Trump Watch, 12/02/25
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Drug-War Atrocities on the High Seas.” (12/02/25)
Hegseth whines “fog of war” on Caribbean boat murders, throws admiral under the bus
Source: SFGate
“Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday defended the secondary strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea, citing ‘the fog of war’ as reason for his not seeing any survivors in the water when the strike was ordered and launched. Hegseth’s comments came during a cabinet meeting hosted by President Donald Trump the day after the administration insisted the strike, which it says was ordered by Navy Vice Adm. Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley, was lawful. Legal experts say the U.S. military would have committed a crime if survivors were killed, and lawmakers have announced congressional reviews of the strikes. Bradley is expected to provide a classified briefing Thursday to lawmakers overseeing the military.” (12/02/25)
This moral slum of an administration should nauseate Americans
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seems to be a war criminal. Without a war. An interesting achievement. In 1967, novelist Gwyn Griffin published a World War II novel, ‘An Operational Necessity,’ that 58 years later is again pertinent. According to the laws of war, survivors of a sunk ship cannot be attacked. But a German submarine captain, after sinking a French ship, orders the machine-gunning of the ship’s crew, lest their survival endanger his men by revealing where his boat is operating. In the book’s dramatic climax, a postwar tribunal examines the German commander’s moral calculus. No operational necessity justified Hegseth’s de facto order to kill two survivors clinging to the wreckage of one of the supposed drug boats obliterated by U.S. forces near Venezuela. … The killing of the survivors by this moral slum of an administration should nauseate Americans. A nation incapable of shame is dangerous, not least to itself.” (12/02/25)
TN: Republican Matt Van Epps wins US House special election
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Republican Matt Van Epps defeated Democrat Aftyn Behn in a congressional special election in the western Nashville suburbs, which was being closely watched for signs of Republican weakness going into congressional midterms next year. The Associated Press called the race at 9.47 EST with Van Epps holding a 52% to 46% lead. … Donald Trump carried the district by 15 points in 2020 and 22 points in 2024. But special elections can be unpredictable, and polling placed Behn within a few points of Van Epps in recent days.” (12/02/25)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/02/tennessee-special-election
The Catholic Bishops Undermine Their Own Case on Immigrants
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Last month, the United States Conference of Bishops issued a remarkable ‘Special Message’ condemning the grave mistreatment of immigrants at the hands of the U.S. government. According to the conference’s Office of Public Affairs, ‘It marked the first time in twelve years the USCCB invoked this particularly urgent way of speaking as a body of bishops.’ To their everlasting credit, the bishops made it clear that there is no way to reconcile what the U.S. government is doing to immigrants with God’s laws. … But the bishops and the mainstream-press commentators are wrong. There is no ‘comprehensive immigration reform’ that can ever make America’s immigration-control system work in a gentile, kind, benevolent, and Christian-like manner. The mistreatment and abuse of immigrants that the Catholic bishops condemn is an inherent part of the immigration-control system that exists to ‘secure the border.’ They are inseparable.” (12/02/25)
https://www.fff.org/2025/12/02/the-catholic-bishops-undermine-their-own-case-on-immigrants/
Costco joins companies suing for refunds if SCOTUS rejects Trump’s illegal tariffs
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“Costco Wholesale Corp. joined a fast-growing list of businesses suing the Trump administration to ensure eligibility for refunds if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the president’s signature [and illegal] global tariffs policy. The nation’s biggest warehouse club chain is among dozens of companies to file lawsuits in a U.S. trade court since late October challenging President Donald Trump’s use of an economic emergency powers law to impose the levies, according to court records. It’s one of the biggest corporate players to jump into a fight largely driven this year by small businesses and Democratic state officials. The Supreme Court heard arguments on Trump’s tariffs on Nov. 5. The justices put the fight on a fast-tracked schedule but didn’t say when they intend to rule. In the meantime, businesses of all sizes have brought cases pressing similar legal claims with the goal of avoiding uncertainty about their eligibility for refunds if the court rules against Trump.” (12/02/25)
Terrorists still haven’t destroyed America. And they won’t.
Source: Orange County Register
by Alex Nowrasteh
“Ten years ago, Pakistani-born terrorist Tashfeen Malik and her U.S.-born husband Syed Farook murdered 14 people in an Islamist terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. It was the deadliest foreign-born terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11 and inspired then-candidate Donald J. Trump to call for ‘a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.’ We figured it out a long time ago: Very little was going on. Donald Trump won the 2016 election with a victory almost unimaginable without the threat of terrorism that he and his supporters inflated at every opportunity. But terrorism was a small threat then and is even smaller today.” (12/02/25)
Honduras: Centrist Nasralla takes slim lead in presidential election plagued by delays as Trump alleges fraud
Source: Reuters
“Salvador Nasralla, of the centrist Liberal Party, took a razor-thin lead in Honduras'[s] presidential election over Nasry Asfura, the conservative candidate backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, on Tuesday in a vote count plagued by delays and system failures. The latest results released by the electoral authority around 2:30 p.m. local time showed Nasralla on 39.96% and Asfura of the National Party on 39.80%, with just over 60% of votes counted. Rixi Moncada, of the ruling leftist LIBRE Party, was well behind in third place with 19.19%. Asfura had previously been leading by around 500 votes when results were last released on Monday.” (12/02/25)
Free Speech Requires a Pious Commitment
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Kenin M Spivak
“Too many Americans who say they believe in free speech mean only their speech. Adopting progressive dogma, the Biden administration claimed that free speech had limits, and broadly suppressed dissenting views. On his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order to restore traditional (and constitutionally mandated) protections, but his administration’s adherence to that order has been situational.” (12/02/25)
If Young People Want More Affordability, They Should Get Jobs
Source: Town Hall
by Stephen Moore
“Polls show that the age group of Americans most worried about ‘affordability’ are the 20- and 30-somethings. That’s young millennials and Gen Z. Why are they so financially stressed out? One reason things seem so unaffordable to young people is that too many aren’t working hard — they are hardly working. The latest Labor Department data indicate that fewer and fewer males between the ages of 16 and 24 are in the labor force. It used to be that more than 70% had a job; now, less than 60% do. Labor force participation for men, even into their 30s, is at or near an all-time low. Men without jobs are a prescription for social chaos. I would argue this is the MOST important age for a man to be hard at work, honing his job skills and on the way to a career that makes him a suitable marriage partner.” (12/02/25)