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Donald Trump as strongman, riling up his base and investigating his enemies
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It’s almost a cliché to say that Donald Trump has accumulated enormous power in the last six months.
He has busted through what used to be guardrails, come close to defying the courts, collected big bucks from ABC and CBS, not to mention $200 million from Columbia, cajoled elite law firms into settlements, and taken over law enforcement in Washington.
One example: Trump fired Erika McEntarfer as commissioner at the Bureau of Labor Statistics when he didn’t like the Biden appointee’s weak jobs number, 73,000 for July.
He has now hired the chief economist from the conservative Heritage Foundation, E.J. Antoni, who has been an outspoken critic of the BLS and has a PhD in economics. He worked on Heritage’s Project 2025, the plan that became a blueprint for the second Trump term, and wants to reform BLS – but his numbers will obviously be pleasing to the White House.
TRUMP FIRES LABOR OFFICIAL OVER WEAK JOBS NUMBER, ORDERS CRIMINAL PROBES OF PAST OPPONENTS
President Donald Trump pumps his fist while gesturing to supporters as he departs the White House in Washington on Aug. 1, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Trump’s takeover of the D.C. police, which will report to Pam Bondi, is legal under the city’s limited home-rule powers, and others have used such power for different ideological goals. The move has been denounced by area Democrats and whether it succeeds is an open question.
The president’s insistence on meeting Vladimir Putin in Alaska without knowing whether he’s serious about a peace deal, or even a cease-fire, is a classic roll of the dice. Trump has been downplaying expectations, saying he may have to walk away.
While Trump thrives on the spectacle of these leader-to-leader negotiations, they don’t always pan out. Despite his loving exchanges with Kim Jong-un, North Korea never reduced its nuclear arsenal.
In fairness, Trump has pulled off cease-fires with a number of warring countries, the latest being Armenia and Azerbaijan.
TRUMP SAYS HE’LL KNOW ‘IN THE FIRST TWO MINUTES’ IF UKRAINE PEACE DEAL IS POSSIBLE WITH PUTIN
The president has ordered up so many criminal investigations of his opponents – his perceived enemies – that we’ve lost sight of the fact that this kind of interference with the Justice Department has long been considered way off-limits.
The latest is New York AG Letitia James, who brought the civil suit against Trump that resulted in a $350 million penalty but is now being appealed. Also Sen. Adam Schiff on a question about mortgages.
And he has ordered up criminal probes of the Obama administration for allegedly targeting him over Russian hacking that turned out to be unsuccessful, and accused Barack Obama of «treason.» Never mind that a special counsel from the first term investigated this and brought no charges. Trump has also demanded a probe of his first cybersecurity chief, Chris Krebs, and Miles Taylor, better known as Anonymous.
TRUMP DELIVERS ON CAMPAIGN PROMISES WHILE LIBERAL MEDIA CRIES HE’S ‘DESTROYING DEMOCRACY’
Former President Barack Obama speaks at a Democracy Forum event hosted by the Obama Foundation at the Javits Center in New York City on Nov. 17, 2022. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The president does this out in the open. You don’t have to rely on, well, anonymous sources.
National Review’s Rich Lowry said recently that Trump is the most consequential president since Ronald Reagan. «Even if Trump’s second term ended tomorrow, he would have left a significant mark.» It’s hard to argue with that.
SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES
Then-President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 16, 2024. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
All this amounts to an image of a strong president, a fighter determined to stoke his base and smite his enemies. The average D.C. resident doesn’t feel safe with this frightening wave of carjackings – «only» 16 of them in July. The average American is just glad the border has been shut down. Trump’s opponents are on notice that he’ll use lawsuits and legal threats to get his way.
And his war on the media is constant, with him calling for some individual journalists to be fired, and yet – irony alert – unlike Joe Biden, he speaks to them virtually every day.
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Whether you like this president or not, whether you approve of his policies or not, he keeps declaring states of emergency to justify his blizzard of executive orders.
And that’s why he continues to drive the media agenda.
media buzz,donald trump,white house,washington dc,foreign policy
INTERNACIONAL
Cartels outgun police: Rocket launchers seized in El Mencho raid spotlight CJNG firepower
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Mexican forces seized rocket launchers capable of shooting down aircraft during the operation Sunday that killed cartel boss Ruben «Nemesio» Oseguera Cervantes, known as «El Mencho,» underscoring how the Mexican Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) amassed military-style firepower over the years.
Authorities have previously linked CJNG to a 2015 attack in Jalisco in which cartel gunmen used rocket-propelled grenades to bring down a Mexican military helicopter – one of the starkest examples of a cartel directly engaging federal forces with battlefield-grade weapons.
The assault marked a turning point in how Mexican authorities viewed the group’s capabilities.
During Sunday’s raid, officials said security forces were attacked and returned fire, deploying aircraft and specialized units to carry out the operation. Authorities said troops seized armored vehicles and heavy weapons, equipment more commonly associated with armed conflict than routine law enforcement.
TOURISTS IN MEXICAN SEASIDE CITY TOLD TO STAY ON RESORT AS GOVERNMENT WARNS OF ‘CLASHES’
Ruben «Nemesio» Oseguera Cervantes, known as «El Mencho,» was killed during a Mexican operation in Jalisco on Sunday. (Drug Enforcement Administration)
Mexican Special Forces, with aircraft assistance from the Air Force and National Guard rapid-reaction units, participated in the mission, highlighting the scale of force required to confront senior cartel leadership.
Former U.S. officials have described CJNG as operating more like a paramilitary organization than a traditional trafficking ring, using coordinated roadblocks, armed convoys and structured enforcement wings to assert control in contested regions.
In prior reporting, former Drug Enforcement Administration officials said the group commanded large numbers of gunmen and organized itself in a way that allowed it to deploy force quickly and visibly.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT UNSEALS MULTI-STATE INDICTMENTS AGAINST TREN DE ARAGUA LEADERS FOR VIOLENT CRIMES
CJNG is known for its paramilitary-style operations and structure. (Eduardo Verdugo, File/AP Photo)
CJNG’s tactics have included seizing vehicles and staging coordinated attacks in urban areas to demonstrate strength and deter rivals or security forces.
Over time, such displays reinforced its reputation as one of Mexico’s most heavily armed criminal organizations.
ALLEGED SINALOA CARTEL FENTANYL PRODUCER CHARGED IN NEWLY UNSEALED FEDERAL INDICTMENT
Smoke rises into the sky over Puerto Vallarta during an operation targeting cartel activity on Feb. 22, 2026. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
The State Department issued a travel alert Sunday urging Americans in multiple Mexican states to shelter in place due to «ongoing security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity,» reflecting the instability that can follow major cartel confrontations.
In recent years, Mexican authorities have increasingly relied on military forces – rather than local police – to confront senior cartel figures as groups like CJNG expanded their reach and arsenals.
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The raid that killed «El Mencho» marked not only the removal of a powerful drug lord but also another example of how heavily armed cartels can challenge state forces in direct confrontations.
location mexico,mexican cartel violence,narco terror,military
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El narcotráfico dio una brutal muestra de poder de fuego ante el cambio de estrategia del gobierno mexicano
La violencia desatada tras la muerte del líder del Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho”, dejó al descubierto no solo el poder de fuego que maneja el narcotráfico en México, sino también un cambio evidente de la estrategia del gobierno en el combate contra el crimen organizado.
No fue un hecho sorpresivo. El narco domina vastas regiones donde impera su ley. Incluso, en muchos estados se convirtió en un importante empleador e impulsor de las economías locales en base a su connivencia y control del poder político y judicial.
Leé también: Nahuel Gallo exige asistencia consular y la visita de la Cruz Roja para levantar la huelga de hambre
Con 175.000 “soldados”, es hoy la quinta fuerza empleadora más grande del país, detrás de Fomento Económico Mexicano (la empresa embotelladora más grande de Coca-Cola en el mundo), Walmart, Manpower y América Móvil. Está por delante hasta de la petrolera estatal Pemex y el poderoso Grupo Salinas.
En ese escenario, el Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación es uno de los más poderosos y violentos.
El académico mexicano Rafael Prieto Curial, investigador del Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, con sede en Viena, dijo a TN que el Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación tiene hoy 25.000 miembros.
La presión de Donald Trump y el cambio de estrategia de Claudia Sheinbaum
Algo cambió en México tras la asunción de Donald Trump hace un año. La presión ejercida por el presidente estadounidense sobre el gobierno de la izquierdista Claudia Sheinbaum derivó en un palpable cambio de estrategia en el combate al tráfico de drogas.
Hace seis años, las fuerzas federales mexicanas detuvieron y enseguida liberaron a Ovidio Guzmán, hijo de Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, líder histórico del Cartel de Sinaloa, hoy sentenciado y detenido en una cárcel de máxima seguridad en Estados Unidos.
La presidenta de México, Claudia Sheinbaum (Foto: EFE)
Entonces, el gobierno del presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador reconoció que habían liberado al hijo de El Chapo para evitar un baño de sangre.
Hoy, la estrategia es otra. El gobierno sabía que la muerte de El Mencho iba a derivar en una ola de caos y violencia como la que se vivió el domingo en vastas zonas de Jalisco, incluso en el turístico balneario de Puerto Vallarta.
Leé también: El mensaje de la presidenta de México tras la muerte del líder del Cártel de Jalisco: “Mantenernos en calma”
“Por presión de Estados Unidos, pareciera que se está cambiando la estrategia del gobierno respecto al narco. Esto hubiera sido impensable hace 10 años. El caso emblemático fue el de Ovidio Guzmán, detenido y liberado para evitar el caos que vemos hoy. Es una visión totalmente distinta”, dijo a TN el exdiputado Fernando Rodríguez Doval, ex secretario nacional del Partido Acción Nacional (PAN, derecha).
Para el dirigente, esta nueva táctica “puede acarrear rupturas en el seno del gobierno”.
“Pareciera que esta captura y abatimiento es respuesta a las presiones de Trump, Eso está cada vez más claro. Fue un operativo conjunto. Habrá que ver hasta dónde abarcó la cooperación. Si solo fue una colaboración de inteligencia o hubo algo más. Pero es evidente que fue una acción coordinada con el gobierno de Estados Unidos”, afirmó.
El poder del narcotráfico en México
El poder del narco mexicano ha crecido en forma exponencial en los últimos años.
Los carteles manejan ejércitos propios con un poder de fuego brutal que quedó plasmado en la ola de incendios de vehículos, cortes de rutas y tiroteos que siguieron a la muerte de El Mencho.
Un policía observa un vehículo calcinado que fue incendiado en una carretera de Guadalajara, Jalisco, México, el domingo 22 de febrero de 2026, tras la muerte del líder del Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, conocido como «El Mencho». (Foto AP/Alejandra Leyva)
“Su muerte derivó en el despliegue en alrededor de 10 estados de muchísima fuerza narco. Esto nos habla de la enorme fuerza del crimen organizado y la debilidad dramática del Estado a pesar del éxito del operativo”, dijo Rodríguez Doval.
Para el exlegislador, el narco creció de la mano de su connivencia con el poder político. “Eso le ha permitido crecer mucho, conquistando espacios cada vez más fuertes y dominar buena parte del territorio nacional”.
El poder es tan omnipresente que el tráfico de drogas es hoy solo una parte del negocio.
“Hoy se dedican a todo tipo de actividades. Antes eran solo las drogas, pero ahora se han diversificado con ´nuevos mercados´. Se dedican al tráfico de personas, el robo de autos, el cobro de extorsiones, el secuestro, venta de gasolina, peaje. Lo que vemos es una industria criminal presente en muchos ámbitos económicos», afirmó.
La sucesión en el Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación
En su diálogo con TN, Rafael Prieto Curial dijo que el abatimiento de El Mencho genera tres sensaciones diferentes.
“Por un lado, era el líder de uno de los carteles mas importantes del mundo, sanguinario, violento y con muchísimo poder en todos los estados del país. Su caída es algo bueno”, dijo.
Pero al mismo tiempo genera la reacción del cartel con “víctimas secundarias, pánico en la sociedad y acostumbrarse a que México es este país” dominado en vastas zonas por organizaciones criminales.
Finalmente, ahora se abre un panorama de enorme incertidumbre por la sucesión del poder en el grupo. “Si el cartel se fragmenta en más de una facción, como ocurrió con el de Sinaloa, podría terminar en una violencia terrible como sucede hoy en ese estado”, indicó.
“Pero si una persona distinta ocupa el lugar de El Mencho, el impacto es nulo. El cartel tiene mas o menos 25.000 miembros. Si pierde a uno, aunque sea el más importante, solo es uno. No estamos viendo a los otros 25.000 que siguen siendo parte del grupo. Lo feo es pensar que aquí termina la política de seguridad”, concluyó.
México, Narcotráfico
INTERNACIONAL
US assets in Middle East positioned for ‘highly kinetic’ war, ex-Pentagon official warns
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The U.S. is in position for a «highly kinetic» campaign against Iran after launching one of its largest recent military buildups in the Middle East, a former senior Pentagon official has claimed.
Dana Stroul, now research director at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, made the assessment Sunday as Washington and Tehran prepare for a second round of indirect nuclear talks in Oman.
«The US military is ready for a sustained, highly kinetic campaign should President Trump order it, and also prepared to defend allies and partners in the Middle East from Iran’s missiles,» Stroul told Fox News Digital.
«The US military can rapidly reposition assets from all over the world and deploy overwhelmingly lethal force in a short period of time to one theater,» she said before highlighting how there is «no ally or enemy capable of what we have seen from the US in this current buildup.»
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S IRAN BUILDUP MIRRORS 2003 IRAQ WAR SCALE AS TENSIONS ESCALATE
The world’s largest warship, U.S. aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, on its way out of the Oslofjord at Nesodden and Bygdoy, Norway, September 17, 2025. (NTB/Lise Aserud via Reuters)
Describing how the current posture differs from the June 2025 strikes on Iranian-linked nuclear targets, Stroul said the U.S. has expanded its offensive and defensive capabilities.
«Two US aircraft carriers and their accompanying vessels and air wings were stationed in the Middle East last summer during the 12-day war and the US operation Midnight Hammer,» she explained.
«The addition of the Ford is really important, it expands US offensive capabilities if we go to war with Iran,» she said.
While in June 2025, the US carried out limited but highly targeted strikes against Iranian nuclear infrastructure to degrade key facilities without triggering a regional war, now, Stroul said the force posture is broader and more sustained.
The US has also «increased the number of guided-missile destroyers, fighter aircraft, refuelers, and air defense systems» in the region, she explained.
TRUMP SAYS IRAN HAS 15 DAYS TO REACH A DEAL OR FACE ‘UNFORTUNATE’ OUTCOME
An F/A-18F Super Hornet, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 41, prepares to make an arrested landing on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 10, 2024. (U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Daniel Kimmelman/Reuters)
The deployment of aircraft carriers such as the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln has assumed heightened strategic importance.
The USS Gerald R. Ford was recently tracked transiting the Strait of Gibraltar eastward, while the USS Abraham Lincoln is operating in the Arabian Sea.
«They will both be in the Middle East CENTCOM theater,» Stroul explained before clarifying that there could be «one in the eastern Mediterranean and the other in the Arabian Gulf.»
«There would probably be a combination of reasons for that based on availability, readiness, proximity to the Middle East.
«The Ford was heading home and directed to turn around,» she added.
While the specific destinations of the carriers have not been publicly disclosed for operational security reasons, their presence alone signals escalatory leverage and deterrence.
WITKOFF WARNS IRAN IS ‘A WEEK AWAY’ FROM ‘BOMB-MAKING MATERIAL’ AS TRUMP WEIGHS ACTION
Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad Al Busaidi, US President Donald Trump’s Special Representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff and U.S. negotiator Jared Kushner meet ahead of the US-Iran talks, in Muscat, the capital of Oman, on February 06, 2026. (f Oman, on FebruarOman Foreign Ministry/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The military buildup comes as indirect diplomatic talks between Washington and Tehran continue, with Oman once again serving as a mediator Feb. 26.
Stroul argued that Iran’s leadership is trying to balance brinkmanship with negotiation.
«Iran’s leaders are playing a weak hand by combining saber-rattling about their own capabilities, staging preparations and exercises to signal readiness,» she claimed.
«They are attempting to slow this down by pursuing negotiations. No one should be under any illusions about the reality of US dominance — Iran is completely outmatched in conventional terms,» Stroul said.
BUILT FOR WEEKS OF WAR: INSIDE THE FIREPOWER THE US HAS POSITIONED IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Armed NOPO special police units are on the scene as Iranians take to the streets in the downtown Enghelab (Revolution) Square in Tehran, Iran on June 24, 2025, to celebrate the ceasefire after a 12-day war with Israel. (NEGAR/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
«Israel dominated Iranian airspace in one day last year, targeted many of Iran’s security leaders, took out half of its missile arsenal, and the US significantly set back its nuclear program,» Stroul said.
Iran’s long-cultivated network of proxies across the region — including Hezbollah, Shiite militias in Iraq, and elements in Syria — has also been weakened after sustained Israeli military pressure.
«Iran’s long-cultivated network of proxies across the region is degraded after more than two years of Israeli operations, and they declined to enter the war and support Iran’s defense last summer,» Stroul explained.
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«No matter what Iran’s leaders say, Iran is not able to rebuild a decades-long project in a few months.»
«That said, the US military is in a position to execute whatever orders President Trump gives,» she said. «It is not a question of military readiness, but a political decision.»
iran,middle east,wars,donald trump,ali khamenei,pentagon defense,pentagon,us navy,military
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