, fine-tuning his policy agenda, and planning for the first 100 days."

Businessman and "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary confirmed that President-elect Donald Trump is hosting discussions at Mar-a-Lago about integrating Canada into the United States.

O'Leary told Fox News he participated in the discussions at Mar-a-Lago after Trump suggested on Truth Social that Canada would become the "51st state."

"If Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them," Trump wrote. "Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!"

During the Fox News interview, host Martha MacCallum noted that O'Leary, a Canadian citizen, had "some very strong feelings about joining our country with Canada."

"I had two topics that I wanted to talk to him about," O'Leary explained. "Number one was integrating Canada towards a North American union for greater strength, just period."

"The world is a difficult place these days, and most Canadians would like to look at that opportunity without giving up their sovereignty," he continued. "So low-hanging fruit would be combined currency, for example, combining the Bank of Canada with the Fed, things like that."

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O'Leary said he pleaded with Trump to "give the Canadians a chance to re-elect a leader, just like you got re-elected, that has a four-year mandate, just like you have, and let's get down to business."

The businessman also presented Trump with a plan to purchase TikTok from its Chinese parent company.

"Trump will be who we have to work with to close the deal in the months ahead," O'Leary explained. "So I wanted to let him know, as well as others in his cabinet, that we're doing this and we're gonna need their help."

Watch the video below from Fox News or at this link.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was held in contempt of court on Monday as part of ongoing litigation from two election workers in Georgia he is accused of spreading lies about in the wake of the 2020 election.

Giuliani was ordered to pay Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss $148 million in damages after a jury found in their favor in the defamation case over a year ago.

The internet on Monday mocked the former Donald Trump lawyer, with some eager to see if he would be jailed for contempt because he couldn't afford to pay the $148 million.

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Former Biden/Harris campaign staffer Stephanie Kennedy pointed out ahead of the court proceedings: "Rudy Giuliani, the disbarred deadbeat, tried to dupe his way through a contempt hearing on Friday. In a federal courtroom in Manhattan, Giuliani spent hours testifying, trying to fight accusations that he is withholding assets from two Georgia election workers he defamed. It is entirely possible that Giuliani, 80, could be jailed if he is held in contempt."

Jazz guitarist Charles Johnson pointed out on Bluesky, "And meanwhile, the criminal Giuliani got in trouble for supporting is preparing to take control of the federal government."

Political analyst and commentator Kyle Griffin pointed out the irony of the date.

"On the anniversary of Jan. 6, Rudy Giuliani is held in contempt for failing to turn over assets to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who he defamed in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election," he posted on Bluesky.

Legal analyst P. Andrew Torrez described the court failure by saying, "Apparently Judge Liman has imposed the proverbial 'death penalty' sanctions against Giuliani, drawing an adverse inference on the production of discovery in connection with the homestead exemption that is the major issue for trial on Jan 16th that will foreclose Rudy from contesting it."

Meanwhile, Parker Molloy, writer of "The Present Age," pointed out, "New objectively bonkers Rudy Giuliani courtroom sketch just dropped."

"Rudy Giuliani being hit with sanctions today is the best news ever," clapped back Spaces host and artist Candee Corliss, who goes by Art Candee on social media. She included a popcorn emoji.