Trump’s New Order: Making DC Safe, and Beautiful, and Compliant

Source: Common Dreams
by John Marks

“‘We’ve seen encampments cleared, phones tapped, and permits held up—but this? This feels like they’re preparing for war,’ said Marisol Jennings, a D.C.-based organizer who has coordinated protests since 2017. Just days before thousands of Americans are expected to gather in Washington, D.C. to protest the Trump administration’s policies, a sweeping new executive order threatens to transform the nation’s capital into a showcase for authoritarian policing. Signed on March 27, the order—Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful—appears less concerned with beautification than with containment. Its provisions call for surging federal law enforcement, accelerating immigration crackdowns, and strictly enforcing vague ‘quality-of-life’ directives for the city. And its timing, just a week before what organizers are calling the most consequential day of protest since President Donald Trump’s return to office, is raising alarm from civil rights lawyers, city officials, and veteran demonstrators.” (04/03/25)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-dc-order

US regime revokes visas of band members over concert graphic

Source: CBS News

“The U.S. State Department revoked the visas of members of a Mexican band after they projected the face of a drug cartel boss onto a large screen during a performance in the western state of Jalisco over the weekend. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who was U.S. ambassador to Mexico during the first Trump administration, said late Tuesday on social media that the work and tourism visas of members of Los Alegres del Barranco were revoked. … ‘I’m a firm believer in freedom of expression, but that doesn’t mean that expression should be free of consequences,’ Landau wrote on X. ‘The last thing we need is a welcome mat for people who extol criminals and terrorists.'” (04/03/25)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-revokes-visas-band-jaliso-cartel-leader-face-concert-mexico/

What happens to EU’s anti-war bloc without Marine Le Pen?

Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Eldar Mamedov

“At first glance, Le Pen’s disqualification could weaken the anti-war voices in France and the EU by reducing their cohesion and visibility. Her party is a founding member of the Patriots for Europe (PfE), the third largest political group in the European Parliament, where it sits with influential like-minded parties like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz, and Italian Deputy Prime Minster Matteo Salvini’s Lega. All of them have been vocal critics of the EU’s unconditional support for Ukraine, anti-Russia sanctions, and the dogmatic refusal to engage in direct diplomacy with Moscow to end the war.” (04/03/25)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/marine-le-pen/

The 2024 Switcheroo

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“The Summer of 2024 was a political maëlstrom. It included a near-miss assassination attempt and a withdrawal of a sitting president of the United States from his re-election campaign, almost at the last possible moment. We still do not know much about Trump’s would-be assassin on that roof in Butler, Pennsylvania. Nor does there seem much media interest in that still mysterious criminal episode. But we are learning more about Joe Biden’s stepping down from the campaign, and Kamala Harris’s taking the reins of the Democratic ticket.” (04/03/25)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/04/03/2024switcheroo/

Hungary: Regime Quits International Criminal Court as it Welcomes International War Crimes Fugitive

Source: Newsweek

“Hungray [sic] said it will withdraw from the International Criminal Court, an announcement timed with a defiant visit to the European state by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted for alleged war crimes in Gaza. Netherlands-based ICC has a warrant out for Netanyahu’s arrest, but he was welcomed to Budapest on Thursday morning with full military honors by Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. … Member countries of the ICC, such as Hungary, are required to arrest suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that and relies on states to comply.” (04/03/25)

https://www.newsweek.com/hungary-quits-international-criminal-court-netanyahu-welcomed-2054754

Trump Needs an America-First Middle East Strategy

Source: The American Conservative
by Doug Bandow

“President Donald Trump promised a new beginning in foreign policy. In Europe he has taken an independent course, pushing Russia and Ukraine to make peace. However, in the Middle East he continues down his predecessors’ misbegotten path — apparently ready to wage new, even more destructive wars.” (04/03/25)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/trump-needs-an-america-first-middle-east-strategy/