Category: The Washington Free Beacon
Ukraine Faces Thanksgiving Deadline As Leaks And Doubts Cloud Trump Peace Plan
Confusion and controversy
JD Vance to Canada: Stop blaming Trump for your decline
Vice President JD Vance did something remarkable last week: He described Canada more honestly than most of its own political leaders.
In a short series of posts on X, Vance captured the two anxieties that now define Canadian life — mass immigration and a refusal to take responsibility for national decline.
The deeper problem is leadership that seems consistently more focused on the fortunes of global capital than the welfare of Canadians.
“While I’m sure the causes are complicated,” he wrote, “no nation has leaned more into ‘diversity is our strength, we don’t need a melting pot we have a salad bowl’ immigration insanity than Canada. It has the highest foreign-born share of the population in the entire G7 and its living standards have stagnated.”
Vance continued, “And with all due respect to my Canadian friends, whose politics focus obsessively on the United States: your stagnating living standards have nothing to do with Donald Trump or whatever bogeyman the CBC tells you to blame. The fault lies with your leadership, elected by you.”
Truth hurts
Those comments struck a nerve because they describe a reality that Canadians live with every day. Immigration levels have soared to historic highs. Canada’s population is closing in on 40 million, with roughly 23% foreign-born in the 2021 census — and likely much higher today, given the recent revelation that 42% of babies born in 2025 will have foreign-born mothers. For years, political and media elites insisted that this was a sign of national strength. Ordinary people can now see the strain everywhere: stagnant wages, collapsing services, unaffordable housing, and infrastructure buckling under the load.
Vance’s second point was equally accurate. Canadian politicians — especially Liberal ones — have long relied on Trump as a universal scapegoat. No matter the problem, the reflexive response has been to point south and blame “American extremism” for Canada’s failures. It was a convenient distraction from the consequences of their own policies.
Man with no plan
Prime Minister Mark Carney was a master of this blame-shifting. Before entering politics, he spent years burnishing his reputation as a global technocrat. Yet when he ran for prime minister, he adopted an almost paranoid tone toward the United States, claiming in one speech: “President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. … We need a plan to deal with this new reality.” His “plan,” as it turned out, was simply to win power — and once in office, Carney abandoned the rhetoric even as he continued neglecting basic economic and security interests.
Nowhere has that neglect been clearer than in defense procurement. Ottawa is reportedly considering scrapping the F-35 fighter jet program in favor of Sweden’s Gripen — an aircraft incompatible with the F-35s flown by every branch of the U.S. military and central to NORAD’s interoperability. As U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra has warned repeatedly, such a move would be sheer folly, undermining both North American defense and Canada’s most vital alliance.
The deeper problem is leadership that seems consistently more focused on the fortunes of global capital than the welfare of Canadians. Brookfield Asset Management — the firm Carney chaired before deciding to seek the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada and replacing Justin Trudeau as prime minister — recently surfaced in headlines for its involvement in an $80 billion agreement with the Trump administration to produce nuclear reactors. That deal may be good business, but it has only reinforced public suspicion that Carney’s loyalties were formed long before he stepped into elected office.
RELATED: Is this the end of Canada?
Dave Chan/Getty Images
Soft authoritarianism
Meanwhile, Canada’s once-vaunted bureaucracy is looking increasingly ideological, unaccountable, and hostile to the people it purports to serve. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s ongoing occupation of a family farm — and its insistence on slaughtering hundreds of healthy ostriches despite nearly a year without symptoms of avian flu — has alarmed Canadians across the political spectrum. It is the kind of aggressive, unrestrained government action that would have been unthinkable a generation ago.
All of this is unfolding as the Liberal government pursues sweeping censorship and surveillance legislation, from online speech controls to broad new powers for federal regulators. The United Kingdom has already slid into a soft authoritarianism that polices “offensive” speech through arrests and intimidation. Canada appears determined to follow the same path.
This is what Vance was speaking to: a country drifting into economic stagnation, cultural fragmentation, bureaucratic overreach, and political corruption. A country that no longer seems capable of telling itself the truth about what is happening. A country that responds to national crises not with reform, but with scapegoats — whether Donald Trump, American conservatives, or anyone who challenges the official narrative.
Canada is not yet lost. But it is undeniably breaking, and the political class shows little interest in repairing it.
As Vance noted, the ultimate responsibility lies with Canadians themselves. They elected the leadership that brought the country to this point. Whether Canada recovers will depend on whether they are willing to demand something better.
Trump vows to end TPS for Minnesota Somalis — but with 72% already citizens, is it too late?
Since the 1990s, after Somalia’s central government collapsed and civil war broke out, Somalis have been immigrating to the United States, especially to Minnesota, where the first organized refugee resettlement began. Today the state has the largest population of Somalis in the country by a wide margin.
Given that Somalis are by and large Muslim, many conservatives worry that their growing numbers are contributing to what they call the “Islamification” of the nation — the gradual cultural, political, and demographic takeover by Islamist influences. Somalia-born Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (D) inflames these fears with what many have labeled a Somalia-first rhetoric and an openly Muslim agenda.
Just a few days ago, President Trump made waves by announcing that he is ending the Temporary Protected Status program that has allowed hundreds of Somalis to stay long-term in the United States, citing claims of “fraudulent money laundering” and “Somali gangs.”
Sara Gonzales, BlazeTV host of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered,” is thrilled and hopes Trump’s plan goes through.
She does, however, wish it would have happened sooner, as now 72% of Somalis who have immigrated to the United States have since become naturalized citizens.
“We need to completely reform the way that people are allowed to do that so quickly. … You have people like Ilhan Omar who are going through the process … who don’t appreciate anything this country has given them, even though they’ve risen to the level that they’ve risen to, who really don’t want to assimilate at all,” says Sara.
In a recent speech responding to President Trump’s announcement, Omar audaciously declared that Somalis are “the fabric of this nation” and insisted that they “aren’t going anywhere.”
“The audacity to say such a thing when you don’t plan on assimilating,” scoffs Sara. “The streets of Dearborn, Michigan, and certain parts of Minnesota basically look like Tehran. That is not the fabric of our nation.”
“I want you to understand how dangerous this is,” she says, playing a video clip of a Somali police officer from Minnesota saying in his native tongue that Somali officers work for their “own people” (fellow Somalis) and are different from “white officers.”
“How can you be both the fabric of our nation and also claiming we are so separate that only we who come from Somalia can represent you?” asks Sara.
“Both of those things cannot be true at once.”
Further, because these Somali officers have pledged allegiance to the Somali people, we have to ask ourselves, “What law will these police officers enforce?” Sara adds.
Then there is the recent exposé by BlazeTV host and investigative journalist Christopher Rufo that alleges billions in welfare fraud by members of Minnesota’s Somali community, with some stolen funds remitted to Somalia via hawala networks and ultimately supporting the Al-Qaeda-linked terror group Al-Shabaab.
“Somalians were setting up fraudulent autism treatment centers, and they were sending all of these bills, all of these charges, to Medicaid, and then they were reimbursed by taxpayers, and then they funneled that money overseas to terror groups,” says Sara, citing Rufo’s report.
Because these fraudsters are largely naturalized citizens, she says, eliminating TPS for a minority population of Somalis accomplishes “essentially nothing,” she snaps.
“What else are we going to do to get these people the hell out of our country?”
To hear more of Sara’s analysis and commentary, watch the episode above.
Want more from Sara Gonzales?
To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Revamped National Parks program prioritizes Americans and ensures foreigners ‘contribute their fair share’
In an effort to continue putting Americans first, the Trump administration is revamping National Park access next year.
On Tuesday, Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum appeared in a video announcement to explain the changes.
Nonresidents will pay more than triple that price for the same access.
“We’re making it easier & more affordable for Americans to experience the beauty & freedom of our public lands!” Burgum said in the post.
The new program, which includes a digital format for passes and expanded motorcycle access, sends a clear message to patriots and foreigners alike.
U.S. residents will be able to get an annual pass for $80. Nonresidents will pay more than triple that price for the same access.
Secretary Burgum said the premium for foreigners “ensures they contribute their fair share to help preserve and maintain these treasured places.”
RELATED: Trump admin takes major step toward dismantling Department of Education
Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images
“President Trump’s leadership always puts American families first,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “These policies ensure that U.S. taxpayers, who already support the National Park system, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations.”
The Department of the Interior also highlighted eight resident-only fee-free days in a press release. These include Independence Day, Constitution Day, and Veterans Day, to name a few.
The Department is also releasing several commemorative parks passes, according to Burgum’s announcement on X. Two of the four passes in the video feature President Donald Trump.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
‘Ridiculous charade’: Bill O’Reilly torches Democrat senator over ‘seditious’ political stunt
Bill O’Reilly ripped into Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over his involvement in left-wing lawmakers’ most recent political stunt.
Kelly and five other Democratic senators put out a video calling on military members to disobey “unlawful” orders from the commander in chief, President Donald Trump. Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who reportedly orchestrated the video, admitted herself that she is not aware of any “unlawful” orders issued by the administration.
‘If you’re a responsible legislator, you don’t make things up.’
Kelly, who has an extensive military background, came under fire alongside his colleagues, with Trump and his allies branding the video “seditious.”
“I think the whole thing is contrived,” O’Reilly said. “I’m disappointed with Sen. Kelly. I think that he made a huge mistake by getting involved with this ridiculous charade.”
Because Kelly is a retired Navy commander, the Democratic senator is still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, landing him an investigation from the Department of War.
“All servicemembers are reminded that they have a legal obligation under the UCMJ to obey lawful orders and that orders are presumed to be lawful,” a DOW statement reads. “A servicemember’s personal philosophy does not justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order.”
O’Reilly said Kelly’s irresponsible involvement in the Democrats’ political stunt was purely motivated by partisan affiliation.
“If you’re a responsible legislator, you don’t make things up,” O’Reilly said. “So if you don’t have an illegal order, then why are you talking about an illegal order? For what? What is the reason?”
“There’s only one,” O’Reilly added. “To embarrass Trump. To whip up hatred against Trump. That’s why they did it. I guess they didn’t have anything else to do on Monday.”
RELATED: ‘Canary in a coal mine’: Ousted speaker warns against the rising risk of GOP House resignations
Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Kelly’s military background should have prevented him from such a public misstep, according to O’Reilly.
“But why would Kelly, who has a distinguished record both in the military and in Congress, why would he be part of it?” O’Reilly asked. “What’s the up side? And then, when all hell breaks loose, you weren’t expecting that backlash? … If they didn’t, they should retire.”
“What are you, 7 years old? When you go in there and tell the U.S. military not to obey orders because they may be ‘unlawful,’ you’re going to get push back.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
