Month: January 2026

The 2026 Homicide of Alex Pretti

January 28, 2026 bjs No Comments Articles

The Situation:

On Saturday, January 24, 2026, ICE officers shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Barry, 2026), their second fatal shooting in the city in 2026 (Staton, 2026). The homicide was recorded by citizen journalists on video (Leswing, 2026), and has sparked protests in the city (Barry, 2026).

The Trump administration has been careful to inform the public about the shooting, with President Trump himself weighing in on the incident (Landers, 2026).

Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino reported that “This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement” (Barnett, 2026) and stressed that the officers, victims of an attack, were justified in their response (Palmer, 2026).

CommanderBovino: “I believe that the fantastic training that our law enforcement partners have, the fact that they’re highly trained, prevented any specific shootings of law enforcement. So good job for our law enforcement in taking him down before he was able to do that” (Palmer, 2026).

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the shooting, saying that Pretti, brandishing a firearm, attacked the officers, further indicating that the officers were justified in their response (Dale, 2026).

Secretary Noem: “[He] wasn’t there to peacefully protest, he was there to perpetuate violence… Domestic terrorism” (Epstein, 2026).

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller also defended the shooting, pointing out that Pretti was an “assassin” trying to “murder federal agents” (Dale, 2026). This position was repeated in a published statement by Vice President JD Vance (Dale, 2026).

FBI Director Kash Patel pointed out that Pretti was breaking the law by carrying a concealed firearm to a protest (Dale, 2026).

President Trump has not contradicted any of the official statements made by federal officials in the aftermath of the shooting, and himself offered the statement that “You can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns,” indicating that Pretti was in the wrong (Landers, 2026). Trump told Fox News of the immigration enforcement efforts, “we took thousands of hardened criminals” out of Minnesota, “so they have good crime numbers” (Epstein. 2026) before offering that his administration is “going to de-escalate a little bit” in Minnesota (Epstein. 2026).

The Disagreement:

I disagree with Commander Bovino. There is no indication of hostility on the part of the victim, and no indication of good training on the part of the officers.

I disagree with Secretary Noem. There’s no sign the victim ever touched his firearm, and no sign of hostility on the part of the victim.

I disagree with deputy chief Miller–and with Vice President Vance–when they claim the victim was an assassin. There is absolutely no evidence of ill intent on the part of the victim, and copious evidence of the officers’ hostility in the videos.

I disagree with FBI Director Patel when he claims the victim was breaking the law by carrying a concealed firearm to a protest; in fact, local authorities confirmed that the victim’s weapon was legally registered (Epstein, 2026).

By the same token, I disagree with President Trump when he asserts that the victim should not have had a firearm. In my opinion, he was simply exercising both his first and second amendment rights, neither of which carries any penalty–much less a death penalty.

I disagree with President Trump that a measure of success is removing “thousands” of hardened criminals. In my opinion, this, even if it were true, is not a measure of success; the operation is an undeniable failure,as it terrorizes Minnesotans and fails to address the root causes of violence, the federal agents themselves.

I Disagree with President Trump’s tacit approval of the statements made by those in his administration, under his command. Since the statements are overwhelmingly false and slanderous, I believe that President Trump should refute them strongly and publicly. ICE has not done a “good job.”

I disagree with President Trump that a solution is to “de-escalate a little bit.” In my opinion, that does not go nearly far enough, as I have pointed out in my article on the homicide of Renee Nicole Good. All ICE operations should be suspended until such time as a plan is in place to enforce the law with safety and respect.

Desired Resolution:

I would like to see President Trump use the power and authority of his office to halt all immigration enforcement actions by the federal government until they can be carried out safely–and respectfully. I would like to see President Trump ensure a full, fair, and complete investigation into the death of Mr. Pretti a the hands of ICE, and to hold those responsible for his death accountable. I would like to see President Trump take concrete steps to ensure that such tragedies do not occur again.

I encourage President Trump to work to make the United States of America a beacon of freedom for the world, to teach the nations through strong, compassionate leadership how freedom should look.

May God bless President Trump and the United States of America.

References:

Barry, Dan. “A Shocked Nation Watches Minneapolis Killings: ‘Something Needs to Change'” 1/27/2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/us/alex-pretti-shooting-minneapolis-reaction.html – Accessed 1/28/2026.

Staton, Benjamin. “The 2026 Homicide of Renee Nicole Good.” 1/8/2026. https://sgtstaton.com/2026/01/08/the-2026-homicide-of-renee-nicole-good/ – Accessed 1/28/2026.

Leswing, Kif and Terri Cullen. “Videos of Alex Pretti shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis contradict Trump official claims.” 1/25/2026. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/25/alex-pretti-minneapolis-shooting-videos-trump.html – Accessed 1/28/2026.

Epstein, Kayla. “Trump says government will ‘de-escalate’ in Minnesota following Pretti shooting.” 1/28/2026. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q425vg4qzo – Accessed 1/28/2026.

Landers, Liz and Joshua Barajas. “WATCH: ‘You can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns,’ Trump says of Alex Pretti
killing.” 1/27/2026. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-you-cant-have-guns-you-cant-walk-in-with-guns-trump-says-of-alex-pretti-killing – Accessed 1/28/2026.

Dale, Daniel. “What Trump officials claimed about Alex Pretti — and what the evidence actually shows.” 12/29/2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/25/politics/trump-officials-shifting-rhetoric-alex-pretti – Accessed 1/28/2026.

Barnett, Sofia. “Fact check: Video, witnesses contradict critical claims of federal officials in Pretti shooting” 1/25/2026. https://www.startribune.com/fact-check-federal-officials-claims-about-fatal-minneapolis-shooting/601570444 – Accessed 1/28/2026.

Palmer, Kathryn. “Border Patrol chief calls agents the ‘victims’ in Pretti shooting.” 1/26/2026. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/26/greg-bovino-agents-victims-pretti-minneapolis-shooting/88361659007/ – Accessed 1/28/2026.

Don’t Give Up the Ship

January 15, 2026 bjs No Comments Articles

The Situation

On November 19, 2025, a distinguished group of six congressmen and women published a video titled “Don’t Give Up the Ship” reminding current service members that they are not obligated to follow illegal orders and are in fact obligated to refuse them (Mallon, 2025). The video is available online (Schwartz I., 2025).

“The video includes Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), a former Central Intelligence Agency agent; Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a [retired] Navy captain, Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), a former Naval officer; Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), a former Naval officer, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), a former Air Force officer; and Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), a former Army officer” (Mallon, 2025).

From the video: “You can refuse illegal orders. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or the constitution” (Sarxiv, 2025).

President Trump’s condemnation of the senators and representatives was strong, calling them “seditious” in a series of published statements, and remarking that sedition is “punishable by death” (Trump, 2025)(Loria, 2025). The president called them traitors and called for their arrest, saying that an “example MUST BE SET” (Schwartz B., 2025)

(Trump, 2025)
(Trump, 2025)

Senator Mark Kelly. (Photo: John Klemmer, United States Senate Photographic Studio)
President Donald Trump is greeted by Secretary Pete Hegseth at a gathering of U.S. military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Quantico, Va. (Photo: Associated Press Photo by Evan Vucci)

Although the lawmakers involved report being targeted for investigation (Wang, 2026), the condemnation seems to have centered on retired Navy Captain Mark Kelly, senator from Arizona, who participated in making the video in question.

This may be because, due to his retirement status, the administration, including President Trump and Secretary Pete Hegseth, may have some leverage against him.

And indeed, in January of 2026, Secretary Hegseth has published an official censure against Sen. Kelly and indicated that he intends to seek punitive measures designed to strip Sen. Kelly of rank and retirement pay, which is tied to rank (Toropin, 2026).

Sen. Kelly has taken steps to protect himself against the administration’s retribution, filing suit against Secretary Hegseth and asking that any punitive measures, including the censure letter, be declared “unlawful and unconstitutional.” In a published statement, Sen. Kelly spoke against Secretary Hegseth and underlined his duty to hold administrations accountable (Altman-Devilbiss, 2026).

Senator Kelly: “Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him—and this or any administration—accountable” (Altman-Devilbiss, 2026).

The outcome at this point is uncertain, but the goal of President Trump’s policies seems to be to quash statements that can be interpreted as being against his positions. And the statements and actions made against these congressmen and women, and against Sen. Kelly in particular, seem to bear that out. The message is: Don’t challenge President Trump.

The Disagreement

Firstly, I agree that the statements in the video could be construed to be against President Trump and his positions, and that the video was not produced in support of the President.

However, I disagree with President Trump that the video is “seditious.” In my opinion, behavior must be directed against the country, not just the opinions of its president, to qualify as sedition. What the lawmakers say in the video isn’t even close to being seditious (Loria, 2025).

I disagree with President Trump that sedition, if it were actually found, would be punishable by death. Sedition carries a penalty of a fine and jail time upon conviction and sentencing (Loria, 2025). Additionally, I disagree with President Trump calling for death to sitting lawmakers, an action that might lead to their coming to harm from conservative vigilantes.

I disagree with President Trump that the lawmakers’ actions were illegal at all: They were (perhaps disrespectfully) restating the law, which is that all members of the military have not only the right to refuse an unlawful order (UCMJLaw, 2024), but the duty to do so (Carpenter, 2025). Service members swear an oath to the constitution, but not specifically to the president or any other particular government official (Schwartz B, 2025). All involved must follow the law, even if their opinion may differ.

I disagree with President Trump targeting the lawmakers for investigation and penalties for having done, essentially, nothing more than exercising their free speech and civic duty as they see it, against his wishes. According to President Trump himself in January of 2025, “the immense power of the state” should not “be weaponized to persecute political opponents” (Staton, 2026). May it be so.

I disagree with President Trump and his administration specifically targeting retired Navy Captain, former astronaut, current Senator (Kelly.Senate.Gov), and all-around American hero Mark Kelly. Even though leverage for punitive actions may be present, I believe that the power of the state shouldn’t be weaponized against a political opponent. Rather, political opponents–like everyone else–should be afforded broad freedom of expression, as I have written previously (Staton, 2026).

Desired Resolution

I encourage President Trump to use the power and authority of his office to vigorously protect freedom of expression wherever necessary, and that he stop those in our government from actions against the lawmakers in the video, to work with his opponents to make the United States of America a beacon of freedom for the world; to teach the nations through strong, compassionate leadership how freedom should look.

May God bless President Trump and the United States of America.

References

Mallon, Elaine. “Ex-CIA, Navy lawmakers urge troops to reject ‘illegal orders’ from Trump administration.” 11/19/2025. https://thenationaldesk.com/news/americas-news-now/ex-cia-navy-lawmakers-urge-troops-to-reject-illegal-orders-from-trump-administration-elissa-slotkin-mark-kelly-stephen-miller-pete-hegseth – Accessed 1/12/2026.

Schwartz, Ian. “Democratic Senators And House Members Release Video Encouraging Military To ‘Refuse Illegal Orders’ From Trump.” 11/18/2025. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/11/19/democratic_senators_and_house_members_release_video_encouraging_military_to_refuse_illegal_orders_from_trump.html – Accessed 1/14/2026.

Sarxiv. “Transcript: Don’t Give Up the Ship.” 11/18/2025. https://sarxiv.org/ref.2025-11-18.pdf – Accessed 1/12/2026.

Trump, Donald. “Seditious.” 11/20/2025. https://trumpstruth.org/statuses/33910 – Accessed 1/12/2026.

Trump, Donald. “Punishable by Death.” 11/20/2025. https://trumpstruth.org/statuses/33937 – Accessed 1/12/2026.

Loria, Michael. “‘Punishable by death’: Trump decries Dems as seditionists. What does he mean?” 11/20/2025. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/11/20/sedition-death-trump-democrats/87379339007/ – Accessed 1/12/2026. “The president accused a group of Democrats of “seditious behavior, punishable by death.” The six Congress members urged troops to refuse unlawful orders.”

Schwartz, Brian and Natalie Andrews. “Trump Calls for Arrest of Democrats Who Urged Troops to Disobey Illegal Orders.” 11/20/2025. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-calls-for-arrest-of-democrats-who-urged-troops-to-disobey-illegal-orders/ar-AA1QPkWT – Accessed 1/13/2026.

Klemmer, John. “United States Senate Photographic Studio – Public Domain.” 2/8/2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118629051 – Accessed 1/13/2026.

Associated Press. “Evan Vucci.” No Date. https://apnews.com/author/evan-vucci?q=President+Trump+Secretary+Hegseth – Accessed 1/13/2026.

Wang, Amy B. “Democratic lawmakers say they’re under investigation for military orders video.” 1/14/2026. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/01/14/slotkin-democratic-lawmakers-investigation-military-video/ – Accessed 1/15/2026.

Toropin, Konstantin, Ben Finley and Meg Kinnard. “Hegseth censures Sen. Kelly after warning about following illegal orders.” 1/5/2026. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-01-05/hegseth-censures-sen-kelly-after-warning-about-following-illegal-orders – Accessed 1/12/2026.

Altman-Devilbiss, Alexx. “Sen. Mark Kelly sues Hegseth over attempts to punish him for ‘illegal orders’ video.” 1/12/2026. https://thenationaldesk.com/news/americas-news-now/retired-veteran-arizona-senator-mark-kelly-sues-defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-over-attempts-to-punish-him-for-illegal-orders-video-pentagon-free-speech-censured-demotion – Accessed 1/12/2026. Has quotes from/link to kelly’s X post announcing his lawsuit and reasons for same.

UCMJLaw.com. “Disobey a superior officer: defenses to UCMJ Article 90 and UCMJ Article 92”. 11/20/2024. https://www.ucmjlaw.com/disobey-a-superior-officer/ – Accessed 1/13/2026.

Carpenter, Charli and Geraldine Santoso. “4 Out of 5 US Troops Surveyed Understand the Duty to Disobey Illegal Orders.” 8/13/2025. https://www.military.com/daily-news/opinions/2025/08/13/4-out-of-5-us-troops-surveyed-understand-duty-disobey-illegal-orders.html – Accessed 1/13/2026.

Staton, Benjamin. “Freedom of Expression Under President Trump.” 1/1/2026. https://sgtstaton.com/2026/01/01/freedom-of-expression-under-president-trump/ – Accessed 1/15/2026.

Kelly.Senate.Gov. “About Mark.” No Date. https://www.kelly.senate.gov/about/ – Accessed 1/15/2026.

Further Reading

DuckDuckGo. “President Trump Illegal Orders.” No Date. https://duckduckgo.com/?ia=web&t=h_&q=President+Trump+illegal+orders – Accessed 1/13/2026.

Wind Energy in U.S. Energy Policy

January 11, 2026 bjs No Comments Articles

The Situation

President Trump has long sought to educate the public about problems with wind energy and has followed up his positions with concrete policy measures (Frazin, 2025).

On April 2, 2019, for example, President Trump warned against lower housing valuations near wind turbines, and pointed out that the sound from wind energy generation causes cancer, showcasing harm both economically and to physical well being (Greenberg, 2019).

President Donald Trump: “If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, congratulations, your house just went down 75 percent in value. And they say the noise causes cancer” (Greenberg, 2019).

In 2022, in a published statement, President Trump called wind energy “one of the worst and most expensive forms of energy” and even said that it was “garbage” (Trump, 2022).

President Trump has also underlined the known risk to birds from wind technologies, as when in a published statement in 2025, he said that “Windmills are killing all of our beautiful Bald Eagles!” (Trump, 2025).

Windmills are killing...(Trump, 2025)

President Trump has backed his stance on wind energy with policy, including canceling wind projects and tax incentives for them (Frazin, 2025). And in a meeting with oil company representatives in January of 2026, President Trump said that he is not a fan of wind power and opposes its approval and construction (Pulver, 2026)

President Donald Trump: “In case you people don’t know, I’m not much of a windmill person… We have not approved one windmill since I’ve been in office and we’re going to keep it that way. My goal is to not let any windmill be built. They’re losers” (Pulver, 2026).

The Disagreement

First off, I agree with President Trump that United States energy policy should not be controlled by foreign governments nor climate agreements, but rather should serve the interests of the American people (Brady, 2025). Though we should take care of our environment, we should not knowingly wreck our economy in pursuit of dubious climate goals.

However, I disagree with President Trump that the solution is only nuclear + fossil fuels. I believe that while nuclear energy and fossil fuels are critical parts of energy structure, we should be open to any energy technology that proves itself cost-effective—such as wind.

I disagree with President Trump about wind energy affecting home values. In my opinion, there is little to no effect. Forbes has said that the difference is only about 1% (Vetter, 2024).

I disagree with President Trump that wind energy causes cancer. In my opinion, there just isn’t a link. This has not been studied very much scientifically—because it isn’t a known or suspected health problem—but the Australian Medical Association, who has studied the matter, said as far back as 2014 that “evidence does not support the view” for health effects from wind farms. It just isn’t there (Greenberg, 2019).

While wind generation installations can and do kill some birds, I disagree with President Trump that bird strikes are a serious consideration. More birds are killed by stationary buildings, house cats, and crucially, by fossil fuel operations that wind farms supplant. Using wind energy actually reduces harm to birds vs. using fossil fuels (Howland, 2023).

And, even so, according to Yale University’s Adam Welz, “Scientists are testing a range of technologies to reduce bird strikes — from painting stripes to using artificial intelligence — to keep birds safe” (Welz, 2025). So the problem is not only minor, but getting more minor all the time.

And finally, I diagree with President Trump that wind energy is more expensive. In my opinion, we should trust market prices for technologies, and wind energy is a proven relatively inexpensive source of energy in the market (Lucidity Insights, 2024).

“Today, wind is the lowest cost energy source… If we forecast pricing to 2030, it is expected that… the cost of wind power should fall another 11% from 2020 [pricing]. Meanwhile, the cost of Nuclear, Coal and Gas is expected to increase during the same time period” (Lucidity Insights, 2024).

Desired Resolution

I encourage President Trump to use the power and authority of his office to make sure that the United States energy policy is focused on the technologies that are the most cost-effective, even if one of them is wind power.

I encourage President Trump to work, through enlightened energy programs, to make the United States of America a beacon of freedom for the world, to teach the nations through strong, compassionate leadership how freedom should look.

May God bless President Trump and the United States of America.

References

Greenberg, John. “Donald Trump’s ridiculous link between cancer, wind turbines.” 4/8/2019. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/apr/08/donald-trump/republicans-dismiss-trumps-windmill-and-cancer-cla/ – Accessed 1/10/2026.

Trump, Donald. 10/16/2022. https://trumpstruth.org/statuses/19984 – Accessed 1/10/2026.

Trump, Donald. 12/30/2025. https://trumpstruth.org/statuses/34381 – Accessed 1/10/2026. (Bald eagle thing)

Frazin, Rachel. “How Trump transformed energy, environmental policy this year.” 12/28/2025. >a href=”https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5661083-trump-loosens-energy-environmental-regulations/”>https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5661083-trump-loosens-energy-environmental-regulations/ – Accessed 1/10/2026.

Pulver, Dinah Boyles. “Trump assails ‘windmills’ and wind energy as junk: ‘They’re losers’.” 1/9/2026. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/09/trump-assails-windmills-and-wind-energy-as-junk-theyre-losers/88108694007/ – Accessed 1/10/2026.

Brady, Jeff. “As Trump vows to embrace fossil fuels, U.S. climate policy won’t change quickly.” 2/1/2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/02/01/nx-s1-5273496/trump-biden-climate-change-energy-fossil-fuels-paris-agreement – Accessed 1/10/2026.

Vetter, David. “How Much Do Wind Turbines Affect U.S. House Prices? You Might Be Surprised.” 3/18/2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2024/03/18/how-much-do-wind-turbines-affect-house-prices-new-study-reveals-all/ – Accessed 1/10/2026.

Howland, Michael. “Do Wind Turbines Kill Birds?” 12/12/2023. https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/do-wind-turbines-kill-birds – Accessed 1/10/2026.

Welz, Adam. “Birds vs. Wind Turbines: New Research Aims to Prevent Deaths.” 6/4/2025. https://e360.yale.edu/features/wind-turbine-bird-collision-solutions – Accessed 1/10/2026.

Lucidity Insights. “Cost of Electricity Generation by Different Sources.” 10/1/2024. https://lucidityinsights.com/infobytes/electricity-cost-by-source – Accessed 1/10/2026.

Further Reading

Davis, Robert. “Trump bemoans dead bald eagle in US, using photo of dead falcon in Israel.” 12/30/2025. https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2674838464/ – Accessed 1/10/2026.

The 2026 Homicide of Renee Nicole Good

January 8, 2026 bjs No Comments Articles

The Situation

On January 7, 2026, during an ICE enforcement action in Minneapolis, Minnesota, an ICE agent shot and killed a U.S. citizen identified as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good (Kim, 2026). Thanks to a bystander present in order to video record the actions of ICE officials, video is available of the tragic incident (MPR News, 2026) [WARNING/Graphic Video].

President Trump, in a published statement, commented on the killing (Trump, 2026).

“I have just viewed the clip of the event which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a horrible thing to watch. The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense. Based on the attached clip, it is hard to believe he is alive, but is now recovering in the hospital. The situation is being studied, in its entirety, but the reason these incidents are happening is because the Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis. They are just trying to do the job of MAKING AMERICA SAFE. We need to stand by and protect our Law Enforcement Officers from this Radical Left Movement of Violence and Hate!” (Trump, 2026)

According to NPR, “State and local leaders” are on record as disagreeing with President Trump’s account of the situation, instead calling for a full and fair investigation (Kim, 2026).

The Disagreement

First, I fully agree with President Trump that the video is “a horrible thing to watch.” Human life is sacred, and Ms. Good’s life was ended prematurely by a shooting by a federal agent.

I disagree with President Trump that the “woman screaming” was a “professional agitator.” Screaming is a reasonable and rational response to witnessing a homicide, and no paid professional is necessary for that role.

I disagree with President Trump that the victim “viciously ran over the ICE Officer.” Fortunately there is video to examine, and the viewer can clearly see that the victim never ran over anyone, much less an ICE officer.

I disagree with President Trump that “it is hard to believe [the shooter] is alive.” Based on the video, he was never even threatened, much less injured.

I disagree with President Trump that the violence is a function of the “Radical Left.” The violence depicted in the video is on the part of the ICE agents. The video doesn’t show any violence on the part of anyone of any particular political leaning. The violence was introduced by ICE and its heavy-handed methods, which I have written about previously (Staton, 2025) and which I have encouraged President Trump to address.

Desired Resolution

I call on President Trump to use the power and authority of his office to halt the current immigration enforcement push, with its overreach and its violence and brutal treatment of people, release those in immigration detention—including those in foreign prisons, and then to ensure a full, fair, and complete investigation info Ms. Good’s death at the hands of ICE, ensuring that the guilty face just punishment.

I encourage President Trump to work to make the United States of America a beacon of freedom for the world, to teach the nations through strong, compassionate leadership how freedom should look.

May God bless President Trump and the United States of America.

References

Trump, Donald. 1/7/2026. https://www.trumpstruth.org/statuses/34480 – Accessed 1/8/2026.

Kim, Juliana. “What we know so far about the fatal ICE shooting of a Minneapolis woman.” 1/7/2026. https://www.npr.org/2026/01/07/nx-s1-5670289/ice-minneapolis-shooting-immigration-crackdown – Accessed 1/8/2026.

MPR News. “Video Courtesy Caitlin Callenson.” 1/7/2026. https://www.instagram.com/p/DTOTV-GFDPO/ – Accessed 1/8/2026.

Staton, Benjamin. “The 2025 Immigration Enforcement Efforts.” 12/28/2025. https://sgtstaton.com/2025/12/28/the-2025-immigration-enforcement-efforts/ – Accessed 1/8/2026.

The Venezuelan Problem of 2026

January 5, 2026 bjs No Comments Articles

The Situation

On January 3, 2026, the United States of America invaded Venezuela, bombing around the capital and other areas, killing an unspecified number of Venezuelans, and capturing the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, flying him out of Venezuela to New York (Treisman, 2026).

Later that day, President Trump held a press conference explaining that the United States will run Venezuela and manage its oil reserves (NPR, 2026).

President Trump also gave an interview aboard Air Force One, citing other countries that may need United States intervention (Reese, 2026).

Talking to Fox & Friends about the operation, President Trump said, “You know what, we did a great job with stopping drugs from coming into this country, and nobody’s been able to do it until we came along” (NPR, 2026).

The Disagreement

I disagree with President Trump and his decision to invade Venezuela. In my opinion, our country does not need to be in another war. I disagree with killing Venezuelans to carry out the operation; human life is and should be sacred.

I disagree with President Trump and his decision to invade Venezuela and kidnap its president without first consulting the United States Congress. Article 2 (4) of the United Nations Charter forbids force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another country except in cases of self-defense or a Security Council mandate (Romero, 2026). This makes the invasion illegal internationally—a situation in which it’s even more crucial to consult first with the Congress before proceeding.

I disagree with President Trump about Venezuela being a significant source of illegal drugs, and that the operation stops any significant amount of drugs into the United States. I believe that Venezuela is not a significant source of illegal drugs (Meyer, 2025).

I disagree with President Trump’s stated goals in Venezuela. In his press conference he mentioned oil repeatedly—but not democracy or free elections (NPR, 2026). I believe that democracy and free elections should be paramount.

I disagree with President Trump that any other country should be invaded or have its sovereignty interfered with. I believe that we should stay out of wars and international conflicts as much as possible, and should definitely not be starting new ones.

Desired Resolution

If only the clock could be turned back, but alas, it cannot be. Given the current situation in Venezuela, I would encourage President Trump to use the power and authority of his office to promote free, fair, democratic elections in Venezuela—let the people choose their leaders. And to release all political prisoners.

If President Trump’s management of Venezuela’s oil reserves is as good a deal for the Venezuelan people as he says that it is, then a free Venezuela will certainly accept a deal to make it so.

President Maduro is not a nice person, in my opinion, and the biggest problem that President Maduro presented was that of not being a legitimate leader according to the will of the people. Now that Maduro is gone, in my opinion, only free, fair, and democratic elections would solve this problem.

By promoting democracy abroad, even in Venezuela, I encourage President Trump to work to make the United States of America a beacon of freedom for the world, to teach the nations through strong, compassionate leadership how freedom should look.

May God bless President Trump and the United States of America.

References

NPR. “Trump says U.S. will ‘run’ Venezuela and sell seized oil in remarks on the strikes.” 1/3/2026. https://www.npr.org/2026/01/03/g-s1-104346/trump-venezuela-maduro-press-conference – Accessed 1/5/2026.

Treisman, Rachel and Chandelis Duster. “Maduro arrives in New York. What to know about the U.S. operation in Venezuela.” 1/4/2026. https://www.npr.org/2026/01/03/nx-s1-5665670/venezuela-strikes-us-maduro – Accessed 1/5/2026.

Romero, Maurucio. “Maduro Fall: How Trump Broke World Protocols with Venezuela Attack.” 1/3/2026. https://colombiaone.com/2026/01/03/trump-broke-world-protocols-venezuela-attack/ – Accessed 1/4/2026.

Reese, Heather Delaney. “This Evening, While…” 1/5/2026. https://www.facebook.com/itsalovelylife/posts/this-evening-while-standing-in-the-press-cabin-aboard-air-force-one-the-presiden/1430988118385774/ – Accessed 1/5/2026.

Meyer, Josh. “Trump says Venezuela sends US lethal drugs, but data tells different story.” 12/10/2025. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/09/trump-venezuela-drug-trafficking/87573189007/ – Accessed 1/5/2026.

Other Selected Reading

KGTV. “Local San Diego leaders react to Venezuelan president captured overnight.” 1/3/2026. https://www.newsbreak.com/abc-10-news-kgtv-563645/4424230400282-local-san-diego-leaders-react-to-venezuelan-president-captured-overnight – Accessed 1/4/2026.

Brennan, Anne. “Mass. Republicans praise Trump’s Venezuela attack while Democrats warn of a constitutional crisis.” 1/3/2026. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/mass-republicans-praise-trump-venezuela-010016807.html – Accessed 1/4/2026.

Geddry, Mary. “No War, No Plan, No Democracy.” 1/4/2026. https://marygeddry.com/p/no-war-no-plan-no-democracy – Accessed 1/5/2026.

Freedom of Expression Under President Trump

January 1, 2026 bjs No Comments Articles

The Situation

In the context of protecting conservative speech on social media, President Trump called the first amendment (the amendment which establishes freedom of expression (Volokh, 2026)) “an amendment essential to the success of our Republic”–one which “enshrines the right of the American people to speak freely in the public square without Government interference” (White House, 2025). At his second inauguration, the president said that “Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents” (Lillydahl, 2025). Clearly this represents a firm stance in support of freedom of expression.

However, even given this favorable environment, it can be said that speech and press disagreeing with the President and his policies have been viewed differently over the past year, the first year of President Trump’s second term in office (Benavidez, 2025).

President Trump has repeatedly said that criticism of himself or his policies is “illegal” (without citing any relevant law) (Kapur, 2024).

President Trump has said that public criticism, rather than being protected speech, is an illegal and incorrect use of the airwaves (Sentner, 2025).

President Trump has, in a published statement, (successfully) called for the firing of, for example, television personalities such as Stephen Colbert, for being critical of his administration in the form of humor (Trump, 2024).

When asked about the free speech aspects of his attacks on the press and media, President Trump has said that when most coverage is “bad,” it’s “no longer free speech” (Sentner, 2025), though news coverage of the government isn’t one of the class of permissible restrictions on free expression (Volokh, 2026).

The overall tone of the President’s practical position on freedom of expression is that when it disagrees with his opinions or paints him in a less than positive light is a dark one, evidently intended to silence criticism.

Dissent is American

The Disagreement

I disagree with President Trump about the legality of criticism of government. While he contends that it is “illegal,” it is in fact not only legal, but the law of the land from the constitution on down (Volokh, 2026).

Founding Fathers, 1791: “Amendment 1. Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (Volokh, 2026).

I disagree with President Trump about opposing his critics, such as Colbert, to the extend of threatening their livelihoods or other punishment of free expression. As Theodore Roosevelt underscored in 1918, it’s important to be able to criticize the president in a functioning democracy (Roosevelt Association, No Date).

Theodore Roosevelt, 1918: “To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public” (Roosevelt Association, No Date).

Desired Resolution

I encourage President Trump to use the power and prestige of his office to protect freedom of expression, regardless of whether the sentiments being expressed are agreed with or not. To show, not just say, that the first amendment is “essential to the success of our Republic.” I call on President Trump to ensure that the “immense power of the state” never be allowed to be “weaponized to persecute political opponents.” I encourage President Trump to vigorously defend freedom of expression of all, friends and foes alike, to work to make the United States of America a beacon of freedom for the world; to teach the nations through strong, compassionate leadership how freedom should look.

May God bless President Trump and the United States of America.

References

Volokh, Eugene and Britannica (Editors). “First Amendment.” 1/1/2026 https://www.britannica.com/topic/First-Amendment – Accessed 1/1/2026.

The White House (Editors). “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.” 1/20/2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/restoring-freedom-of-speech-and-ending-federal-censorship/ – Accessed 1/1/2026.

Lillydahl, Alice. “The Trump Administration’s Dangerous Embrace of Cancel Culture.” 12/2/2025. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-trump-administrations-dangerous-embrace-of-cancel-culture/ – Accessed 1/1/2026.

Benavidez, Nora. “I Counted Trump’s Censorship Attempts. Here’s What I Found.” 12/31/2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/opinion/trump-first-amendment-dissent.html – Accessed 1/1/2026. “We took the freedom of speech away.” “Mr. Trump and his administration have tried to undermine the First Amendment, suppress information that he and his supporters don’t like and hamstring [the] academic, legal and private sectors through lawsuits and coercion.”

Kapur, Sahil. “Trump escalates rhetoric on outlawing political dissent and criticism.” 10/13/2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/totally-illegal-trump-escalates-rhetoric-outlawing-political-dissent-c-rcna174280 – Accessed 1/1/2026. “Totally illegal”

Sentner, Irie. “Trump: ‘It’s no longer free speech.'” 9/19/2025. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/19/trump-no-longer-free-speech-00574219 – Accessed 1/1/2026. “It’s no longer free speech.”

Trump, Donald. 9/24/2024. https://trumpstruth.org/statuses/26619 – Accessed 1/1/2026.

Theodore Roosevelt Association (Editors). “Quotations from the speeches and other works of Theodore Roosevelt.” No Date. https://theodoreroosevelt.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=991271&module_id=339333 – Accessed 12/31/2025.