Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is continuing to arrest what Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials describe as the “worst of the worst” illegal aliens across the United States.

In the latest string of arrests, shared exclusively with Breitbart News, ICE agents nabbed illegal aliens with convictions for crimes like child sexual abuse, rape, drug trafficking, drunk driving, and assault, among other crimes.

The illegal aliens were arrested in sanctuary states California and New Jersey, as well as states such as North Carolina, Texas, Alabama, and Georgia.

“While many Americans enjoyed their weekend, ICE law enforcement was working around the clock to arrest even more pedophiles, drug traffickers, and other illegal aliens convicted of heinous crimes,” DHS’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Some of the illegal alien convicts arrested in the sting include:

• Hector Adrian Gonzalez-Sanchez of Mexico, convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 in Pico Rivera, California
• Tadeo Solano of Mexico, convicted of first-degree rape in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
• Aleiado Cruz-Cruz of Mexico, convicted of criminal sexual contact in Cumberland County, New Jersey
• Jose Ortiz of Mexico, convicted of assault causing bodily injury to a family member in Austin, Texas
• Julio Guzman-Zuniga of Mexico, convicted of cocaine trafficking in Robeson County, North Carolina
• Mario Velasquez-Velasquez of Mexico, convicted across California of possession of a controlled substance, sexual battery, drunk driving involving alcohol or drugs, obstructing or resisting an officer, and possession of a deceptive government ID.
• Eduardo Luis Manchin-Pozo of Cuba, convicted of drug trafficking, marijuana possession, and dangerous drugs in Russellville, Alabama
• Gilberto Zuniga-Sanchez of Mexico, convicted of drug trafficking in San Diego, California
• Jose Luis Sappia-Rodriguez of Uruguay, convicted of breaking and entering, larceny, and possession of burglary tools in Gwinnett County, Georgia, among other convictions
• Richard Salas-Romero of Colombia, convicted of smuggling illegal aliens in Carrizo Springs, Texas

“Our brave ICE law enforcement are removing violent criminal illegal aliens from American streets so they cannot terrorize more American victims, including innocent children,” McLaughlin said. “We are firing up the deportation planes and getting these criminal illegal aliens off our streets and out of the country.”

This month, DHS officials touted the Trump administration’s significant enforcement of federal immigration laws, noting that more than 300,000 illegal aliens have been arrested since the president took office in late January.

Likewise, about 70 percent of all illegal aliens arrested by ICE agents are either convicts or have pending criminal charges against them.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here. 

In the hours following the Sunday announcement of the landmark trade deal agreed to by the United States and the European Union, a stinging reality began to sink in across the Old Continent: Brussels blinked, and the EU leadership had been utterly routed by President Donald Trump and his White House.

Threats of counter tariffs and “trade bazookas” ultimately came to nought on Sunday as a noticeably dispirited EU chief Ursula von der Leyen sat beside President Trump at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland to announce the agreement, which saw Europe commit to purchasing $750 billion in American energy, invest a further $600 billion in U.S. based businesses, and spend “hundreds of billions of dollars” on military equipment.

Although the bloc avoided the threatened 30 per cent tariffs floated by President Trump, in backing down, the EU will still face a baseline tariff of 15 per cent, including on automobiles, and a 50 per cent duty on steel and aluminum. While von der Leyen attempted to cast agreement as a “good deal”, it quickly became apparent that the EU had crumbled in the face of Trump’s hardline tactics and that the U.S. had come out on top of the negotiations which, to add insult to injury, had been concluded in Brexit Britain at Trump’s own Turnberry golf course.

In an apparent recognition of the lack of concessions gained by her side in the months of talks, the EU chief said: “The starting point was an imbalance, a surplus on our side and a deficit on the U.S. side, and we wanted to rebalance the trade relation, and we wanted to do it in a way that trade goes on between the two of us across the Atlantic, because the two biggest economies should have a good trade flow between us.”

Others were much less flattering about the outcome for Europe. The EU Parliament’s former Brexit coordinator and ex-Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt raged that “the EU-US deal is scandalous… a disaster…with not one concession from the American side…badly negotiated.”

According to the globalist Financial Times newspaper, one European ambassador is reported to have said that Brussels was “rolled over by the Trump juggernaut”.

The agreement was also criticised by the former French Finance Minister and ex-EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, who said per Le Figaro: “I don’t know if you can call it a deal.”

Breton said that the deal demonstrated that “the desire of the President of the United States to impose on the whole world… his vision on international trade, now mainly directed in the interest of the United States.”

Meanwhile, in Germany, Dirk Jandura, the head of the Foreign Trade Association, described the deal as a “painful compromise” and stated that the “markup poses an existential threat to many of our dealers.”

The German paper of record, Die Welt, noted that between 2000 and 2024, the average tariff rate on EU goods entering the U.S. stood at around two per cent. While the bloc avoided a 30 per cent rate, the increase to a 15 per cent baseline will be significant.

However, Berlin was one of the chief advocates for coming to a deal with Trump rather than taking retaliatory measures, in a demonstration of the weakness of the once stalwart German economy, which has struggled with increased competition from cheap Chinese electric vehicles, the loss of cheap Russian energy, and the failure of the green agenda to power its industrial base.

While Germany will likely benefit from the increased purchases of American energy, the 15 per cent rate imposed on automobiles, compared to the 2.5 per cent rate under the Biden administration, will likely still sting the struggling economic engine of the EU.

Other European nations, such as Ireland, reportedly also pressured Brussels to make a deal with Trump, fearing targeted tariffs on industries like the whiskey business. One European diplomat reportedly said, “Trump worked out exactly where our pain threshold is.”

Defence also loomed large over the talks, reflective of Trump’s distinctive approach of linking the protection America provides to its allies to economic matters. European officials were reportedly concerned that if they pushed too hard on trade, the Trump administration would look to withdraw American troops from Europe or cut arms supplies to Ukraine.

While figures like French President Macron have boasted about a return of European arms manufacturing, the purported “hundreds of billions” earmarked by the EU to purchase U.S.-made weapons and military equipment belies the fact that such supply chains will likely take years, if not decades, to build up in Europe and therefore the bloc has little leverage if its chief protector demands economic concessions in exchange for ensuring their defence.

Remarking on the mood in Europe after the announced deal, U.S. Vice President JD Vance quipped: “The entire European press is singing the president’s praises right now, amazed at the deal he negotiated on behalf of Americans.

“Tomorrow the American media will undoubtedly run headlines like ‘Donald Trump Only Got 99.9 Percent of What He Asked For’.”

After months of fruitless negotiations with Russia, President Donald Trump finally reached his breaking point on Monday. While meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump announced that he was canceling his previous deadline, which would have given Russian President Vladimir Putin another 50 days before harsh sanctions take effect. Replacing it is a new red line of just 10 to 12 days to end his war against Ukraine. 

ALSO SEE: Russia Just Spit in Trump’s Face, and It’s Time They Reap the Whirlwind 

“I think I already know the answer” is a pretty big admission by Trump and points to a relationship with Putin that has frayed beyond immediate repair. No one can say the American president hasn’t tried to offer Russia an off-ramp at this point. He’s spoken directly to Putin about the matter several times, he’s offered to broker a deal that would allow Russia to keep some of the territory it’s seized, and he’s held off on sanctions for six months. Trump has also not been shy about criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

Unfortunately, all of that has added up to nothing, which is probably not that surprising when you consider the circumstances. Putin has had no reason to end the war because it provides political cover for him back in Russia, and Europe has still dutifully kept his coffers full by purchasing energy from Russia. A change in the latter may be why Trump is finally getting ready to pull the trigger on sanctions. With the EU having just agreed to a trade deal with the United States that will increase LNG exports to the continent, European nations can start to wean themselves off Russian oil without weakening themselves in the process. 

I think a big factor in this, though, has been Putin’s behavior toward Trump. 

The Russian leader has been playing a game where he pretends to want peace, only to set any hopes of it on fire immediately after whispering sweet nothings into the ears of Trump. Numerous times, the U.S. president has asked for a temporary ceasefire to set up larger talks, only for Putin to launch a barrage of cruise missiles, representing a foreign policy middle finger. Needless to say, Trump is not the kind of guy who takes personal slights in stride, nor should he in this case. 

Putin has had a chance to stop his pointless war and end the carnage. He has continually refused to listen to reason (which again, is not surprising). The time to keep patting him on the head is over, and Trump understands that. As it stands, the United States has very little trade with Russia. There’s no economic downside to dropping the hammer on Putin. If he’s going to insist on keeping this war going, then he can do so without outside help. And given how much China relies on exports to America, Putin might want to rethink just how much substantive help he will get from his buddies in Beijing. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt torched CNN following the latest ratings report showing the leftist news network hosts getting trounced by Fox News and even MSNBC in total viewership.

In the post from the White House, Leavitt reposted a graphic shared by the Assistant to the President and White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung, as reported by ADWeek, that showed the ratings from July 22 Evening Cable news ratings. “What’s happening? CNN keeps getting crushed in the ratings,” he wrote.

READ MORE: Hilarious: MSNBC, CNN in Tailspin, Fox Remains Tops in Ratings

May Ratings Are In! MSNBC and CNN Are About As Popular As the Black Plague

“These ratings are so embarrassing for @CNN,” Leavitt wrote on X in response. “Perhaps they should finally realize their ‘talent’ is talentless!”

Diving into the report, it showed that CNN lost to Fox News and MSNBC in total viewership. 

The report read:

Total Viewers (Live+SD x 1,000)

Total Day: FNC: 1.644 | CNN: 358 | MSNBC: 633

Prime: FNC: 2.866 | CNN: 479 | MSNBC: 1.065

It didn’t matter whether it was 4 p.m. in the afternoon or 11 p.m. at night; in every hour, CNN’s host was utterly destroyed by their Fox News counterpart. The ones that really stood out were the showdown between CNN and Fox News hosts in the 5 p.m. hour, with Fox’s “The Five” crushing CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” In the 8 p.m. hour, Fox’s Jesse Watters handily beats CNN’s “AC 360.” And then again in the late-night hour, Greg Gutfeld continued his late-night domination with “Gutfeld!” easily beating CNN’s Abby Phillip in the 10 p.m. hour.

The numbers look similar for MSNBC beating CNN in the 4 p.m.-11 p.m. hours, with the most significant ones being in the 4 p.m., 5 p.m., and 10 p.m. hours, with, of course, both networks failing to even come close to Fox News’ numbers.

And CNN’s numbers show just as much trouble for the news network in the coveted age demographic of 25-54.

It went on:

25-54 Demographic (Live+SD x 1,000)

Total Day: FNC: 164 | CNN: 67 | MSNBC: 48

Prime: FNC: 290 | CNN: 86 | MSNBC: 79

CNN failed to beat Fox News in any hour between 4 p.m. and 11 p.m., and barely managed to beat MSNBC for the time frame, with a few exceptions in 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 10 p.m., and 11 p.m. And those victories were nothing to brag about when compared to how badly Fox News beat their hosts.

Perhaps if there was any silver lining for CNN in the latest report, the network did manage to move past “MSNBC in the Adults 25-54 demo during total day” and eke past it in primetime, ADWeek noted.

And “‘CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip'” finished in first place in the demo for CNN on a night that featured fill-in hosts at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET,” it added.

See Also: CNN’s Harry Enten Hails ‘Historic’ Numbers for Trump With GOP, While Dems Wallow in Chaos

MSNBC Host, Panelists Lose It Over Supreme Court Curtailing Nationwide Injunctions by Lower Courts

However, it also noted that “Fox News, led by its panel show The Five, continued to dominate across the board.”

As my RedState colleague Bob Hoge reported in June, tears are on the horizon for CNN with their parent company Warner Bros. Discovery appearing to be tiring of their leftist problem child:

CNN has “tears on the horizon” after Warner Bros. Discovery announced last week that it will split into two companies by separating its studios and streaming business from cable TV networks, according to media insiders. 

The corporate split, which is expected to be completed by mid-2026, will have significant ramifications for CNN, which is being treated as a declining asset that weighed down WBD’s shinier businesses.

The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.

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Law enforcement officials say a 55-year-old New York man reportedly used AI to help him build bombs that he planned to detonate in Manhattan.

Michael Gann of Long Island, New York, is accused of building several homemade bombs with the help of AI, an endeavor he claims was “easier than buying gun powder,” according to court documents obtained by NBC News.

The suspect, who was indicted by federal prosecutors on Tuesday, allegedly transported the bombs from Long Island to Manhattan, storing five of them and four shotgun shells on the roof of an apartment building in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.

Court documents reportedly reveal that Gann, who is accused of planning to combine the shotgun shells with one or more of the bombs, told authorities that he had used two household compounds he ordered online to make the improvised explosives.

One of the bombs Gann built had roughly 30 grams of explosive powder, which is roughly 600 times the legal limit for consumer fireworks, officials said.

A witness who had served in the military reportedly told the FBI that Gann asked him, “What kind of veteran are you?” before declaring, “You see a problem going on in the neighborhood and you do nothing about it,” while he was mixing the explosives on Long Island. “Gann then pointed to a Jewish school,” the criminal complaint states.

On June 5, a second witness called Gann and allowed the FBI to listen in. During their conversation, the suspect told the witness that “he had lit one of the devices near the East River on the FDR Drive — that the device had exploded, scaring Gann,” the complaint adds.

Later that day, authorities saw Gann walking down a street with a shoulder bag. After the agents identified themselves, the 55-year-old told them he was heading to the fire department to drop the devices off, the complaint reads.

Both witnesses had also told law enforcement that Gann said he was considering getting rid of the remaining five bombs by either throwing them into the river or handing the explosives over to the New York City Fire Department.

Upon being placed under arrest, Gann reportedly told law enforcement that he “wished to make pyrotechnics and used artificial intelligence to learn which chemicals to purchase and mix.”

Gann is accused of initially creating four bombs and throwing three of them from the Williamsburg Bridge, resulting in two of the devices falling into the water and the third landing on the train tracks, where it was recovered.

“Gann allegedly produced multiple improvised explosive devices intended for use in Manhattan,” Christopher Raia, head of the FBI’s New York field office, said. “Due to the successful partnership of law enforcement agencies in New York, Gann was swiftly brought to justice before he could harm innocent civilians.”

Authorities said Gann appeared to have been acting alone, and was not a part of a group.

Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

President Donald Trump announced a sweeping trade agreement with the European Union (EU) on Sunday, setting a baseline 15 percent tariff on European imports — including automobiles — while keeping existing 50 percent duties on steel and aluminum in place. As part of the deal, the EU committed to purchasing $750 billion in U.S. energy products.

Trump announced the agreement during a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after a private meeting at Trump Turnberry in Scotland.

The EU will purchase three-quarters of a trillion dollars in U.S. energy, while also investing $600 billion into America on top of existing investments. Additionally, EU countries will be setting tariffs on U.S. goods at zero percent, and Europe agreed “to purchase a vast amount of military equipment,” Trump said. 

“We don’t know what that number is,” he said, but went on to note that the purchase of military equipment would be in the “hundreds of billions of dollars.” 

Moreover, the EU will pay a 15 percent tariff rate to import products into the U.S., ranging from automobiles to other goods. 

“So we have a tariff of 15% we have the opening up of all of the European countries, which I think I could say were essentially closed,” Trump said. “I mean, you weren’t exactly taking our orders, you weren’t exactly taking our agriculture, and then you would have smaller things, but for the most part, it was closed, and now it’s open.” 

When asked about what concessions the U.S. would make to the EU, von der Leyen stressed this was about rebalancing the surplus Europe had and the deficit the U.S. had in the relationship.

“The starting point was an imbalance, a surplus on our side and a deficit on the U.S. side, and we wanted to rebalance the trade relation, and we wanted to do it in a way that trade goes on between the two of us across the Atlantic, because the two biggest economies should have a good trade flow between us,” she said.

“I think we hit exactly the point we wanted to find: Rebalance, but enable trade on both sides, which means good jobs on both sides of the Atlantic, means prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, and that was important for us,” she said. 

German broadcaster NTV suggested that the decision by Brussels to make concessions to Trump came as a result of pressure from EU member states, pointing to recent comments from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who pressed for a quick agreement. “It would be better to be quick and easy than lengthy and complicated and still in negotiating status for months,” Merz said.

In 2024, total trade between the U.S. and the EU in goods and services exceeded €1.68 trillion, or roughly $1.8 billion. This accounts for nearly 30 percent of global trade and 43 percent of the global gross domestic product, making it the world’s largest bilateral trading relationship. 

Since turning over the rocks and exposing the Russia collusion hoax, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has given multiple interviews and addressed the press directly in the briefing room, outlining the scope of deception. But she is not alone in her endeavors to expose the lengths to which some Swamp creatures went to thwart Donald Trump’s presidency and subvert the will of the American people. 

CIA Director John Ratcliffe got the ball rolling in early July with his release of the CIA Note on the “Tradecraft Review of the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian Election Interference.” 

READ MORE: New: CIA Assessment Reveals How Far Obama Administration Went to Frame Trump, Implicates Officials

On Sunday, he joined Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” to further discuss the developing situation — and to note that those behind the hoax and cover-up of it may well still be furthering that conspiracy. 

First, he gave a chronological overview of the saga.

“Well, Maria, before the Intelligence Community Assessment that DNI Gabbard was talking about, and before Devon Nunes’ report about that Intelligence Community Assessment, before the Mueller investigation, before Crossfire Hurricane there was this: In the summer of 2016, US intelligence intercepted Russian intelligence talking about a “Hillary Clinton plan” — a Hillary Clinton plan to falsely accuse Donald Trump of Russia collusion, to vilify him and smear him with what would become known infamously…as the “Steele Dossier.” And, Maria, this intelligence was so explosive that John Brennan briefed President Obama, Vice President Biden, Jim Clapper, James Comey, the entire national security team, telling them about this Hillary Clinton plan. 

“Again — but think about this, Maria — that was in August of 2016, and yet it wasn’t until more than four years later, in October of 2020, when I found, after an exhaustive search, John Brennan‘s handwritten notes and the underlying intelligence behind it that revealed exactly what happened. So, for a four-year period of time, the truth about the origins of the Russia Collusion hoax was hidden from the American people. And unfortunately, Maria, as you recall, those same people were already, at that point in time, onto their next hoax, the Hunter Biden laptop. This was a month before the 2020 election, and unfortunately, what we saw with Joe Biden‘s…election was another four years to be able to continue to bury the truth. And so, it’s only now, with Donald Trump having been reelected, that — through DNI Gabbard, myself, Pam Bondi, Kash Patel — all of this intelligence, all of this evidence that’s been hidden and buried from the American people is finally coming to light.”

When asked about possible criminal repercussions for those involved, Ratcliffe deferred to Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice, but he did note one critical aspect of the alleged conspiracy and its timing: 

“There is no doubt in my mind that the people that we just talked about conspired. They conspired against President Trump; they conspired against the American people. And so, I’ll leave it to Pam Bondi and our Department of Justice, Kash Patel and our FBI to investigate the conspiracy to do what? And what charges that they’re capable of bringing. But again, I don’t think statute of limitations are going to impact because in a conspiracy, Maria, the statute of limitation doesn’t start to run until the last act in furtherance of that conspiracy. And, Maria, part of why this is so important is the people behind this are still furthering the conspiracy — they’re refusing…to admit or acknowledge what they did in 2016 and what they did in 2020 was wrong. And so, I think that’s why this is so important, and why I’m excited about what the American people will see very shortly and what’s to continue to come.

READ MORE: Accountability? DNI Gabbard Says Whistleblowers Are Now ‘Coming Out of the Woodwork’ on Russiagate

Whether and to what extent there may be criminal cases brought against some of the players involved in the situation obviously remains to be seen. And it would be naive, given the way things have played out previously, to bank on criminal prosecutions. Still, as Ratcliffe rightly notes, much of this isn’t limited to what happened eight or nine years ago, and there may well be bases for pursuing prosecutions that are not time-barred. 

Also, as Ratcliffe affirms, additional information and disclosures are anticipated — some in the context of the Durham Report’s classified annex. There’s already a lot to review and process, but the transparency, certainly, is welcome. 

The full clip of Ratcliffe’s interview may be viewed here. 

Editor’s Note: The Trump administration is exposing Barack Obama and his administration’s Russian Collusion Hoax.

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Watching Democrats break out into fits of hysteria over President Donald Trump saying he’d like to see Texas redraw its Congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms has been something else, considering Democrats have consistently been the worst offenders when it comes to so-called “gerrymandering” for political advantage.

Already, a special session is underway in the Texas state legislature in response to Gov. Greg Abbott ordering one due, in part, to concerns raised by the DOJ over the legality of four districts.

Not surprisingly, there have already been fireworks, with Texas Democrats predictably threatening to cut and run in order to break quorum. And one Democrat candidate for Congress, Isaiah Martin, had a meltdown during a House Redistricting Committee hearing on Thursday, resulting in a rather dramatic moment where he had to be forcibly removed. Martin, who is running in a special election for the seat formerly held by the late Sylvester Turner, was later arrested.

READ MORE: Wild Video of Dem Candidate Getting Removed From Texas Redistricting Hearing

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are among the Democrat “leaders” currently in meltdown mode, with Newsom declaring “two can play this game” and exploring redistricting options in the Golden State, though that would be nearly impossible to do for reasons explained by RedState Managing Editor Jen Van Laar here. 

And now, after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) also floated the idea of more redistricting, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who – like Newsom – is positioning himself as a 2028 contender, has himself entered the redistricting chat, meeting with Texas Democrats Friday and vowing to help “fight back”:

That was… not a good idea:

• Democrats have controlled Illinois congressional district maps for decades, and Republicans have long argued that the maps amount to political gerrymandering.
• The 2021 map snatched two seats from Republicans, giving Democrats control of 14 of Illinois’ 17 districts.

Zoom out: Pritzker said he wants Texas Republicans to be “fair” in the redistricting process, infuriating local Republicans who have cried foul against Pritzker and Illinois Democrats for redistricting maps to favor their party.

• “These state Democrats have the morals of a tomcat,” Illinois Freedom Caucus Chair Chris Miller tells Axios. “They will lie to the public, just like the last map that they drew. They said it was the fairest map that’s ever been drawn in Illinois. It’s laughable.”

Pritzker was also blasted on X on the same grounds:

Here in North Carolina, Democrats controlled the General Assembly for over 100 years and gerrymandered with wild abandon, including the infamously heavily litigated NC-12 Congressional district, which has never been represented by a Republican.

Because voters were fed up with rampant corruption, Democrats lost control of the state legislature in 2010 on maps they’d drawn. But after Republicans started the redistricting process, Democrats (and their special interest group allies) who were unhappy after losing their majority still tried to control the process, with their Hurt Feelings Reports over Republicans redrawing districts being mired in the courts at various points for well over a decade (a strategy known here as “sue ’til blue“).

So past experience has taught me not to be a purist on this issue, nor should any other self-respecting Republican. As my colleague Bonchie previously pointed out, “What do you do when the left fights with fire? You fight fire with fire.” That’s exactly what’s happening in Texas (and possibly Florida, too), and I am so here for it.

Editor’s Note: Please help us continue to report the truth about gaslighting, hypocritical politicians like Gov. Pritzker. 

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Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban praised President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at addressing the issue of pay-to-play payments to college athletes.

Appearing on Fox & Friends on Friday, Saban said something needs to be done about the wild costs falling on college sports departments.

The president signed an Executive Order to set restrictions on payments to athletes from third-party sources, stating, “any revenue-sharing permitted between universities and collegiate athletes should be implemented in a manner that protects women’s and non-revenue sports.”

“I think President Trump’s executive order takes a huge step in providing the educational model, which is what we’ve always tried to promote to create opportunities for players, male and female, revenue and non-revenue, so they can have development as people, students, and develop careers and develop professionally if that’s what they choose to do,” Saban said.

“I think we sort of need to make a decision here relative to do we want to have an education-based model, which I think the president made a huge step toward doing that, or do we want to have universities sponsor professional teams? And I think most people would choose the former,” he added.

“I think the clearing house is there to authenticate name, image, and likeness. In other words, is your marketing value relative to what you’re getting paid to do a marketing opportunity? When you cross that line, that’s when it becomes pay for play,” Saban said. “So you have collectives that raise money that pay players, and they really don’t do a relative marketing job to earn that money, and that’s where this whole thing has kind of gotten sideways. I think this whole clearing house is there to sort of protect the collective, affecting competitive balance in college sports.”

“I’m for keeping all the sports that we have as many as we can have, but there are financial concerns relative to how many sports can you promote that don’t create revenue,” Saban continued.

“I think one of the things people need to understand about college sports, they say it’s a business, but it’s really not a business. It’s revenue-producing, and two sports have created the revenue to have 20 other sports. And I think that’s why it’s important we have a system in place. I think President Trump’s made the first step…that would protect the opportunities that we’ve been able to provide male and female non-revenue sports. I think it’s everybody’s goal to keep all those opportunities intact,” he concluded.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, X at WTHuston, or Truth Social at @WarnerToddHuston.

When California Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared on the Shawn Ryan Show recently, he discussed his “gun safety” efforts, bragging about gun-grabbing ballot initiatives he proposed and championed like 2016’s Proposition 63. Proposition 63 required people to undergo a background check to purchase ammunition (of course, there’s a fee for that), required ammunition purchases to be done in person, and prohibited California residents from bringing ammunition in from out of state. That scheme has now been declared unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit, the latest in a long line of Gavin Newsom’s authoritarian schemes to be smacked down by the judiciary.

On the Shawn Ryan Show, he said:

“I did two gun safety laws that I actually put on the ballot… my gun safety legislation overwhelmingly passed in CA. That was my initiative, I got out, I did signatures and put it in front of the voters…and it’s been well-received.”

He was then asked about the difficulty law-abiding Californians face when attempting to obtain a concealed carry permit in the state, which is an expensive and time-consuming process, and defended it by saying that a majority of Californians don’t want people just walking around armed, as if that’s a valid reason to infringe upon someone’s fundamental rights.

Six-time Olympic medal winner (double trap, skeet shooting) and California resident Kim Rhode was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging the ammunition background check scheme. In 2024, U.S. District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez ruled that it was unconstitutional and issued a permanent injunction. On Thursday, a three-judge panel issued a 2-1 decision concluding that the law is facially unconstitutional, upholding Benitez’s decision and endorsing the permanent injunction. 

Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta, writing for the majority, said that the background scheme “meaningfully constrains the right to keep operable arms.”

California’s ammunition background check regime regulates all ammunition acquisitions by California residents; the regime applies not only to every transaction in California but also to ammunition purchases by California residents outside the state. It requires California residents to pay for and complete an in-person background check before each ammunition acquisition. Though not all the rules comprising California’s ammunition background check regime impose delays on their face, they do not require California to approve checks within a certain timeframe.

Requirements prior to various types of background checks, such as fingerprinting, inherently cause some amount of delay. After approval, moreover, a California resident may be required to purchase ammunition during a specified period of time—e.g., 18 hours—after passing a background check. The regime applies to all types of ammunition, and California residents cannot avoid the background check requirements by taking advantage of internet or out-of-state sales. Rather, out-of-state purchases are subject to additional delays and fees. Given the fees and delays associated with California’s ammunition background check regime, and the wide range of transactions to which it applies, we conclude that, in all applications, the regime meaningfully constrains California residents’ right to keepand bear arms. Thus, it is not a “presumptively lawful regulatory measure[].”

Predictably, Newsom wasn’t a fan of the decision, and also completely missed the point, saying:

“Strong gun laws save lives – and today’s decision is a slap in the face to the progress California has made in recent years to keep its communities safer from gun violence. Californians voted to require background checks on ammunition and their voices should matter.”

A press release from Newsom’s office echoed his sentiments on the Shawn Ryan Show, asserting that Californians want this, so it should be done.

Most major polls show overwhelming bipartisan support for universal background checks and other gun safety measures, with support typically ranging from 85% to 90%. A 2023 Fox News poll found that 87% of American voters back criminal background checks for all gun buyers. In California, voters approved background checks for ammunition purchases in 2016 by a 63% to 36% margin.

But, as Second Amendment Foundation’s Kostas Moros said, the version of the law that’s in effect now isn’t what voters approved of, thanks to California’s Democrat supermajority.

“The version the voters enacted in 2016 would have been a one-time background check, and then you get a card that is valid for several years.

The legislature ignored the will of the voters and immediately amended that to the ridiculous system we have in place now, which by the CA DOJ’s own admission, wrongfully denies 11% of everyone who tries to use it. 

The ratio of wrongful denials to prohibited people being denied was over 400:1, in data the State itself submitted. How does denying the rights of 400 people to catch one prohibited person make sense? Do their voices and rights not matter?

Plus, California is now raising the fee. Instead of $1 every time you purchase ammunition, it will be $5, which adds up fast.

“The will of the voters” is not a defense to an unconstitutional law anyway, but even if it were, California’s system is not what voters passed.

Newsom will undoubtedly have Attorney General Rob Bonta appeal the decision. In the post-Bruen era, they’ll have an uphill climb.

Just because it’s so mind-numbingly stupid, here’s the California Department of Justice’s explanation of how the two types of Ammunition Eligibility Checks work:

The Standard Ammunition Eligibility Check will cross-reference the ammunition purchaser’s name, date of birth, current address, and driver license or other government identification number with the information maintained in the Automated Firearms System (AFS). If the purchaser’s information does not match an AFS entry, the transaction shall be denied. If the purchaser’s information matches an AFS entry, the Department shall determine if the purchaser falls within a class of persons who are prohibited from owning or possessing ammunition by cross-referencing with the Prohibited Armed Persons File (also known as the Armed and Prohibited Persons System). If the purchaser is prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm, the transaction shall be denied. Determinations for this type of eligibility check can be completed in approximately two minutes. If it is determined that you are eligible, then you can complete the purchase of ammunition shortly after the determination is received by the California Ammunition Vendor. The fee is $5.00.

The Basic Ammunition Eligibility Check requires the Department to conduct a comprehensive review of its records to determine the person’s eligibility to own or possess ammunition. This eligibility check is similar to a firearms eligibility check and may take days to determine eligibility. For this type of eligibility check, the California Ammunition Vendor will have to provide you with an Ammunition Transaction Number so that you can monitor the status of the eligibility check through the Department’s California Firearms Application Reporting System (CFARS). Once CFARS indicates your eligibility check has been approved, you can go back to the California Ammunition Vendor that submitted your eligibility check and complete your ammunition purchase. The approval expires 30 days from the day it was issued, so you must return to the California Ammunition Vendor within 30 days of the approval to complete your ammunition purchase. The fee is $19.00. 

Here’s a hint for Newsom and Bonta: If it takes that many words and a not-insignificant payment to the state to exercise a fundamental right, it just might be unconstitutional.

Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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