Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

NPR [8/17/2025 5:36 PM, Joe Hernandez, Luke Garrett and Brian Mann, 34837K] reports D.C. National Guard members patrolling Washington as part of the Trump administration’s plan to ramp up policing may soon be carrying weapons, a Guard spokesperson said Sunday. The Army had said last week that Guard members would not be carrying weapons and would not be making arrests. But on Sunday, Army Senior Master Sgt. Craig Clapper told NPR in a statement that "Guard members may be armed consistent with their mission and training.". "Their presence is focused on supporting civil authorities and ensuring the safety of the community they serve," Clapper added. "The DC National Guard remains committed to assisting the District of Columbia and serving its residents and visitors whenever called upon.". Earlier this month, President Trump announced that the federal government was assuming control of the Metropolitan Police Department and would deploy hundreds of federal law enforcement officers and National Guard members to the nation’s capital. The Army said on Thursday that Guard members’ weapons would remain in the armory to use if needed. Guard members stationed in public areas would not conduct arrests, but serve as a "visible crime deterrent," the statement said, and be equipped with personal protective equipment such as body armor. The Posse Comitatus Act prevents federal armed forces from taking part in civilian law enforcement operations, unless they are "expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress." But National Guard members deployed to U.S. cities do sometimes carry weapons, such as those who have recently helped patrol the New York City transit system. Trump expanded the law enforcement presence in D.C. because he said it had been "overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people.".

Washington Post [8/17/2025 5:13 PM, Praveena Somasundaram and Karina Elwood, 29079K] reports sporadic protests have sprouted up across D.C. this weekend, as GOP-led states announced they would send their own National Guard troops to augment President Donald Trump’s law enforcement takeover in the nation’s capital. Last week, Trump announced the mobilization of the D.C. National Guard in the city, which he portrayed as crime-ridden, though violent crime in D.C. has been declining since 2023. Trump has received praise from conservative allies and shows of support from GOP governors, while residents have pushed back on his depictions of Washington. On Sunday afternoon, local police said they were not actively monitoring any protests. Hundreds of more troops are expected to arrive in the coming days. They may soon be armed. The number of troops in D.C. could nearly double in the coming days as National Guard members from other states begin to arrive — an escalation that began over the weekend when three Republican governors answered the Trump administration’s call for additional troops. On Saturday, the governors pledged up to 750 troops to join the 800 D.C. National Guard members already mobilized in the city. The federal government has signaled that the troops mobilized in D.C. could soon be carrying weapons. Such an instruction would be a reversal of initial deployment orders, which specified that Guard troops would wear body armor, but leave their weapons at the armory. It’s unclear when the troops would start carrying weapons if they received such an order. As of Saturday, they were still waiting for word from senior Defense Department officials, one of several people familiar with the planning said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the fluid situation.

ABC News [8/17/2025 11:27 AM, Kendall Wright, 27036K] reports Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., on Sunday underlined his stance that President Donald Trump deploying the National Guard to Washington, D.C., over concerns of high crime and the level of homelessness amounts to an "abuse of power." "All of this is a total abuse of power. It’s a manufactured emergency," Van Hollen said in an interview with "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz. "Obviously D.C. can do more to reduce violent crime, as we can across the country. But as you pointed out, crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low and a downward trajectory. So, this is all an opportunity for Donald Trump to play dictator in Washington, D.C." "The way the law is written, it appears he has the legal authority. And Mayor [Muriel] Bowser conceded that. So, what is the abuse of power here?" Raddatz pressed. "The abuse of power is claiming that this is an emergency. And everybody who is watching what happens knows that this is not an emergency in Washington, D.C.," Van Hollen argued. Violent crime levels have decreased compared to years prior, down 26% since 2024, a 30-year low, leaving outstanding questions over why Trump deployed roughly 800 troops around the city. Over the weekend, several Republican-led states announced additional Guard troops would also deploy to Washington to support the president’s mission. As some outlets report the National Guard could be armed soon, Van Hollen said, "Well, that’s very troubling, because, as you know, the National Guard, first of all, is not supposed to engage in any local law enforcement activity. We have the Posse Comitatus Act that prohibits them from engaging in local law enforcement. And so I’m not sure what it is that they need to do where they need to be armed." Despite fierce criticism from Democrats like Van Hollen and protests from some Washington residents, the White House has defended its decision to surge federal law enforcement to the city and bring in the National Guard as necessary and legal.

The Washington Post [8/17/2025 6:43 PM, Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, et al., 29079K] reports federal agents detained a food delivery driver as he emerged from a Northwest Washington coffee shop Saturday morning, an incident captured on video by numerous witnesses — including a Washington Post reporter — that showed the officers tackling him to the ground, holding him down and appearing to use a stun gun before driving him away in an unmarked black vehicle. After video of the incident spread widely online, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman identified the man as Cristian Enrique Carias Torres, a Venezuelan national who she said illegally entered the United States in 2023 and was ordered removed by an immigration judge later that year. The spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, said he had “repeatedly failed to appear for multiple court dates in Maryland related to a long list of traffic crimes” for which he had active warrants. She said he resisted arrest. No information was available Sunday to determine whether he had applied for any form of protection from deportation. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the incident on X on Sunday evening, echoing the Department of Homeland Security’s statement that Carias Torres had an active removal order and described him as having “suspected gang affiliation.” The Department of Homeland Security did not answer questions from The Post on Saturday about whether authorities had reason to believe Carias Torres had a violent criminal history and did not respond to follow-up questions requesting information about the Maryland traffic crimes. The arrest sparked fear and outrage among some residents during the first weekend of President Donald Trump’s ramp-up of federal agents on D.C. streets, efforts that the White House said were about violent crime but which have increasingly focused on immigration enforcement. The White House reported 72 immigration arrests from Wednesday through Friday. That’s more than half of all arrests made as part of the federal crackdown over those three days, according to White House figures. Since Trump issued an executive order declaring an emergency and federalizing the local police force, incidents between residents and police have escalated, leading to allegations of harassment and aggression from some residents across the District. Breitbart [8/17/2025 10:31 PM, Paul Bois, 2608K] reports that onlookers stood near a coffee shop and the entrance to a luxury condo building, recording the altercation on their phones; WaPo reporter Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff was among them. Shouts from the crowd that the officers — whose vests read simply ‘police’ — identify the agency with which they were affiliated were dismissed," reported Politico. "‘Do I have to answer to you?’ one officer barked back, his question rhetorical. ‘You’ve gotta answer to somebody,’ yelled a pedestrian. The officers never identified themselves, never provided their badge numbers, never revealed their agency," it added. "They took the moped driver into an unmarked SUV and spirited him off, destination unknown. A block away, the weekend brunch service at Le Diplomate continued without interruption.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed in a post on X that the press did not ask the administration for comment, adding that the man had alleged gang affiliations and gave an officer a concussion upon arrest.

Wall Street Journal [8/17/2025 5:12 PM, Vera Bergengruen, Jack Gillum, and Sadie Gurman, 646K] reports Ebony Payne often has to spend much of her evening sorting through messages from her Kingman Park neighbors in the northeast part of the city reporting assaults, smashed car windows, break-ins, shootings and teenagers threatening children or even dogs. The 34-year-old neighborhood commissioner said she and her community are frustrated by the city’s inability to respond to “out of control” crime. When they heard President Trump was federalizing District of Columbia police and sending in hundreds of National Guard troops, some residents’ first reaction was relief, she said. “We all wanted something to be done,” said Payne. “It’s just really unfortunate that we are in this situation where there’s a sledgehammer on our city, because we couldn’t get a handle on our crime problem.” Yet so far, Trump’s security surge hasn’t materialized in Kingman Park. “I was really expecting to see more,” she said, noting the D.C. armory where the National Guard is stationed is only minutes away. Payne’s experience underscores the disconnect felt across parts of the city since Trump announced the security surge on Aug. 11, framing the federal takeover as a campaign to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.” Hundreds of federal agents—from drug- and gun-enforcement teams to immigration officers—set up traffic checkpoints, arrested delivery drivers and restaurant workers over immigration violations, and carried out street patrols. But the most visible show of force has centered on the city’s downtown, upscale corridors and tourist hubs. The result has been a split screen as Trump’s promise to save the capital from “crime and chaos” has often veered from dramatic showdowns to more mundane encounters. Trump’s allies and some residents have praised the security sweep as long-overdue, but critics say its most visible impact has been on issues that dovetail with the administration’s broader agenda, such as immigration arrests, rather than the city’s most pressing public-safety problems.

FOX News [8/17/2025 6:09 PM, Andrea Margolis and Patrick Ward, 40019K] Video: HERE reports nearly 70 people were arrested in Washington, D.C. on Saturday night, as President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime continues. The White House shared the arrest numbers with Fox News on Sunday. A total of 68 people were arrested on Saturday night. According to officials, 15 illegal firearms were seized. Some of the many charges included aggravated assault, assault on a police officer and resisting arrest. Other charges included fugitive from justice, felony grand larceny and possession of a controlled substance. Additional arrestees were accused of fleeing from law enforcement and driving with a revoked permit. Three homeless encampments were also cleared on Saturday. No arrests were recorded, and the dismantlings happened without incident, a White House official said. Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesperson, told Fox News Digital that Trump’s leadership is "quickly making our nation’s capital safer." "In less than ten days, over 300 dangerous criminals have already been arrested and taken off the streets of Washington, D.C.," Rogers said. Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the efforts in a post on X Sunday. "Over 300 arrests in D.C. — and counting: Just last night, our federal and DC law enforcement partners made 68 arrests and seized 15 illegal firearms. Homicide suspects, drug traffickers, and more are being charged," she wrote. "I’ll continue to stand with you as we make DC safe again!" [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Axios [8/17/2025 8:50 AM, Tal Axelrod, 14595K] reports President Trump’s MAGA movement sees his D.C. crackdown as being about more than just crime — it’s an opportunity to deal another setback to liberals by expanding the movement in urban areas. Despite the protests over Trump’s stunning show of force on D.C.’s streets, MAGA’s most vocal voices believe that if the anti-crime push is successful — and Trump is certain to declare it so — it could win converts in cities and help expand the movement’s rural base. "We have an opportunity to show city folks that life doesn’t have to be this way," one senior MAGA media figure told Axios. "There are things you can do to control crime. This definitely could spread to other cities, simply by demand." Trump’s D.C. crime claims don’t match the data. Violent crime is falling in the city, not rising, Axios D.C.’s Anna Spiegel reports. Plus, D.C.’s status as a federal city gives the president unique powers with the National Guard and federal law enforcement there. Any attempt by Trump to impose similar federal patrols in other Democrat-run cities likely would be met with the type of protests that Trump’s immigration crackdown sparked in Los Angeles.

FOX News [8/17/2025 3:07 PM, Cameron Arcand, 40019K] reports Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole, the federal government’s new designee to help run the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, vowed to let local cops "do their job again" to get rising crime under control. Cole was tapped by Attorney General Pam Bondi after the Trump administration announced on Monday a major intervention to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital. The move came after several high-profile violent crimes, including the murder of a Congressional intern. "We cannot afford to turn a blind eye," Cole told Fox News Channel’s "The Story" on Tuesday. "We have tremendous cooperation, tremendous intel sharing, and what’s most encouraging, the police are looking forward to doing their job again.". According to an order released by Bondi on Friday, Cole’s role is defined as the "designee for the duration of the emergency declared by the President for the purpose of directing the Mayor of the District of Columbia to provide such services of the [MPD] as the Attorney General deems necessary and appropriate.". "Attorney General Bondi’s new order is STRONGER because instead of rescinding just one bad MPD order this superseding order REQUIRES MPD’s full cooperation with federal immigration authorities," a DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital in an email on Saturday. Dozens of the arrests already made since the takeover have been of illegal immigrants, as ICE and other federal agencies are patrolling the streets of the capital. "Attorney General Bondi just issued a new directive to Mayor Bowser requiring MPD to provide the services found necessary by her designee, DEA Administrator Terry Cole, to comply fully and completely with federal immigration law and authorities, regardless of any policies MPD might otherwise have. President Trump will continue pursuing all efforts to Make DC Safe Again and end violent crime despite liberal opposition," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

Washington Examiner [8/17/2025 6:22 PM, Byron York, 1563K] reports DC government throws legal sandwich at trump. Perhaps the most enduring image to come from President Donald Trump’s anti-crime initiative in Washington, D.C., is the viral video of a 37-year-old man, a District of Columbia resident and, at the time, an employee of the Justice Department, pitching a fit and throwing a sandwich at a federal agent who was part of the anti-crime effort. The man, Sean Charles Dunn, appeared to be very upset, jumping up and down and yelling at a Customs and Border Protection officer stationed outside a Subway shop last Sunday night. In Dunn’s hand, as he ranted, was a Subway sandwich. "Dunn allegedly approached one of the CBP officers, pointed his finger in the officer’s face, and shouted ‘F*** you! You f***ing fascists! Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!’" according to a Justice Department press release. "About 11:06 p.m., Dunn forcefully threw a sub-style sandwich at the CBP officer, striking him in the chest.". The officer appeared to be wearing a bulletproof vest that provided ample protection from a flying sandwich. After a brief chase on foot, Dunn was caught and charged with one felony count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and employees of the United States. In a court appearance Thursday, he was released on his own recognizance. He was also fired from his job at the Justice Department. On Friday, the attorney general of the District of Columbia, Brian Schwalb, attempted what might be called the legal equivalent of throwing a sandwich at the Trump effort when he filed a lawsuit arguing that the president’s actions are unconstitutional. Parts of the suit read like standard-issue Democratic talking points. The president acted after declaring a "crime emergency" in the district, Schwalb noted, but there can’t be an emergency because some measures of crime have been going down. "The president’s statements about rising crime in the District are hyperbolic and inconsistent with the facts," the lawsuit said. "Publicly available data from both federal and local sources demonstrate that violent crime in the District is trending significantly downward.". Of course, just because some crime indices might be moving downward does not mean that they are actually low, especially if, as is the case now, the movement is down from a pandemic-era spike in crime in the district. And, of course, the law specifies that the president determines whether "special conditions of an emergency nature" are present in the city.

AP [8/17/2025 1:46 PM, Terry Tang, 56000K] reports as President Donald Trump declared Washington, D.C., a crime-ridden wasteland in need of federal intervention this week and threatened similar federal interventions in other Black-led cities, several mayors compared notes. The president’s characterization of their cities contradicts what they began noticing last year: that they were seeing a drop in violent crime after a pandemic-era spike. In some cases the declines were monumental, due in large part to more youth engagement, gun buyback programs and community partnerships. Now members of the African American Mayors Association are determined to stop Trump from burying accomplishments that they already felt were overlooked. And they’re using the administration’s unprecedented law enforcement takeover in the nation’s capital as an opportunity to disprove his narrative about some of the country’s greatest urban enclaves. "It gives us an opportunity to say we need to amplify our voices to confront the rhetoric that crime is just running rampant around major U.S. cities. It’s just not true," said Van Johnson, mayor of Savannah, Georgia, and president of the African American Mayors Association. "It’s not supported by any evidence or statistics whatsoever.". After deploying the first of 800 National Guard members to Washington, the Republican president is setting his sights on other cities including Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles and Oakland, California, calling them crime-ridden and "horribly run." One thing they all have in common: They’re led by Black mayors. "It was not lost on any member of our organization that the mayors either were Black or perceived to be Democrats," Johnson said. "And that’s unfortunate. For mayors, we play with whoever’s on the field.". The federal government’s actions have heightened some of the mayors’ desires to champion the strategies used to help make their cities safer.

New York Post [8/17/2025 3:51 PM, Carl Campanile and Dorian Geiger, 43962K] reports Queens activists are demanding the FBI investigate the "foreign national" crime syndicates turning seedy Roosevelt Avenue into a "gangland" — claiming the criminals pose a national security threat. "We request that you initiate an investigation into what we understand are gangs engaging in criminal enterprises including human trafficking, illegal narcotics sales and the mass distribution of fraudulent documents which poses a national security threat," wrote Rosa Sanchez, head of the Restore Roosevelt Avenue Coalition, and Democratic district leader Hiram Monserrate in an Aug. 14 letter to FBI Director Kash Patel. Federal intervention is required because state and local laws are limited and inadequate to address the problem, the activists said. In their missive, Sanchez and Monserrate thanked the FBI and other agencies in the Trump administration for prosecuting members of migrant gangs — including the Venezuelan-based Tren de Aragua and the 18th Street gang, which regularly extort brothels, beat rivals and sell drugs and phony IDs to finance an illicit network based in El Salvador. "However, both gangs continue to operate in our community and we impress upon you that more needs to be done to keep our community safe," they told the FBI director. They noted that the NYPD has made more than 500 prostitution-related arrests thus far this year along what is called "The Market of Sweethearts," but brothels continue to operate. Many of them are controlled by Chinese gangs, Sanchez and Monserrate said. "According to our sources several locations are being operated and controlled by Chinese organized crime. … The information we have continued gathering is unsettling," the Corona-Elmhurst neighborhood leaders said.

CNN [8/18/2025 5:03 AM, Devon M. Sayers, 21433K] reports attorneys representing detainees held at the controversial makeshift immigration detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” are in federal court Monday seeking to allow detainees to meet with attorneys. The attorneys from groups including the ACLU, the US Immigration Law Counsel and Florida Keys Immigration filed a lawsuit against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials in July, saying the defendants “blocked detainees held at the facility from access to legal counsel” and are preventing “people detained in civil immigration custody at Alligator Alcatraz from communicating with legal counsel and from filing motions with the immigration court that could result in their release from detention.” The lawsuit also aims to ensure there is updated information about the location of the detainees at “Alligator Alcatraz.” “The U.S. Constitution does not allow the government to simply lock people away without any ability to communicate with counsel or to petition the court for release from custody. The government may not trample on these most fundamental protections for people held in its custody,” Eunice Cho, senior counsel with the ACLU’s National Prison Project and the lead attorney in the case, said in a news release. The Department of Homeland Security has denied the allegations, telling CNN in a statement Sunday the “facility maintains a physical space for attorneys to meet with their clients,” and that attorneys may also request to speak with detainees they represent via email.

Washington Post [8/17/2025 3:39 PM, Marie-Rose Sheinerman, 29079K] reports the Republican Party of Florida was pushing a new line of merchandise Friday: baseball caps, T-shirts, mugs and insulating drink sleeves with “THE DEPORT DEPOT” in blocky stencil font diagonally across a bright orange square. Two days later, after Home Depot expressed concern about the unapproved use of its branding, the items had been scrubbed from the Florida GOP’s digital storefront and posts on X about the new line had been deleted — but a post on Instagram featuring images of the merchandise remained. A half-hour after The Washington Post made inquiries, the Instagram post was gone as well. “We don’t allow any organization to use our branding or logo for their commercial purposes, and we did not approve this use,” Beth Marlowe, a Home Depot spokeswoman, said in an email Sunday. Florida GOP Chairman Evan Power did not respond to requests for comment. The short-lived deportation-themed merchandise came after Thursday’s announcement by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) of plans to turn an underused state prison into a migrant detention center that can hold up to 1,300 detainees — a facility he referred to as “Deportation Depot.” In recent months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have carried out controversial raids at Home Depot parking lots, where undocumented day laborers have long gathered seeking work. The Baker Correctional Institution in north Florida will cost $6 million to convert for use as a migrant detention center, officials said. The news of the state’s second migrant detention facility follows what DeSantis has touted as the success of Alligator Alcatraz, a detention center near Everglades National Park that opened in early July and now holds about 1,000 detainees. That facility cost $450 million. The Everglades detention center is also the subject of a line of merchandise for sale on the Florida GOP’s website, as the party tries to capitalize on the headline-making facility for its fundraising efforts. Inside Alligator Alcatraz, meanwhile, detainees and former guards have reported conditions including limited access to fresh water, rain leaking through the tents that cover the detainees’ chain-link cells and swarms of mosquitoes attacking detainees and staff. Anna V. Eskamani, a Democratic state legislator representing parts of Orlando, said she contacted Home Depot representatives Friday after seeing the Florida GOP’s new line of clothing and knickknacks.

New York Post [8/17/2025 2:02 PM, David J. Bier, 43962K] reports President Donald Trump delivered on his key campaign promise: Securing the border. Yet the only thing falling faster than illegal crossings has been his approval rating on immigration. The problem: Instead of building on his win at the border with more popular arrests of criminal threats inside the country, the administration is going after migrants indiscriminately. Democrats can’t deny it: The border crisis is over. Border Patrol arrests have fallen nearly 90% since December to near-record lows. Nonetheless, only 40% of voters approved of the president’s handling of immigration in a July Quinnipiac poll, while 55% disapproved. The 15-point approval deficit contrasts with a +1 rating in the January Q-poll. Other polls show similarly dramatic declines. Of course, people don’t actually want more illegal immigration. Polls consistently show that the president is the most trusted on the border. Instead, it’s the deportations from within the United States driving the discontent. Quinnipiac’s July poll found that only 38% approve of how the administration is handling deportations. That doesn’t mean voters back the other side — 84% of disagree with Democrats who want to suspend deportations completely, according to a March Pew Research Center poll. But Trump emphasized that he would prioritize ending "sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals" — the position of 81% of voters. Unfortunately, most voters don’t believe the president is doing that right now.

Wall Street Journal [8/17/2025 4:18 PM, Mary Anastasia O’Grady, 646K] reports the State Department designated eight organized-crime syndicates based in Latin America as “foreign terrorist organizations,” or FTOs, in February. In July it added a ninth. Last week the New York Times reported that President Trump has signed a secret “directive” to the Pentagon to “begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels.” The White House declined to tell me if the Times story is true. But on Thursday Reuters reported that the U.S. deployment of air and naval resources to the Caribbean to combat cartels had begun. Whether their mission is interdiction or something more invasive remains unclear. Six of the Trump-designated FTOs are based in Mexico. A seventh operates between Central America and the U.S. The other two are Venezuelan. One of those is the Cartel de los Soles, headed by Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. It’s the one that was added to the FTO list in July. U.S. interdiction of ships and planes carrying drugs is nothing new in the region. But surgical strikes aimed at drug labs and kingpins would be. Critics of the idea warn of the danger of collateral damage and of foreign entanglements. The more important reason to think twice about the directive is that in most cases the targets would be in Mexico, and it’s unlikely to produce the desired results. The U.S. has sent mixed signals to Venezuela about its criminal government. On Aug. 7 the Justice Department raised the reward for information leading to the capture of Mr. Maduro to $50 million from $25 million. But a month earlier Treasury gave Chevron another license to pump oil for his regime. One day Mr. Maduro is a wanted thug, the next his government gets a U.S. leg up to satisfy corporate lobbyists in Washington. Next, the price on his head goes up. Public opinion in Venezuela may be hoping that the U.S. military will destabilize the despotic Mr. Maduro. But a lower-risk place to start is with a consistent sanctions policy. In Mexico the case for using the U.S. military is even less compelling. It won’t eliminate fentanyl trafficking in North America. The drug’s high potency means that small batches are all it takes to fuel illicit businesses in big ways. Recent declines in American overdose deaths attributable to the powerful narcotic seem to be tied to stricter practices governing the prescription of addictive painkillers rather than to the war on supply. This isn’t an argument against going after Mexico’s transnational criminal organizations, which also engage in bribery, extortion, kidnapping, murder, money laundering, counterfeiting and auto theft. It’s only to point out that while dropping explosives in places like the state of Sinaloa may give American drug warriors some instant gratification, it isn’t the answer to what ails Mexico. After nearly six years (2018-23) of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s soft-on-organized-crime policies, the mob is woven into Mexican politics at all levels. Cleanup requires support from a public that will bristle at the idea of a gringo “invasion.”

CNN’s State of the Union With Jake Tapper and Dana Bash [8/17/2025 12:23 PM, Staff, 441K] reports yesterday, it was learned Trump passed along to European leaders another Putin demand, that Ukraine cede more of its land to Russia, including the entire Donbass region, which Putin has not been able to take full control of militarily. That is sure to rankle President Zelenskyy, who’s heading into what could be another charged Oval Office meeting with Trump and his vice president, J.D. Vance, tomorrow, along with those European allies, everyone eager to learn what exactly Trump and Putin agreed to in their almost-three-hour-long meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, Friday, and where Trump stands now on Russia’s role in ending this bloody war. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, who was in the room for the Trump-Putin summit. And it was a three-on-three, and he was one of the three. He has also met face-to-face with Vladimir Putin many times, including earlier this month in Moscow. President Trump called this an extremely productive meeting and said many points were agreed to. "We agreed to robust security guarantees that I would describe as game- changing. We didn’t think that we were anywhere close to agreeing to Article 5 protection from the United States, legislative enshrinement within the Russian Federation not to go after any other territory when the peace deal is codified, legislative enshrinement in the Russian Federation, not to go after any other European countries and violate their sovereignty. " Witkoff comments. President Trump comments " I want to see a cease- fire rapidly. I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today. Everyone said it can’t be today, but I’m just saying I want the killing to stop. I’m in this to stop the killing." The cease-fire didn’t happen. Last night, Russia launched more than 60 aerial attacks across Ukraine, killing at least five people, injuring 11. President Trump had said, if he didn’t like what he was hearing in the meeting, he would walk out. Why didn’t he once it became clear Putin was not going to agree to a cease-fire, which would end the bloodshed now? "The one thing that the president cannot agree to on behalf of the Ukrainians is any sort of land swap. That is for the Ukrainians. We have -- they have asked us or stated that to us, and the president is respectful of it. But that’s why we’re moving so quickly to a meeting on Monday at the Oval Office with President Zelenskyy. That being said, we covered almost all the other issues necessary for a peace deal. So I describe the cease-fire as the interim move, where you would then negotiate towards a peace deal. We made so much progress at this meeting with regard to all the other ingredients necessary for a peace deal that we, that President Trump pivoted to that place. Now, we’re not waiting a week for a meeting with President Zelenskyy and the European leaders or two weeks or three weeks. We’re going into a meeting with them within 48 hours of ending this meeting in Alaska. So we are intent on trying to hammer out a peace deal that ends the fighting permanently very, very quickly, quicker than a cease-fire." Witkoff states.

CNN’s State of the Union With Jake Tapper and Dana Bash [8/17/2025 12:23 PM, Staff, 441K] reports Trump told FOX that he and Putin -- quote -- "largely have agreed on" -- unquote -- land swaps. And sources tell CNN that Trump, President Trump, told European leaders that Putin will agree to end the war and not attack Ukraine or other European countries, as you mentioned earlier, in exchange for Ukraine ceding the entire Donbass region to Russia, including territory that isn’t even currently occupied by Russian forces. Is that accurate? Is that what’s on the table, but Ukraine has to agree to cede all of Donbass? "There are five regions here. It’s always, in our view, been the crux of the deal. Those five regions, the Russians have previously said that they wanted it at the administrative lines. That’s a -- the administrative lines and the actual legal boundary lines, as compared to the contact lines. We made -- the Russians made some concessions at the table with regard to all five of those regions. There is an important discussion to be had with regard to Donetsk and what would happen there. And that discussion is going to specifically be detailed on Monday, when President Zelenskyy arrives with his delegation and some of the other European leaders. And, hopefully, we can cut through and make some decisions right then and there on that." Witkoff states.

NBC’s Meet the Press [8/17/2025 9:35 AM, Staff, 2376K] reports heading into the meeting with President Putin on Friday, President Trump said he wanted a ceasefire agreement. Now, he is saying he wants a broader peace deal. We know that Ukraine, we know that European allies want a ceasefire first. Is a ceasefire now off the table? "No, it’s not off the table. I think what the president said, in fact you just read it on – on the air a few moments ago, is it was agreed to by all that the best way to end this conflict is through a full peace deal. There’s no doubt about that. I mean, who would be against the fact if tomorrow we came to you and said, "We have a full peace deal, and it’s done." I think that’s the best way to end the war. Now, whether there needs to be a ceasefire on the way there, well, we’ve advocated for that. Unfortunately, the Russians as of now have not agreed to that. But the ideal here, what we’re aiming for here, is not a ceasefire. What we ultimately are aiming for is an end to this war." Rubio states. So what exactly changed? Is it that Putin would not agree to a ceasefire? "First of all the Russians are already facing very severe consequences. There’s not a single sanction that’s been lifted, not – not one. I mean, they’re facing all the same sanctions that have been in place today. All the American support continues for Ukraine. And, ultimately, look, if we’re not going to be able to reach an agreement here at any point, then there are going to be consequences, not only the consequences of the war continuing, but the consequences of all those sanctions continuing and potentially new sanctions on top of it as well. But what we’re trying to do right now is end the war. And in order to end the war, you’ve got to give every opportunity that exists. You have to – you have to be open to any opportunity that exists to bring it about. And here’s the thing to remind everybody – and when the president says this is not our war, but let’s be frank, this is not our war. The United States is not in a war. Ukraine is in a war. And we’ve been supporting Ukraine. We happen to be in the role of the only country in the world with the only leader in the world that can actually bring Putin to a table to even discuss these things. Now, the president has traveled, you know, all the way to Alaska, all the way back, has dedicated months and months of work, him, our entire team on this matter because we want to see an end to the war. But – but if tomorrow the war continues, life in America will not be fundamentally altered. So I – I think that what we have to understand is that this has been a priority for this president because he wants to promote peace. He wants to promote the end of a war. And I think we should be happy that we have a president that’s trying to promote peace and bring a war to an end." Rubio states.

NBC’s Meet the Press [8/17/2025 9:35 AM, Staff, 2376K] reports Secretary Rubio is shown a map of Ukraine. In the red sections is where Russia has control. It’s about 20% of the entire country. There are reports that Putin is asking to keep all of this territory in a potential deal. Is that what’s being discussed? Rubio says that he can confirm Putin has given speeches about the land. "Ultimately, if the Ukrainians are not willing to give that up, and no one’s pushing Ukraine to give that up. And so I don’t think –if there’s going to be a peace deal, it’s not going to look like that. But he certainly is making demands. He’s certainly asking for things that the Ukrainians and others are not willing to be supportive of and that we’re not going to push them to give. And the Ukrainians are asking for things that the Russians are not going to give up on. I know this sounds, you know, I know everybody wants to have more detail. But we’re trying to have a serious negotiation here and see if we can find any middle ground between two warring parties in a very difficult war where the Russians feel, as they always do, like they have momentum on their side. And – and the Ukrainians have been incredibly brave in fighting back and in the defensive posture they’ve taken. The Ukrainians have inflicted a tremendous amount of damage on the Russians. I think last month alone, 20,000, 20,000 Russian soldiers were killed in one month in this war. So the Ukrainians have inflicted tremendous amount of damage on the Russians as a result of this. Both sides are very dug in. This is a difficult one. But we’re going to continue to work on it because the president’s made it a priority to try to end the war that should have never happened." Rubio states.

CBS’ Face The Nation [8/17/2025 12:19 PM, Staff, 4673K] reports Vladimir Putin did not give President Trump the cease- fire he sought. And now Putin says the root causes of the conflict have to be resolved in a peace agreement. Isn’t the root cause the fact that Russia invaded in the first place? "The bottom line is that all of – you know, we’re not going to focus on all of that stuff. We’re going to focus on this, are they going to stop fighting or not, and what it’s going to take to stop the fighting. And what it’s going to take to stop the fighting, if we’re being honest and serious here, is, both sides are going to have to give, and both sides should expect to get something from this. And that’s a very difficult thing to do. It’s very difficult, because Ukraine obviously feels, you know, harmed, and rightfully so, because they were invaded, and the Russian side, because they feel like they have got momentum in the battlefield, and frankly, don’t care, don’t seem to care very much about how many Russian soldiers die in this endeavor." Rubio states. Secretary Rubio says that Monday there will be a meeting with President Zelenskyy and other European leaders. President Trump was telling European leaders what was discussed was Putin demanding control of Donetsk, a region in the east that his forces do not fully hold. And the U.K. estimates that taking that full area could be as long as another four years. Putin also is demanding Russian be an official language in Ukraine and something regarding Russian Orthodox churches. Did the U.S. accept all of what Putin laid out at that table? " The United States is not in a position to accept anything or reject anything, because, ultimately, it’s up to the Ukrainians. They’re the ones that Russia has to make peace with, and Ukraine with Russia." Rubio states.

CBS’ Face The Nation [8/17/2025 12:19 PM, Staff, 4673K] reports Italy’s prime minister says that President Trump revived the idea of security guarantees inspired by NATO’s Article 5 and a collective security clause that would involve the United States. How does that work? "That’s what we’re going to be working on. That’s why – that’s one of the reasons why, you know, I talked yesterday to all the national security advisers, a bunch of them from the different European countries. There are European leaders coming here tomorrow, heads of state coming tomorrow, along with President Zelenskyy, to discuss this in more detail. I mean, the constructs of something like this needs to be built out. Once thing – it’s – a concept is one thing. The reality, you know, how it’s built and how it would work, is another. But those are the kinds of talks that we’re going to be having with them, along with some of the other issues that are at play. But that – that is one of the – if you were to break this thing down, I mean, there are – obviously, there needs to be an agreement on territories and where the lines are going to be drawn. That’s not going to be very easy. That’s going to be tough. I think there has to be some discussion about security guarantees for Ukraine, because they don’t want this war to – none of us want to see this war in the future. They’re a sovereign country. They have a right to have security agreements with other countries and security alliances with other countries. And then there’s the whole issue of reconstruction."

ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos [8/17/2025 10:27 AM, Staff, 2384K] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must make concessions to achieve a peace deal. "You can’t have a peace agreement unless both sides give and get. You can’t have a peace agreement unless both sides make concessions," Rubio told ABC News’ "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz. "If not, it’s just called surrender, and neither side is going to surrender, so both sides are going to have to make concessions." On those concessions, Rubio said the United States did ask Putin to make them; however, when it comes to sanctions, the Trump administration believes that as soon as it levies additional sanctions to those already in place, the negotiations will halt. "The problem is this: The minute you levy additional sanctions, strong additional sanctions, the talking stops. Talking stops. And at that point, the war just continues," he said.

ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos [8/17/2025 10:27 AM, Staff, 2384K] reports Rubio suggested that the United States believes that Ukraine is justified in their request for security guarantees, calling it a "very reasonable" request. "We do know that Ukraine has said repeatedly and publicly talked about is security guarantees. They need to be able to enter into security guarantees that ensure that this is never going to happen again, that they’re not going to get re-invaded in two and a half or three years or four years or whenever it may be," Rubio said. "That’s something we’re working on. And that’s something the Russian side has to understand, obviously, is that as a sovereign country, Ukraine has a right, like every sovereign country, to enter into security alliances and agreements with other countries." Rubio also indicated that Trump’s position on the war in Ukraine hasn’t changed after Friday’s summit and that Ukraine’s involvement is essential for a peace deal.

FOX News Sunday [8/17/2025 9:00 AM, Staff, 1846K] reports U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff discusses the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska and the next steps to end the Russia-Ukraine war on ‘Fox News Sunday.’

FOX News Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo [8/17/2025 9:00 AM, Staff, 1846K] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio joins ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ to break down President Trump’s high-stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin, why the summit didn’t end in a ceasefire and what progress was made.

NewsMax [8/17/2025 1:24 PM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4779K] reports that an estimated 1.6 million immigrants have been deported so far this year demonstrate that enforcement of federal immigration laws is working, John Torres, a former ICE acting director, told Newsmax, Sunday. "[This] clearly demonstrates to me that the enforcement of the laws that are on the books is working, as well as creating a deterrence, so that the people who are thinking about coming here are going to stop and think twice," Torres said on Newsmax’s "Sunday Agenda.". He noted that many immigrants already in the country are leaving voluntarily after recognizing that ICE agents are actively patrolling and pursuing priority cases. Torres also confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security counts self-deportations as part of the total figure. "That is a program that used to be the CBP One app, which now can allow those who want to go back on their own to take DHS up on their offer," he said. "That comes along with a cash incentive to go back voluntarily of their own free will, at their own accord.". The agency is also in the middle of a large-scale hiring effort, with more than 100,000 people applying to join ICE. Torres said the level of interest reflects public support for law enforcement and border security. "They voted for law and order. They voted for a secure border," he said. "You have a lot of people who are willing to join ICE, work for Homeland Security, and work specifically on these priority cases, looking at the most serious convicted felons, criminals, as well as potential terrorists.".

NewsMax [8/17/2025 9:05 AM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4779K] reports Rep. Delia Ramirez, who earlier this month rankled fellow lawmakers by referring to herself as a "proud Guatemalan" before being an American and by calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement a "terrorist organization," is a "hypocrite" and should leave the United States, former Rep. Mayra Flores said on Newsmax Sunday. "It’s just outrageous," the Texas Republican told Newsmax’s "Wake Up America Weekend" about Ramirez’s comments on ICE. "These men and women are just doing their job. They’re enforcing the laws that Congress passed.". Earlier this month at the Netroots Nation conference in New Orleans, Ramirez, D-Ill., while addressing border czar Tom Homan in her remarks, said, "We will continue to stand up for our rights, and we will continue to call out the terrorist organization that is ICE.". Flores told Newsmax that if Ramirez does not like the policies, she should present legislation to change them. "She’s a hypocrite," Flores said. "She’s an anti-American, just like the entire Democratic Party. They’re not proud of being Americans. They do not respect law and order. They do not respect the Constitution. She should not be in Congress … she shouldn’t represent the people of the United States of America.".

New York Post [8/17/2025 11:37 AM, Paul Dreyer, 43962K] reports supporters claim a bill introduced by Democratic state lawmakers last month banning ICE agents and police from wearing masks during raids will ensure safety and prevent authoritarianism. One backer, Sen. Patricia Fahy, fumes that ICE is "operating like masked militias" and "paramilitary secret police" and so must be reined in. Nonsense: The awkwardly and misleadingly named Mandating End to Lawless Tactics Act is actually little more than an attempt to thwart immigration enforcement by making ICE agents fear for their personal safety. It joins similar efforts in other states and in Congress to "unmask ICE.". In the words of GOP Sen. George Borrello, "This bill is driven by ideology, not a genuine concern for public safety.". The Left’s hypocrisy on this issue is staggering. Progressives — including many of the MELT Act’s supporters in the Legislature — have opposed mask bans for criminal suspects and rioters, such as Nassau County’s common-sense ban, which has exceptions for law enforcement. Yet for all their sympathy for those involved with the criminal-justice system, they have no qualms about painting cops as criminals and subjecting them to mask bans. If these lawmakers truly cared about public safety, they’d go after the rioters and real criminals who’ve routinely hidden their identities to evade accountability following the 2020 George Floyd unrest and Oct. 7 demonstrations. ICE and other law enforcement don’t mask up because they have machinations of becoming a "paramilitary secret police." They do so to keep themselves and their families safe from multinational gangs such as Tren de Aragua. Facial-recognition technology, now rapidly improving due to AI, gives anyone — including nefarious actors like Antifa or cartel members — the ability to reverse image search the unmasked face of an ICE agent. They can then obtain and post their names, addresses and information about their relatives to social media.

CBS Baltimore [8/17/2025 11:13 PM, JT Moodee Lockman, Caroline Foreback, 45245K] reports a Maryland pastor is back home with his family almost a month after he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who said he overstayed his visa by 25 years. Daniel Fuentes Espinal, 54, was granted bond and released from an ICE detention center in Louisiana, according to family friend Len Foxwell. "Pastor Fuentes Espinal and his family are together again for the first time since that terrible morning of July 21, when a pastor and father of three said goodbye to his wife and children, left for work, and never came home," Foxwell said in a social media post on Thursday. Foxwell says Fuentes Espinal’s family and his congregation are thrilled to have him back. Foxwell says the family will continue working to secure a green card for Fuentes Espinal. Pastor Fuentes Espinal is a pillar of our community", Foxwell said. "He has been here for 24 years, has never been charged with a crime, and more importantly, he’s been the moral and spiritual center of a tight-knit community on the Eastern Shore." Foxwell said the community raised money to help the family with legal and travel expenses as they fought for his release. Fuentes Espinal’s oldest daughter flew down to Louisiana to get him and they were home in Easton by Friday night. "I’m just very happy and my heart is full," daughter Clarissa Fuentes Diaz said in a video to the community. "Thank you so much and may God bless you." The Easton, Maryland, community rallied in support of Fuentes Espinal after he was detained in July while he was on his way to work. Fuentes Espinal is a pastor at Iglesia Del Nazareno Jesus Te Ama and a construction worker. He has lived in the U.S. since 2001 and does not have a criminal record, according to Foxwell. Foxwell said Fuentes Espinal’s family has been working for years to secure a green card for him. According to ICE, Fuentes Espinal, a Honduran national, "entered the United States on a 6-month visa and never left in 24 years." "It is a federal crime to overstay the authorized period of time granted under a visitor’s visa," an ICE spokesperson said. After he was arrested, Fuentes Espinal was taken to a detention center in Salisbury before he was transferred to a facility in Baltimore, then to the Winn Correctional Facility in Louisiana. "He spent three days at a detention center in Baltimore, sleeping on a cold bench with barely enough food to eat," Foxwell said. Foxwell said Fuentes Espinal had little contact with his family while he was detained. "They actually charge $50 for a phone call for a family that’s already lost their primary breadwinner. That’s a huge financial hit," he said. Foxwell said Fuentes Espinal described deplorable conditions during his three-night stay at the detention center in Baltimore before he was transferred to the facility in Louisiana. "He didn’t have a shower, he didn’t have a sink of his own, he didn’t have a toilet," Foxwell said. "He didn’t even have a bed to sleep on."

National News Desk [8/17/2025 1:21 PM, DeAnthony Taylor, 160K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said an officer was seriously hurt during an arrest in Washington after a suspect violently resisted. The incident reportedly occurred Saturday afternoon in the District. Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin shared a video on X around 5:37 p.m. on Aug. 16. The footage showed masked and unidentified officers who appeared to be ending an arrest. The video caught a confrontation between the officers and bystanders, with one individual saying, “You know you guys are ruining this country, right?” An officer responded, “Liberals already ruined it.” In her tweet, McLaughlin stated, “What this video doesn’t show is the ICE officer on the ground with a bloody head and concussion due to violent resistance from the illegal alien they were apprehending.” McLaughlin told 7News that ICE agents identified and arrested Cristian Enrique Carias Torres, a Venezuelan native who entered the U.S. in 2023. Torres allegedly had a final order of removal from an immigration judge issued that year and had multiple outstanding warrants in Maryland related to traffic offenses after failing to appear in court. In response to the video, McLaughlin said that the officer conducted himself with dignity and did not violate DHS policy despite being taunted during the incident. She also claimed another ICE officer was left with a bloody head and a concussion after Torres allegedly resisted arrest. “This illegal alien has shown time and time again total disregard for the rule of law in the United States of America,” McLaughlin said in a statement on Sunday. "We are proud of the brave men and women of ICE who are facing a 1000% increase in assaults as cowardly politicians and activists encourage violence against them." McLaughlin added that assaults against their officers had risen significantly in recent years, forcing some to wear masks to protect themselves and their families, specifically from highly sophisticated gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13, criminal rings, murderers, and rapists. According to McLaughlin, the officers in the video identified themselves and showed their badges during the arrest.

Telemundo51 [8/17/2025 1:00 PM, Raul R., 144K] reports the arrest of a man in the Florida Keys who claimed to be an ICE agent has led to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service ruling on the incident. According to the arrest report, Scott Thomas Deiseroth, 42, was arrested by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office after reckless driving with two children in the car. During the arrest, Deiseroth identified himself as an ICE agent. According to the authorities, the subject had a strong smell of alcohol, erred when responding to where he was and provided an incorrect travel address. When asked to perform some sobriety exercises and fail, he was taken into custody. For their part, the children were handed over to a relative and the Florida Department of Children and Families was notified. Although it has not been possible to corroborate so far that Deiseroth’s statements are true and he is actually an ICE agent, after the fact was known, Garrett Ripa, the Field Director of ICE in Miami, issued a statement in which he clarifies that they will not pronounce on the fact, as he is under investigation. He also stated that: As public servants working for a law enforcement agency, every ICE employee is subject to the highest standards of conduct. If an investigation determines that they have not adhered to these standards, the corresponding measures shall be taken."

FOX News [8/17/2025 10:02 PM, Sophia Compton, 40019K] reports an illegal immigrant truck driver has been arrested and faces deportation after allegedly attempting to make an unauthorized U-turn in Florida — resulting in a crash that killed three people. Harjinder Singh, who entered the country illegally and obtained a commercial driver’s license in California, has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide in connection with Tuesday’s fatal crash, according to a news release from the Florida Dept. of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV). "This is a devastating tragedy made even worse by the fact that it was totally preventable," White House Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital in an email. "Illegal aliens that have no legal right to be in our country certainly should not be granted commercial drivers’ licenses.” While operating a commercial semi-truck with a trailer on the Florida Turnpike in Fort Pierce, Singh allegedly attempted a U-turn in an unauthorized area. This resulted in the trailer jackknifing and colliding with a minivan — leaving all three of the minivan’s passengers dead, according to officials. "Gavin Newscum’s pro-illegal alien policies have deadly consequences," Jackson added. "Yet he continues to double down and put illegals over American citizens.” Singh, who officials believe crossed the US-Mexico border in 2018, remains in custody on both state vehicular homicide charges as well as immigration violations. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer has been issued, according to an X post from the Official White House Rapid Response account. "The actions taken by the defendant while operating a commercial tractor-trailer are both shocking and criminal," FLHSMV Executive Director Dave Kerner said in a statement. "Three people lost their lives as a result of his recklessness, and countless friends and family members will experience the pain of their loss forever.” A law passed in 2013 allows California residents to obtain a driver’s license, regardless of their immigration status. ICE did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
Breitbart [8/17/2025 9:46 PM, Warner Todd Huston, 2608K]

New York Post [8/17/2025 4:25 PM, Alex Oliveira, 43962K] reports terrifying video shows the moment a minivan ploughed into a tractor-trailer making an outrageous rogue U-turn on a Florida highway last week — with all three people in the van killed and the truck’s illegal-migrant driver now charged with homicide. The roadway horror happened around 3 p.m. Tuesday on the Florida Turnpike near Fort Pierce when the tractor-trailer driven by suspect Harjinder Singh made a hard left turn across the highway and attempted to cross the median through an “official use only” pass, authorities said. The truck’s trailer blocked all of oncoming traffic’s lanes as it nosed over the median — with footage from inside its cab showing a black minivan driving toward it with no time to stop and nowhere to turn to avoid a collision. Within seconds, the minivan slammed into the trailer at full speed and became wedged underneath. The victims’ names have not been released, but were confirmed to be a 37-year-old Pompano Beach woman, a 30-year-old Florida City man and a 54-year-old Miami man, Treasure Coast Newspapers reported. Singh was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and is in Florida custody. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer also was put out for him after it was determined that he’d been in the US illegally since 2018, when he crossed into the country over the Mexican border, CBS12 reported. It remains unclear what country Singh is originally from. He had been driving with a California commercial driver’s license.

WTRC 95.3 FM Fort Wayne [8/17/2025 11:42 AM, Staff] reports Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons says Indiana’s new detention center will play an important role in the agency’s work. The Department of Homeland Security and the State of Indiana announced a partnership allowing ICE to use part of the Miami Correctional Center, nicknamed the “Speedway Slammer,” for up to 1,000 detainees. DHS says the facility will house some of the most serious criminal illegal immigrants arrested by ICE. The center was modeled after Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” facility. Governor Mike Braun backed the plan, saying Indiana is taking a cooperative approach to addressing illegal immigration and setting an example for other states. Speaking with WIBC’s Hammer and Nigel, Lyons explained why this site matters. “In the Midwest, especially the central U.S., we don’t have a lot of bed space,” he said. “Facilities like this, with help from states, are key for ICE to carry out its mission and help keep America safe.”

CBS Chicago [8/17/2025 2:14 PM, Jeramie Bizzle, 45245K] reports an ice cream shop owner was charged with secretly recording multiple women, including two minors, at his shop in Addison, Illinois, earlier this month. Steven Weisberg, 58, of Buffalo Grove, made his first court appearance on Saturday morning. He was charged with two counts of child pornography and two counts of unauthorized video recording. A judge denied pretrial release for Weisberg at the hearing. The DuPage County State Attorney’s Office said earlier this month, Addison Police received an anonymous complaint of suspicious activity at the Flavor Frenzy ice cream shop, at 48 W. Lake St. in Addison, regarding what appeared to be a fake wall electrical outlet in the shop’s restroom. An undercover officer with the Addison Police Department went to the shop and allegedly saw an outlet in the shop’s bathroom with a small black lens in one of the receptacles. It was positioned to capture portions of the restroom, including a urinal, the office said. After obtaining a search warrant, officers removed the fake outlet and found that it contained a recording camera. According to the office, Weisberg allegedly installed the camera a few years earlier and was able to access and save the video footage from the camera on his laptop and cell phone. Authorities obtained a search warrant for Weisberg’s electronic devices both at his home and at the shop, and found 11 videos in the phone’s deleted folder depicting six different individuals, at least three of whom were female employees at the ice cream shop, using the bathroom. It is further alleged that one of the videos depicted a female trying on different Flavor Frenzy T-shirts, completely exposing her breasts to the camera throughout the video. Detectives found the victim in the video was a 16-year-old girl who worked at the shop. The office said that Weisberg allegedly asked the girl to try on and model different T-shirts for the business, and she had to use the bathroom. Detectives also found two additional videos on his phone of two other female employees, one of whom was a minor, at various stages of undress, exposing parts of their bodies. Weisberg was arrested by the Addison Police Department on Friday afternoon. Since his arrest, four additional minor female employees reported to police that Weisberg allegedly asked them to model T-shirts and told them to remove their bras for the photos so that there was no bra outline in the photos. Weisberg is due back in court on Sept. 15. The Investigation into the incident remains ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Addison Police Department at 630-543-3080.

Breitbart [8/17/2025 6:20 PM, Amy Furr, 3077K] reports a migrant detention facility of historic proportions is scheduled to open on Sunday in El Paso, Texas. The facility, located at Fort Bliss, can house 1,000 migrants but may be expanded to hold nearly 5,000, WCVB reported Sunday. President Donald Trump’s administration said when it is finished the facility will be “the largest federal detention center in history,” the news coming as Trump has been working to find and detain illegal aliens across the nation. In a statement, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Tricia McLaughlin said, “The One Big Beautiful Bill has provided historic funding to help us carry out this mandate, especially by securing enough detention capacity to maintain an average daily population of 100,000 illegal aliens and 80,000 new ICE beds.” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) recently toured the site he called the “Lone Star Lock Up,” according to KFOX. “It’s important for people to understand — we are not talking gardeners or housekeepers. These are people who didn’t show up to court-ordered hearings. There is no due process concern. They have no legal right to be here,” he explained. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced on July 26 that the facility was being built and said, “We will help arrest, jail, & deport illegal immigrants.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

NPR [8/17/2025 8:06 AM, Megan Jamerson, 34837K] Audio: HERE reports city officials in Los Angeles are taking new measures to try and ensure that families without legal status feel safe getting their kids to school, after a summer of federal immigration raids.

The Wrap [8/17/2025 11:12 AM, Stephanie Kaloi, 4145K] reports Colombian TikTok influencer Leidy Tatiana Mafla-Martinez was taken into ICE custody while live streaming from her home in Los Angeles. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Martinez was arrested in connection with a prior DUI. Newsweek reported Martinez, who is well-known on TikTok for posting videos that document several ICE arrests, was filmed on Friday seated in her Tesla when agents opened her car door and pulled her onto the pavement. She also appeared to experience a medical event during the arrest, and at one point onlookers are heard demanding treatment for her. The arrest was also briefly interrupted by a man who attempted to tow one of the police cars in the arrest. “He mocked and videotaped ICE officers chasing after him,” McLaughlin also told Newsweek. “Secretary Noem has been clear: Anyone who seeks to impede law enforcement will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” Martinez was initially transported to White Memorial Hospital and is currently being held in a detention center in downtown Los Angeles. On Thursday, Los Angeles Rep. Jimmy Gomez accused ICE of staging an empty migrant detention center. “One person was talking to the Mexican consulate who happened to be there, and the other person was just in the cell with their head down on a table or on the table or something. He was just kind of sitting there,” Gomez said of the center he visited recently. Gomez also questioned why the center was so empty despite the numerous arrests made recently. Nearly 2,800 people have been taken into ICE custody since early June. “They’ve been running raids, even over the weekend, and all of a sudden there’s no one there? That’s just completely bizarre,” he told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki.

Daily Caller [8/17/2025 3:28 PM, Jason Hopkins, 985K] reports when U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joe Edlow returned for another stint in the Trump administration, he expected to wrangle with a mess left by the Biden administration’s border crisis. Soon, however, Edlow would be met with a surprise. Not only was USCIS forced to tackle a record-setting pile of asylum cases, but he was tasked with leading an agency that, for 4 years, did very little to address immigration fraud. The director has since buckled down on asylum fraud, identifying discrepancies in immigration programs and tightening election integrity. "What I didn’t know was what some of our backlogs turned into," Edlow said to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Nominated by President Donald Trump in March and officially sworn into the position in July, Edlow took the reins of an agency put to the brink amid following 8.5 million migrant encounters along the southern border during the Biden era. Although largely unfazed by what he uncovered, the immigration chief says he was still taken aback by his predecessors’ sheer apathy for weeding out fraud. Prior to leading the agency, Edlow had served as chief counsel and deputy director of USCIS during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. In July, he returned to a backlog of asylum cases that dwarfed the numbers he previously dealt with. "We had about 450,000 cases that were pending on the asylum active docket," Edlow said of the end of Trump’s first term. "When I got back, there were over 1.5 million cases.". "Does anything surprise on me what they were doing? Yeah, what surprised me is they weren’t doing much," he continued. "We already knew that there was a misalignment of priorities and resources, but that became painfully obvious that really USCIS was acting as kind of the arm of the administration to help maneuver the parole programs, to do what they could on credible fear and to ultimately try to address the growing border crisis that the Bidens have created.". Americans are painfully aware of the illegal immigration crisis that raged during most of President Joe Biden’s tenure.

AP [8/17/2025 1:32 PM, Staff, 12715K] reports a day after conservative activist Laura Loomer, an advisor to President Trump, posted videos on social media of children from Gaza arriving in the U.S. for medical treatment and questioning how they got visas, the State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a review. The State Department said Saturday the visas would be stopped while it looks into how "a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas" were issued in recent days. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday told "Face the Nation" on CBS that the action came after "outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it.". Rubio said that there were "just a small number" of the visas issued to children in need of medical aid but that they were accompanied by adults. The congressional offices reached out with evidence that "some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas," he asserted, without providing evidence or naming those organizations. As a result, he said, "we are going to pause this program and reevaluate how those visas are being vetted and what relationship, if any, has there been by these organizations to the process of acquiring those visas.". Loomer on Friday posted videos on X of children from Gaza arriving this month in San Francisco and Houston for medical treatment with the aid of an organization called Heal Palestine. "Despite the US saying we are not accepting Palestinian ‘refugees’ into the United States under the Trump administration," these people from Gaza were able to travel to the U.S., she said. She called it a "national security threat" and asked who signed off on the visas, calling for the person to be fired. She tagged Rubio, Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Trump has downplayed Loomer’s influence on his administration, but several officials swiftly left or were removed shortly after she publicly criticized them. The State Department on Sunday declined to comment on how many of the visas had been granted and whether the decision to halt visas to people from Gaza had anything to do with Loomer’s posts. Heal Palestine said in a statement Sunday that it was "distressed" by the State Department decision to stop halt visitor visas from Gaza. The group said it is "an American humanitarian nonprofit organization delivering urgent aid and medical care to children in Palestine.".

Reported similarly:
ABC News [8/17/2025 4:05 PM, Somayeh Malekian, Morgan Winsor, and Benjamin Siu, 27036K]
CNN [8/17/2025 5:17 PM, Alison Main and Jennifer Hansler, 23245K]

The Hill [8/17/2025 3:45 PM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12414K] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday defended the State Department’s move to halt Gaza visitor visas to the United States, saying he’s seen evidence linking visa recipients to terrorist groups in the region. In an interview on CBS News’s "Face the Nation," host Margaret Brennan asked Rubio why children seeking medical aid in the U.S. would be a threat, a day after the State Department announced it would conduct a review of the processes used to issue temporary medical-humanitarian visas. "First of all, it’s not just kids," Rubio said. "It’s a bunch of adults that are accompanying them.” "Second, we had outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it, and so we’re going to reevaluate how those visas are being granted," he continued. "Not just to the children, but how those visas are being granted to the people who are accompanying them and, by the way, to some of the organizations that are facilitating it.” Rubio said "numerous" congressional offices have presented evidence "that some of the organizations bragging about, and involved in, acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas.” "And so we are not going to be in partnership with groups that are friendly with Hamas. So we need to — we’re going to pause those visas," pending further review, he continued. The State Department said Saturday that all visitor visas for Palestinians in Gaza "are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days.”

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [8/17/2025 9:17 PM, Zach LaChance, 1563K]

AP [8/18/2025 12:46 AM, Staff, 37974K] reports that, on Saturday, August 16, 2025, the North Miami Public Library, located at 835 NE 132nd Street, became the center of a historic moment as hundreds of aspiring citizens from across the US gathered for a Citizenship Drive hosted by Senator Daphne Campbell and community partners. Attendees traveled from near and far — including Port St. Lucie, Arizona, New York, New Jersey, California, Orlando, Sarasota, Bradenton, Palm Beach, and Delray Beach — all united by one purpose: to take the next step in becoming proud citizens of the United States. The event highlighted the urgency many immigrants feel under new federal policies, which have prompted long-term residents—some holding green cards for 20, 40, 60, and even 80 years—to finally pursue U.S. citizenship. Due to the overwhelming response, more than 200 applicants had to be turned away, underscoring the critical demand for such services. “This was an extremely successful event,” said Senator Daphne Campbell, who spearheaded the drive. “For too long, many in our community have delayed applying for citizenship. But now, people recognize that becoming a citizen is essential to protect their rights, ensure their safety, and secure their ability to vote and access the resources they deserve.” Senator Campbell expressed deep gratitude to the volunteers, sponsors, and organizations who came together to serve the immigrant community: “I thank every single partner, every sponsor, every volunteer, and every person who showed up yesterday. Together, we made history. Together, we are building stronger, safer, and more empowered communities.” The event was not just about paperwork—it was about empowerment, dignity, and the future of America. Each new citizen represents a stronger democracy and a brighter tomorrow.

Chicago Tribune [8/17/2025 4:31 PM, Rebecca Johnson, 5352K] reports that, at a farm in the south suburbs, upbeat Arabic music swept across the land as more than a dozen Palestinian children — many with prosthetic limbs or in wheelchairs — and their families danced and moved to the music in the center of a raised platform. One of the children, Khalil Abu Shaban, traveled in a circle using his wheelchair and periodically sang into a microphone as the dozens who attended the Saturday celebration at Arab Chicago Farm in Frankfort excitedly clapped for him. Abu Shaban, 14, arrived in Chicago about a year ago with his mom and sister to receive medical care at Shriners Children’s specialty hospital after losing both his legs in a bombing in Gaza. He said he’s working on getting his final prosthetics and attends physical therapy a few times a week. He’s also preparing to start ninth grade and has enjoyed swimming and fishing while in the United States. “I’m waiting on my final prosthetic so I can actually practice on that,” Abu Shaban said via an interpreter. “I’m enjoying my time here.” Organizers said the fundraiser, put on by Ohio-based nonprofit HEAL Palestine, hoped the event could introduce community members to about a dozen children — including Abu Shaban — who, with the group’s help, were evacuated from Gaza for medical care in the United States. HEAL Palestine coordinates travel for the injured children and their families and assists them in applying for visas to the U.S. But as Abu Shaban and others in Frankfort enjoyed their day on Saturday, President Donald Trump’s State Department announced that same day it was stopping all visitor visas for people from Gaza, a move that places HEAL Palestine’s work at risk, said the group’s executive director, Steve Sosebee. The State Department said it will start conducting a “full and thorough review of the process and procedures” used to issue a “small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas” in recent days. “It’s a very arbitrary measure that doesn’t take into consideration that these kids are coming for treatments in private hospitals,” Sosebee said, adding that it’s now “impossible” to bring more injured kids to the U.S. “They’re not taking government money. We’re not a government-sponsored taxpayer organization, so we’re privately funded.” “There’s no reason for the government to put this ban. These are just injured children. They’re not political kids. They’re not security threats,” he continued. “They’re just innocent children who need medical care that they can’t get back home. It’s a very unfortunate measure and we hope it’s reversed.” The State Department announcement comes after Laura Loomer, a far-right, pro-Israel government activist and Trump ally known for her racist posts, claimed with no evidence on social media that HEAL Palestine is “mass importing GAZANS into the US under the false claim of ‘humanitarian aid.’” She asked the Trump administration to “shut down this abomination ASAP before a family member of one of these GAZANS goes rogue and kills Americans.” Loomer celebrated the State Department’s decision Saturday, calling it “fantastic news” and asking the president to add people from Gaza to a travel ban.

Telemundo [8/17/2025 2:32 PM, Amber Frias and Helen Jeong, 2782K] reports a vehicle stop at a immigration control in California has ended two different versions of how it could degenerate in a shooting of officers against a family’s car. The family, from San Bernardino, in eastern Los Angeles, claims that masked federal agents opened fire in an inappropriate manner against their van, while federal authorities argue that they had to shoot in self-defense because the car hit a couple of agents from the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP). Both versions begin in a similar way: The family says officers, who were travelling in unmarked cars, surrounded their van in the Acacia Avenue area and on Saturday morning as they returned home from work. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says officers tried to stop the car during a "selective police operation." In a cell phone-shocked video from inside the van, the family can be heard demanding the identification of the officers. Despite the officers’ attempt to force people out of the van, they all stayed inside. The video appears to catch the officers smashing the car windows. In slow motion you can see the arm of one of the agents through the broken glasses. Instantly afterwards, the driver accelerates to drive away at high speed with a squeak of tires, and then three loud bursts are heard. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the outbursts were effectively shot. But he argues that the officers had to open fire because the driver tried to "trock" them with the van, hitting two of them. "In the course of the incident, the suspect drove his car into the officers and ran over two CBP officers. Because of that, the subjects forced a CBP officer to fire his gun in self-defense," a DHS spokesman told NBC Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Times [8/17/2025 8:44 PM, James Queally, 12715K] reports Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a request Sunday seeking records from the Trump administration to explain why a phalanx of Border Patrol agents showed up outside a news conference held by leading California Democrats last week. Newsom filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security asking for “all documents and records” related to the Aug. 14 Border Patrol operation in downtown Los Angeles, which took place outside the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo. At the news conference, Newsom announced a campaign to seek voter approval to redraw California’s congressional maps to boost Democrats’ chances of retaking the House and stymieing Trump’s agenda in the 2026 midterm elections. “Trump’s use of the military and federal law enforcement to try to intimidate his political opponents is yet another dangerous step towards authoritarianism,” Newsom posted Sunday on X. “This is an attempt to advance a playbook from the despots he admires in Russia and North Korea.” Newsom announced at the press event the “Election Rigging Response Act” — which would scrap independently drawn congressional maps in favor of those sketched by Democratic strategists in an attempt to counter moves by Republicans in Texas and other GOP-led states to gerrymander their own districts to favor Republicans in the 2026 midterms. Meanwhile, dozens of armed federal agents massed in the adjacent streets wearing masks, helmets and camouflage. Newsom and other leading Democrats, including L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, dismissed the Border Patrol action as an intimidation tactic. In response to questions from The Times on Sunday, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the agents were “focused on enforcing the law, not on [Newsom].” McLaughlin said two people were arrested during the Little Tokyo operation. One was a drug trafficker, according to McLaughlin, who said the other was a member of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that has been a focus of the Trump administration’s efforts to use the Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportation efforts. She did not respond to questions about how many agents were deployed or what specific agencies were involved in the Aug. 14 operation. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino, who has been leading the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration operations in California, was at the scene and briefly spoke to reporters. McLaughlin did not name either person arrested or respond to a request for further information or evidence of links between the arrests and the Venezuelan gang. “Under President Trump and [Department of Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristi] Noem, if you break the law, you will face the consequences,” she wrote in an e-mailed statement. “Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.”

Breitbart [8/17/2025 6:12 PM, Joel B. Pollak, 2608K] reports California Gov. Gavin Newsom angrily demanded information Sunday about a U.S. Border Patrol raid outside a rally in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday during his rally to gerrymander the state’s congressional seats. As Breitbart News reported, Newsom held a partisan rally in favor of ignoring the state’s constitutionally mandated nonpartisan district map, to "defend democracy" by eliminating several Republican-held seats. Outside, the U.S. Border Patrol descended — as Democrats fumed. As the New York Times reported: More than a dozen Border Patrol agents turned up in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday at a rally and news conference that Gov. Gavin Newsom was holding on congressional redistricting. As the governor was preparing to speak inside the Japanese American National Museum in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles, the agents assembled outside, many of them masked and armed, and some wearing tactical helmets and carrying rifles. It was not immediately clear whether the agents who arrived on Thursday were patrolling the neighborhood or were part of a targeted operation. Fox News reported that the agents did, in fact, make an arrest. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem suggested to Fox that federal authorities would not conduct such an operation without actionable intelligence. And Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X that the governor’s concerns were overblown. On Sunday, Newsom’s office issued a Freedom of Information Act demand for information about the use of Border Patrol agents, in his words, against "a fair electoral process" — i.e. a partisan gerrymandering rally: On August 14, as Governor Newsom and other California elected leaders announced the Election Rigging Response Act to counter President Trump’s attempt to rig the mid-term elections, dozens of armed and masked U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents descended upon the Japanese American National Museum in Downtown Los Angeles. This attempt to intimidate the people of California from defending a fair electoral process was a grotesque use of federal government resources for political grandstanding. Newsom’s letter also demands the administration furnish any communications it may have had with Fox News — a request that almost certainly runs afoul of the First Amendment’s protection of press freedom.

Telemundo52 [8/17/2025 11:46 PM, Camilla Rambaldi and Elizabeth Chavolla, 93K] reports federal agents seen on video smashing a car window in San Bernardino said the driver refused to get out of the vehicle and tried to run them over, the Department of Homeland Security said Sunday in a statement to our sister station NBC4. The department also reported that the subject remains at large. The incident, recorded on video from inside the truck, shows masked U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents surrounding the vehicle. One of the agents is wearing a CBP cap. At one point, the video shows an officer breaking the driver’s window. Moments later, the passenger window is also broken. The driver hits the gas, and as the truck speeds away, three loud gunshots are heard. DHS confirmed Sunday that the sounds were gunshots. A department spokesperson stated in a statement that the individual drove directly toward the officers, striking two of them with his vehicle. In response, CBP officers were forced to fire their firearm in self-defense, according to the agency. The family told NBC4 that officers in unmarked vehicles surrounded their SUV in the area of Acacia Avenue and Baseline Street Saturday morning as they were returning home from work. The family said the masked men did not identify themselves or present any warrants. DHS did not specify whether the agents had warrants. Bullet holes in the side of the truck, as well as broken windows, provided a glimpse into the altercation. "I had to protect my life and my family," the driver, who identified himself as Francisco, told NBC Los Angeles. "My truck was shot three times." Following the incident, San Bernardino police and federal agents responded to the driver’s home, where they clashed with community members outside. DHS reported that the driver was briefly detained by San Bernardino police and later released. However, the San Bernardino Police Department told NBC4 it had no record of any arrests or detentions related to the incident. NBC4 asked DHS if it had commented on the initial reason for the driver’s arrest. It also did not specify the injuries suffered by the two federal agents.

Politico [8/17/2025 12:00 PM, Natalie Fertig and Gregory Svirnovskiy, 2100K] reports governors face a new challenge as they barrel into natural disaster season: navigating President Donald Trump’s increasingly personal approach to awarding federal aid. In recent weeks, Trump has heralded disaster aid awards to states including Michigan, Kentucky and Indiana via Truth Social — and accompanied Indiana’s $15 million award with a note that he “won BIG” there in the past three general elections. His practice of flattering federal recipients on social media has left state leaders who are still awaiting decisions wondering how to get into his good graces. There’s no clear evidence he’s making funding decisions based on politics. Rather, it’s Trump’s public statements — indicating he’s making the decisions — that’s making state officials nervous. And Trump’s proposals to dramatically downsize or even get rid of FEMA, and to withhold funding from states over their immigration and energy policies, have officials in Democratic-led states less willing to attack him. “We’re not going to rock the boat while we’re still trying for assistance,” a top official in the office of a Democratic governor said last month. The official was granted anonymity over their fears of potential retaliation from the Trump administration. Officials in two other states that voted blue in 2024 also said in interviews that worries over Trump withholding FEMA funds influence their decisions on criticizing the president. The White House insisted states’ fears are misplaced. “Any allegation that the President is favoring certain states over others is false,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told POLITICO in a statement. “President Trump continues taking decisive action ensuring the safety and security of all Americans regardless of red state or blue state.” A FEMA spokesperson flatly rejected any implication of political bias in award decisions, adding in a statement that disaster response and preparedness are best “when locally led, state managed and federally supported.” “The law and regulations require FEMA to review each request closely and consider the unique circumstances of disaster-caused damages as well as state and local capacity. These decisions just like all disaster requests [are] based on policy not politics,” the FEMA spokesperson said.

AP [8/17/2025 8:17 PM, Ivelisse Rivera, 56000K] reports Erin weakened to a Category 3 hurricane on Sunday, its outer bands lashing the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, as forecasters warned of a growing risk of life-threatening surf and rip currents along the U.S. Eastern seaboard during the week from what is expected to become a very large hurricane. While Erin’s maximum winds diminished Sunday, its overall size kept growing as forecasters issued tropical storm warnings for the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas. The hurricane’s outer bands pelted parts of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands with heavy rains and tropical-storm winds during the day. The storm wasn’t expected to directly hit the U.S. East Coast, but by doubling or tripling in size its impacts threatened the North Carolina Outer Banks, the thin, low stretch of barrier islands off the mainland, that juts far out into the Atlantic, Dare County emergency officials said in declaring a state of emergency. They ordered an evacuation of Hatteras Island starting Monday. Several days of heavy surf and high winds and waves could wash out parts of North Carolina Highway 12 running along the barrier islands that are a popular vacation destination, the National Weather Service said. The center of the storm is forecast to stay at least 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the Outer Banks but will also bring rip tides all along the East Coast, officials said. Bermuda could have similar conditions as Erin is forecast to turn to the north and then northeast, forecasters said.

AP [8/18/2025 4:56 AM, Staff, 34837K] reports a stronger and bigger Hurricane Erin pelted parts of the Caribbean and was forecast to create dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast this week. It reintensified to a Category 4 storm with 130 mph (215 kph) maximum sustained winds early Monday and moved closer to the Southeast Bahamas, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Around 5 a.m. Monday, Erin was about 105 miles (170 kilometers) north-northeast of Grand Turk Island and about 915 miles (1,470 kilometers) south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The storm was moving northwest at 13 mph (20 kph). The Bahamas government issued a Tropical Storm Watch for the central Bahamas, while a Tropical Storm Warning remained in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands and southeast Bahamas, the hurricane center reported. Additional strengthening was forecast for Monday followed by gradual weakening, but Erin was expected to remain a large, major hurricane into midweek. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 60 miles (95 kilometers) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 230 miles (370 km). The area of strong winds is expected to grow more over the next few days. At that size, Erin will impact coastal areas even though it isn’t forecast to make a direct landfall. Dare County, North Carolina, declared an emergency and ordered an evacuation beginning Monday of Hatteras Island on the Outer Banks, the thin stretch of low-lying barrier islands that juts far into the Atlantic. Several days of heavy surf and high winds and waves could wash out parts of N.C. Highway 12 running along the barrier islands, the National Weather Service said. Erin, the year’s first Atlantic hurricane, reached an exceedingly dangerous Category 5 status Saturday with 160 mph (260 kph) winds before weakening. “You’re dealing with a major hurricane. The intensity is fluctuating. It’s a dangerous hurricane in any event,” Richard Pasch of the National Hurricane Center said. Erin’s outer bands pelted parts of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands with heavy rains and tropical-storm winds during the day Sunday. That knocked out power to about 147,000 customers, according to Luma Energy, a private company that oversees the transmission and distribution of power on the island. More than 20 flights were canceled due to the weather. The Coast Guard allowed all ports in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to reopen Sunday as winds and rains decreased. Rough ocean conditions were forecast for parts of the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos. Life-threatening surf and rip currents were forecast into midweek for the Bahamas, Bermuda, the U.S. East Coast and Canada’s Atlantic coast as Erin turns north and then northeast. Scientists have linked the rapid intensification of hurricanes in the Atlantic to climate change. Global warming is causing the atmosphere to hold more water vapor and is spiking ocean temperatures, and warmer waters give hurricanes fuel to unleash more rain and strengthen more quickly.

Reported similarly:
CNN [8/18/2025 3:15 AM, Briana Waxman, 23245K]

NBC News [8/17/2025 10:51 PM, Mirna Alsharif, et al., 43603K] reports more than 50,000 utility customers were without power in Puerto Rico as Category 3 Hurricane Erin batters the Caribbean, bringing heavy rainfall and gusty winds to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Luma Energy, Puerto Rico’s private power grid operator, said late Sunday afternoon that most of its customers on the island have working electricity. "As of 7:30 p.m., 95.1% of customers have electrical service," it said on X. "The majority of affected customers are concentrated in the regions of Caguas, Mayagüez, and San Juan, as the rain bands have been moving out of Puerto Rico." The utility said earlier: "Our crews are working with precision to ensure safety and continuity of service." Earlier it said the storm caused "multiple interruptions across the island." The National Weather Service on Sunday night issued a high surf advisory through Monday morning for Puerto Rico beaches that includes Playa Piñones, Parcelas Suarez, Villas del Mar and Villa Christiana in the town of Loiza; Fortuna in Luquillo; Pueblo and Tamarindo in Aguadilla; Bario Obrero, Pueblo and Jareaito in Arecibo; Las Boca in Barceloneta; Machuca in Manati; Puerto Nuevo in Vega Baja; Ocean Park in San Juan; and Barrio Espinal in Aguada. The advisory warns that waves measuring 7 to 13 feet could strike those beaches through Monday morning. A small craft advisory was also issued through Monday afternoon for seas off the island and off the U.S. Virgin Islands’ St. Croix. It warns operators of small boats that hazardous winds and waves loom offshore.

Washington Examiner [8/17/2025 9:20 AM, Staff, 1563K] reports President Donald Trump wants to push state and local entities to take more ownership of their cybersecurity, but his administration is simultaneously dismantling the resources that state and local entities need to secure their systems. On Aug. 1, the Department of Homeland Security released the latest notice of a funding opportunity for more than $91 million for the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. The notice, however, bans recipients from using the money to pay for services provided by the Multi-State Information and Analysis Center, the very organization from which most state and local governments get their cybersecurity support. State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial governments play a vital role in keeping America’s communities healthy, safe, and secure. They provide essential services, such as keeping electricity and water running, operating primary and secondary schools, and managing port authorities and other local critical infrastructure. These governments, however, are "the most vulnerable and least mature cyber entities," according to the federal government’s cyber agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency. For the past two decades, SLTT entities have relied on the MS-ISAC for low and no-cost cybersecurity services. More than 18,000 entities across the country have benefitted from the MS-ISAC’s threat intelligence, detection and response capabilities, educational webinars, self-assessment resources, and weekly threat reports. Last year alone, the MS-ISAC detected, prevented, or remediated nearly 60,000 cyberattacks. And yet, earlier this year, CISA cut more than $8 million in funding for the MS-ISAC, amounting to more than 50% of its remaining annual budget. CISA justified its decision by saying that the MS-ISAC offers duplicative services to those provided by CISA itself. The MS-ISAC’s members disagree. Eighty-three percent of member entities said that it would be difficult for them to find alternatives if the MS-ISAC’s services were to cease, and 95% — over 17,000 entities providing critical services — said that their cybersecurity would suffer if they lost these services. DHS’s latest grant announcement, however, blocks states from using the funds to pay for MS-ISAC membership or any of the low-cost services it provides. In the epitome of Washington arrogance, the notice feigns to know better than SLTT entities where they should get cybersecurity support and reveals an animosity toward an organization that is vital to the security of local communities.

FOX News [8/17/2025 10:00 AM, Kurt Knutsson, 40019K] reports Healthcare institutions have become a favorite target for bad actors, largely because of how easy they make it for attackers. In June, researchers discovered a healthcare data breach that exposed the personal information of around 8 million patients. All of this information was publicly accessible online without any passwords or authentication protocols. The latest healthcare organization to fall victim to a breach is DaVita, which has put nearly a million people at risk. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, DaVita provides dialysis treatment to about 200,000 patients across the U.S. and 13 other countries. Kidney dialysis giant DaVita says nearly 916,000 people had personal and medical information exposed in an April ransomware attack (via Comparitech). The breach, which the company disclosed in state filings, compromised names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, health insurance details, medical records, tax ID numbers, addresses and even images of checks made out to the company. DaVita says the incident disrupted internal operations and primarily affected its laboratories. In its latest notice to victims, the company says the cyberattack began March 24, 2025, and continued until April 12. It has not confirmed whether a ransom was paid. Ransomware gang Interlock claimed responsibility on April 25, posting screenshots of alleged stolen documents and saying it took 1.5TB of DaVita’s data. The group lists the company on its public leak site, where it pressures victims by threatening to sell or release stolen files. DaVita is offering eligible breach victims free identity restoration services through Experian, with a Nov. 28 enrollment deadline. The company has not confirmed how attackers gained access to its network or the size of the ransom demand.

Politico [8/17/2025 7:00 AM, Dana Nickel, 14810K] reports a pro-Russian propaganda group is taking advantage of high-profile news events to spread disinformation, and it’s spoofing reputable organizations — including news outlets, nonprofits and government agencies — to do so. According to misinformation tracker NewsGuard, the campaign — which has been tracked by Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center as Storm-1679 since at least 2022 — takes advantage of high-profile events to pump out fabricated content from various publications, including ABC News, BBC and most recently POLITICO. This year, the group has focused on flooding the internet with fake content surrounding the German SNAP elections and the upcoming Moldovan parliamentary vote. The campaign also sought to plant false narratives around the war in Ukraine ahead of President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. McKenzie Sadeghi, AI and foreign influence editor at NewsGuard, said in an interview that since early 2024, the group has been publishing “pro-Kremlin content en masse in the form of videos” mimicking these organizations. “If even just one or a few of their fake videos go viral per year, that makes all of the other videos worth it,” she said. While online Russian influence operations have existed for many years, security experts say artificial intelligence is making it harder for people to discern what’s real. Storm-1679 developed a distinct technique in 2024 for combining videos with AI-generated audio impersonations of celebrity and expert voices, according to Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center. One high-profile example of this tactic surfaced ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics and included a fake documentary series featuring Netflix’s logo and an AI-generated deepfake voice of actor Tom Cruise as the narrator. And in December 2024, the group used these tools to generate fake videos impersonating trusted sources like journalists, professors and law enforcement to sow seeds of distrust toward NATO member countries and Ukraine. “They are just throwing spaghetti, trying to see what’s going to stick on a wall,” said Ivana Stradner, a researcher on Russia at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank.

AP [8/17/2025 6:17 PM, Julie Walker and Leah Willingham, 12715K] reports a club shooting in Brooklyn early Sunday morning has left three people dead and nine others wounded. Investigators believe up to four shooters opened fire with multiple weapons at Taste of the City Lounge in Crown Heights after a dispute just before 3:30 a.m. The violence appeared to be gang-related, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters. "It’s a terrible shooting that occurred in the city of New York," Tisch said at a news briefing, later calling the killings "a tragic, senseless act of violence.". The crime is the second mass shooting within weeks in New York City during a year that has otherwise seen declining gun violence. On July 29, a man stalked through a Manhattan office tower with a rifle, killing four people and wounding another. A New York City police officer was among those who died. Mayor Eric Adams said both recent shootings reinforce "why we do this work of going after [getting] guns off our streets.". "This is the second within weeks, and we don’t want this to turn into a normal course of doing business of violence in our city," he said. Those wounded Sunday were being treated at hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries, Tisch said. The ages of the victims range from 19 to 61. A 19-year-old man died at the scene and two other men, ages 35 and 27, died after being taken to a hospital. Investigators found at least 42 shell casings from 9-millimeter and .45-caliber weapons and a firearm in a nearby street. Adams said crisis management teams had been mobilized to provide trauma services and facilitate mediation efforts with the victims’ friends and families to try to stop any retaliation. He asked members of the public who might have information about the shooting to help investigators by calling NYPD’s crime stoppers line, (800) 577-TIPS.

The New York Post [8/17/2025 3:36 PM, Ryan King, 43962K] reports President Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham threatened to champion bipartisan legislation designating Russia a state sponsor of terrorism over the kidnappings of Ukrainian children unless Moscow returns them. Throughout its brutal war on Ukraine, Russia has been accused of abducting over 20,000 Ukrainian children and putting some of them up for adoption, with the goal of raising them to be Russian. "I intend to push the return of these children until I can’t push anymore," Graham vowed on Fox News’ "Sunday Morning Futures.". "If they do not return these children to Ukraine, the 19,000, then I’m going to push legislation to make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law," the South Carolina Republican said, warning such a move would make Russia "radioactive.". Estimates of the children abducted by Russia vary, with some Ukrainian officials pegging it closer to 35,000. The Kremlin was vexed back in 2014 during Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, in which protesters ousted its pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych and shifted towards the West. Russia’s demented kidnapping of Ukrainian children appears to be part of a broader strategy to remold Ukraine into a Russian sphere of influence over the long term. In some instances, the abducted children have been put on the battlefield to fight against Ukraine, according to top officials in Kyiv and nongovernmental organizations. Ahead of President Trump’s meeting with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin on Friday, the White House stressed that the mass abduction of Ukrainian children "remains a concern.". NewsMax [8/17/2025 6:07 PM, Brian Freeman, 4779K] reports "Russia has kidnapped 19,000 Ukrainian children, taken from Ukrainian families and sent to Russia," the senator said. "If they do not return these children to Ukraine, then I’m going to push legislation to make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law.". Graham stressed that Russia "should be a state sponsor of terrorism until they return the children. So any peace deal must include the return of the kidnapped children by Russia to Ukraine.". The senator added that "if you don’t, that’s not a just end of the war. And if Putin doesn’t return these kids, he should be a state sponsor of terrorism designation under U.S. law. And that makes Russia radioactive.". Graham and Connecticut Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal said in a statement over the weekend that they are considering bipartisan legislation to advance that designation. NewsMax [8/17/2025 2:46 PM, Sandy Fitzgerald, 4779K] reports "The only reason Vladimir Putin [was] in Alaska is because Trump threatened to put a 50% tariff on India for buying Russian oil and gas," the South Carolina Republican told Fox News’ "Sunday Morning Futures." "Putin fears Trump.". Graham, endorsing Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s call for European allies to stop purchasing Russian energy, argued that targeting Moscow’s oil and gas customers is the most effective way to undercut its war effort. "If Europe and the United States banded together and told Russia that if this war does not come to an end, we’re going to destroy your fossil fuel economy, this war would come to an end," he said. Graham also called on European nations to impose tariffs on countries purchasing Russian crude, including India and China. He pointed out that Trump already has authority under legislation with more than 800 co-sponsors to impose tariffs as high as 500%. The president, he added, has already ordered a 50% tariff on India’s imports of Russian oil, which is set to take effect within months. He said similar measures against China could further pressure Putin.

FOX News [8/18/2025 2:54 AM, Christina Shaw, Elizabeth Pritchett, 40019K] reports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed his arrival in Washington, D.C., on Sunday ahead of a meeting with President Donald Trump to discuss an end to the war with Russia. "I have already arrived in Washington, tomorrow I am meeting with President Trump. Tomorrow we are also speaking with European leaders. I am grateful to @POTUS for the invitation. We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably. And peace must be lasting," Zelenskyy wrote, in part, on X on Sunday. Zelenskyy will be bringing a group of European leaders to the Monday meeting, and Trump said on Truth Social it is a "great honor to host them all.” Zelenskyy said this meeting must be different from past discussions on how to achieve peace with Russia, which allowed Moscow to take over Crimea and part of Donbas in 2014. He also noted that "so-called ‘security guarantees’" given to Ukraine in 1994 in the years after the fall of the Soviet Union did not work. The Ukrainian president said his country would not tolerate another temporary truce, maintaining that only enforceable guarantees from the U.S. and Europe could prevent Moscow from launching future attacks. In his post on X, Zelenskyy highlighted some of the recent "successes" by Ukrainian forces, emphasizing his assurance that Kyiv can and will defend its territory with continued Western backing. "Ukrainians are fighting for their land, for their independence. Now, our soldiers have successes in Donetsk and Sumy regions. I am confident that we will defend Ukraine, effectively guarantee security, and that our people will always be grateful to President Trump, everyone in America, and every partner and ally for their support and invaluable assistance," he maintained. While Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to Trump, America and European allies for the support, he also said he hopes "joint strength" will push Russia to end the war it started more than three years ago. "Russia must end this war, which it itself started. And I hope that our joint strength with America, with our European friends, will force Russia into a real peace. Thank you!," the post concluded. The push comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly demanded that Ukraine withdraw from two eastern regions during a summit with Trump in Alaska on Friday. Trump appeared to show support for Putin’s request in a post on Truth Social on Sunday night, writing that Zelenskyy does have the ability to "end the war with Russia.” "President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight. Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!" he wrote. Zelenskyy has repeatedly stated that Ukraine is not giving up any territory. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [8/18/2025 3:22 AM, By David E. Sanger, 330K] reports that, this time, when President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine arrives in the Oval Office, he will come with backup. An array of European prime ministers and presidents are flying in for the meeting on Monday to make sure that a viable, defensible Ukraine survives whatever carving up of its territory is about to happen at the negotiating table. But they are also there to make certain that the trans-Atlantic alliance emerges intact. President Trump’s instant reversal on the critical issue of obtaining a cease-fire before negotiating over land or security guarantees has left many of them shaken, and wondering whether Mr. Trump had once again been swayed by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. By most accounts, the European officials want to ensure that Mr. Trump has not pivoted too close to the Russian side, and does not try to strong-arm Mr. Zelensky into a deal that will ultimately sow the seeds of Ukraine’s dissolution. And they want to safeguard against the risk of the United States, the linchpin of European security since NATO’s creation in 1949, undermining that interest. In a call with Mr. Zelensky on Saturday, Mr. Trump offered support for U.S. security assurance for Ukraine after the war, a shift from his stance that Europe should bear the burden of protecting the country, though the specifics were unclear. At a news conference on Sunday in Brussels, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive arm, stressed the importance of the security guarantees for Ukraine and respect for its territory. But she also said it was paramount to “stop the killing” and urged talks among the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and the United States “as soon as possible.” One senior European diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of angering Mr. Trump, described a sense of panic among European allies. The diplomat had not seen a meeting like the one set for Monday come together so quickly since just before the Iraq War. The foremost concern, the diplomat said, was to avoid another scene like the one that took place in February when Mr. Zelensky met with Mr. Trump in front of television cameras at the White House. At that meeting, Mr. Trump berated the Ukrainian president, saying “you don’t have the cards” in the war — essentially telling a weak foreign power to bend to the demands of a far more powerful one. The president did so again on Friday night, after Mr. Putin flew back to the Russian Far East, telling a Fox News interviewer that Ukraine was going to have to realize that Russia was a more “powerful” country, and that power meant Mr. Zelensky was going to have to make concessions. As Europe and Ukraine struggle to navigate Mr. Trump’s sudden reversal of strategy for ending a war that has stretched well past three years, Mr. Putin has a renewed opportunity to realize his dream. The United States and its European allies now appear to be pursuing different negotiating strategies. The differences have been long brewing. But in the weeks before the Putin meeting, they broke out into the open. “We’re done with the funding of the Ukraine war business,” Vice President JD Vance said flatly a week ago.

The Hill [8/17/2025 11:17 PM, Tara Suter, 12414K] reports President Trump is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders on Monday following his controversial meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. "I have already arrived in Washington, tomorrow I am meeting with President Trump. Tomorrow we are also speaking with European leaders. I am grateful to @POTUS for the invitation. We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably. And peace must be lasting," Zelensky said in a post on the social platform X late Sunday night. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in an X post of her own Sunday that she would "join the meeting with President Trump and other European leaders in the White House tomorrow.” The White House released a schedule that shows Trump, Zelensky and their teams will first hold a meeting, before a larger meeting is held that will also include European leaders. European leaders are expected to be at the White House by noon EDT at the South Portico, with television crew and photographers allowed to document the arrival. Zelensky and Trump are set to greet each other an hour after the European leaders arrive, and will shortly after go into a meeting with each other in the Oval Office. Vice President Vance is also expected to attend this meeting. The last time the three met in February, there were fireworks. Trump will greet other European leaders in the State Dining Room an hour after he begins his Oval Office meeting with Zelensky. Fifteen minutes after the greetings, Trump and European leaders will take a family photo together in the Cross Hall. Trump and European leaders will then head into their own high-stakes meeting in the East Room of the White House. Zelensky will also be a part of this meeting.

New York Post [8/18/2025 12:01 AM, Zoe Hussain, 43962K] reports President Trump claimed Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could bring the nation’s war with Russia to a halt "almost immediately," if he’s willing to make two major concessions. Trump called for Ukraine to drop its bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), a demand long held by Russia, and also said there would be "no getting back" Crimea – signaling to the nation to accept Russia’s illegal 2014 annexation of the region during the Obama administration. "President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight. Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!" the commander in chief proclaimed in a late-night Truth Social post. Trump’s message comes just one day before a high-profile summit at the White House on Monday, where he is expected to meet with Zelensky and several European leaders to discuss next steps in the three-and-a-half-year conflict. "Big day at the White House tomorrow. Never had so many European Leaders at one time. My great honor to host them!!! President DJT," Trump wrote in another Truth Social post earlier Sunday. Ahead of the planned meeting, Zelensky posted to X to thank the United States for its support, but also signaled that peace must not be short-lived. "I have already arrived in Washington, tomorrow I am meeting with President Trump. Tomorrow we are also speaking with European leaders. I am grateful to @POTUS for the invitation. We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably," Zelensky wrote Sunday night. The Ukrainian leader also spoke out on Crimea, alleging its relinquishment to Russia paved the way for Putin’s future invasion of Ukraine. "And peace must be lasting. Not like it was years ago, when Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and part of our East—part of Donbas—and Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack. Or when Ukraine was given so called ‘security guarantees’ in 1994, but they didn’t work," he tweeted. "Crimea should not have been given up then, just as Ukrainians did not give up Kyiv, Odesa, or Kharkiv after 2022. Ukrainians are fighting for their land, for their independence," he wrote. "Now, our soldiers have successes in Donetsk and Sumy regions. I am confident that we will defend Ukraine, effectively guarantee security, and that our people will always be grateful to President Trump, everyone in America, and every partner and ally for their support and invaluable assistance. Russia must end this war, which it itself started," Zelensky said.

Breitbart [8/18/2025 1:55 AM, Staff, 2608K] reports that, on the eve of a highly anticipated White House meeting on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and seven other European leaders, President Donald Trump on Sunday night declared that Kyiv would not be regaining Moscow-annexed Crimea, nor would it be allowed to join NATO. Trump is to meet with the leaders Monday after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. In the brief though combative statement to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said Zelensky "can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.” "Remember how it started," the American leader said. "No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE.” Russia began the war on Feb. 24, 2022, when it invaded Ukraine. However, the conflict stretches further back in history. In February 2014, Russia illegally annexed Crimea, and though swift, there were several deaths, including that of Ukrainian military warrant officer Serhii Kokurin, who was shot by a Russian sniper. Putin has repeatedly opposed the idea of Ukraine joining NATO, and has blamed it for his invasion of Ukraine. The Trump administration has been warm to these conditions in peace negotiations since it returned to office in January, stating that returning Ukraine to its pre-2014 borders was an "realistic objective" and that any negotiated peace would not permit Ukraine to join the voluntary defensive military bloc. NATO countries, however, have reaffirmed Ukraine’s future as a member nation and support Kyiv’s "irreversible path" to full integration. Zelensky did not respond directly to Trump’s message, but in a statement published later Sunday night said he had arrived in Washington for the meeting with Trump. "I am grateful to @POTUS for the invitation. We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably. And peace must be lasting," he said, adding that it must be like previous arrangements, including when Kyiv was "forced to give up CRrimea and part of our East.” "Crimea should not have been given up then, just as Ukrainians did not give up Kyiv, Odesa or Kharkiv after 2022," he continued. "I am confident that we will defend Ukraine, effectively guarantee security and that our people will always be grateful to President Trump, everyone in American and every partner and ally for their support and invaluable assistance. Zelensky has said that Ukraine will not relinquish sovereignty of Crimea to Russia. He has also shown an unwillingness to give up on NATO ascension, but has said he is willing to accept security guarantees as Ukraine awaits to become a full member of the defensive alliance.

NewsMax [8/17/2025 11:36 PM, Staff, 4779K] reports Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said upon his arrival in Washington he hopes that Ukraine’s "shared strength" with the U.S. and European counterparts will compel Russia to peace. "I am grateful to the President of the United States for the invitation," Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app after arriving in Washington late Sunday. "We all equally want to end this war swiftly and reliably. "And I hope that our shared strength with America and with our European friends will compel Russia to real peace.” Zelenskyy noted in a translated X post he has already arrived for Monday’s peace talks: "I have already arrived in Washington, tomorrow I am meeting with President Trump. Tomorrow we are also speaking with European leaders. I am grateful to @POTUS for the invitation. We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably. "And peace must be lasting. "Not like it was years ago, when Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and part of our East — part of Donbas — and Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack. Or when Ukraine was given so called ‘security guarantees’ in 1994, but they didn’t work. Of course, Crimea should not have been given up then, just as Ukrainians did not give up Kyiv, Odesa, or Kharkiv after 2022. "Ukrainians are fighting for their land, for their independence. Now, our soldiers have successes in Donetsk and Sumy regions. I am confident that we will defend Ukraine, effectively guarantee security, and that our people will always be grateful to President Trump, everyone in America, and every partner and ally for their support and invaluable assistance. "Russia must end this war, which it itself started. And I hope that our joint strength with America, with our European friends, will force Russia into a real peace. Thank you!".

CBS News [8/17/2025 9:51 PM, Staff, 45245K] reports Russia’s Vladimir Putin agreed at his summit with President Trump to allow the U.S. and its European allies to offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defense mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the 3 1/2-year war in Ukraine, special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday. "We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO," he told CNN’s "State of the Union." He added that it "was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that" and called them "game-changing.". Article 5, at the heart of the 32-member military alliance, states that an armed attack against one or more of the members shall be considered an attack against all members. Witkoff, who had joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the talks Friday at a military base in Alaska, offered few details on how such an agreement would work. But it appeared to be a major shift for Putin and could serve as a workaround to his long-standing objection to Ukraine’s potential NATO membership. Outlining some of the details about the private discussions, Witkoff also said Russia had agreed to enact a law that it would not "go after any other European countries and violate their sovereignty. And there was plenty more.". European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking at a news conference in Brussels with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, applauded the move. "We welcome President Trump’s willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine and the ‘Coalition of the willing’ — including the European Union — is ready to do its share," she said. Zelenskyy thanked the United States for recent signals that Washington was willing to support such guarantees, but said much was unclear.

Reported similarly:
AP [8/17/2025 9:55 PM, Jill Colvin, 56000K]

New York Times [8/18/2025 3:22 AM, Constant Méheut, 330K] reports that, amid the setbacks for Ukraine from President Trump’s meeting in Alaska with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, officials in Kyiv found one glimmer of hope. They seized on a U.S. proposal to include security guarantees for Ukraine, designed to deter future Russian aggression, in a potential peace deal. Mr. Trump conveyed the proposal to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in a call early Saturday after the meeting. It would enlist Kyiv’s Western partners to guarantee Ukraine’s defense against new Russian attacks. Crucially, Mr. Trump indicated that the United States was ready to participate in such guarantees — a shift from his earlier position that Ukraine’s postwar security should be left solely to Europe. “This is a significant change,” Mr. Zelensky said on Sunday during a news conference in Brussels. “It’s important that America agrees to work with Europe to provide security guarantees for Ukraine.” European leaders met virtually Sunday afternoon to discuss the aftermath of the Alaska summit, including potential security guarantees. In a show of support for Ukraine, six European leaders, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, announced that they would join Mr. Zelensky when he meets with Mr. Trump on Monday in Washington. While the specifics of the U.S. proposal remain unclear, Mr. Trump said Mr. Putin agreed that Ukraine should have strong security guarantees after a settlement, though not under NATO, two senior European officials who were briefed on the call have said. American troops might participate, Mr. Trump told the Europeans. Should Mr. Trump’s proposal come to fruition, it would mark a win for Ukraine, which has long sought postwar security guarantees to prevent a future Russian invasion, but has so far received little beyond vague commitments. But Mr. Zelensky warned on Sunday that “there are no details how it will work, and what America’s role will be, what Europe’s role will be,” stressing that the proposal still needed to be worked out. “We need security to work in practice,” he said. An official briefed on Mr. Trump’s call to Mr. Zelensky said the Ukrainian leader would aim to seek clarity on potential security guarantees when he visits Washington on Monday. He will also seek answers on Mr. Trump’s unexpected shift away from pursuing a cease-fire to instead call for a peace deal that would be likely to see Ukraine cede unconquered territory to Russia.

The Hill [8/17/2025 9:22 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 12414K] reports European leaders will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a high-stakes meeting at the White House on Monday after President Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on the social platform X on Sunday that she will join the meeting "at the request of President Zelenskyy.". German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s office also announced he will be traveling to Washington on Monday for "political talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European heads of state and government," according to a translated statement from his office. The statement said the purpose of the trip is the "exchange of information" with Trump after his meeting with Putin and that Merz plans to discuss peace efforts and "underscore Germany’s interest in a swift peace agreement in Ukraine.". "The talks will address, among other things, security guarantees, territorial issues, and continued support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression. This includes maintaining the pressure of sanctions," the translated statement said. French President Emmanuel Macron will also attend the meeting, according to local reports of his office’s statement.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [8/17/2025 10:35 AM, David Zimmermann, 1563K] r

The Hill [8/17/2025 11:00 AM, Tom Fitton, 12414K] reports once again, newly released documents and damning evidence conclusively substantiate what many Americans have long suspected. Russiagate was a conspiracy — hatched, implemented and relentlessly promoted by top officials in the CIA, FBI and across the Obama-Biden-Clinton political machine to rig a presidential election and undermine a duly elected president. It also corrupted the very institutions essential to protecting American liberty. Despite the mountain of evidence and exhaustive investigations, those responsible for this travesty remain unpunished. Former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, among other intelligence officials, have lied to Congress and the American public about their reliance on the discredited Steele dossier — a report paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC — while simultaneously engineering different versions of critical intelligence assessments to cover their tracks. Although the intelligence community and its leaders publicly maintained that the notorious dossier played no role in the official assessment concerning "Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections," newly declassified oversight reviews flatly contradict these claims. The record shows that Brennan and Clapper prepared a classified, compartmented version of the assessment specifically for President Obama and senior officials, which cited the dossier to bolster key judgments about Russian election interference. Later, when sanitized versions were released to Congress and the public, all references to the dossier had been scrubbed away. Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation verified that Brennan, Clapper, then-Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and FBI Director James Comey were all briefed, even before the 2016 election, on the Clinton campaign’s plan to concoct a false Trump-Russia narrative. Still, the FBI — with full knowledge that the Steele dossier was riddled with falsehoods — deployed it to secure baseless FISA warrants against Trump advisor Carter Page and launch the Crossfire Hurricane investigation (the FBI’S codename for the operation), with the intent of sabotaging Trump’s campaign and subsequent presidency. Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act litigation exposed much of this corruption years before the Durham report. Court-obtained documents, such as the "electronic communication" that launched Crossfire Hurricane, revealed the flimsy and third-hand nature of the intelligence used as pretext.

AP [8/18/2025 12:16 AM, David Klepper, 27036K] reports that, as Russia held its Victory Day parade this year, hackers backing the Kremlin hijacked an orbiting satellite that provides television service to Ukraine. Instead of normal programing, Ukrainian viewers saw parade footage beamed in from Moscow: waves of tanks, soldiers and weaponry. The message was meant to intimidate, and it was also an illustration that 21st century war is waged not just on land, sea and air but also in cyberspace and the reaches of outer space. Disabling a satellite could deal a devastating blow without a single bullet, and it can be done by targeting the satellite’s security software or disrupting its ability to send or receive signals from Earth. “If you can impede a satellite’s ability to communicate, you can cause a significant disruption,” said Tom Pace, CEO of NetRise, a cybersecurity firm focused on protecting supply chains. He served in the Marines before working on cyber issues at the Department of Energy. “Think about GPS,” he said. “Imagine if a population lost that, and the confusion it would cause.” More than 12,000 operating satellites now orbit the planet, playing a critical role not just in broadcast communications but also in military operations, navigation systems like GPS, intelligence gathering and economic supply chains. They are also key to early launch-detection efforts, which can warn of approaching missiles. That makes them a significant national security vulnerability, and a prime target for anyone looking to undermine an adversary’s economy or military readiness — or to deliver a psychological blow like the hackers supporting Russia did when they hijacked television signals to Ukraine. Hackers typically look for the weakest link in the software or hardware that supports a satellite or controls its communications with Earth. The actual orbiting device may be secure, but if it’s running on outdated software, it can be easily exploited. As Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022, someone targeted Viasat, the U.S.-based satellite company used by Ukraine’s government and military. The hack, which Kyiv blamed on Moscow, used malware to infect tens of thousands of modems, creating an outage affecting wide swaths of Europe.

Daily Caller [8/17/2025 5:35 PM, John Teichert, 985K] reports August marks the solemn four-year anniversary of the American failure in its tragic withdrawal from Afghanistan under President Joe Biden. On Aug. 15, 2021, the Afghan capital of Kabul fell into the hands of Taliban control. On Aug. 26,, thirteen military members disastrously lost their lives at Abbey Gate; and by the end of the month, the last American soldier ingloriously stepped onto a C-17 to complete the U.S. withdrawal. It was the low point in American power and prowess in my adult lifetime, providing images that have been seared into the American consciousness like the withdrawal from Vietnam had been two generations prior. The situation in August of 2021 in Afghanistan was the biggest operational failure of the United States in decades. It provided striking images of incompetence that emboldened adversaries and embarrassed allies. It set off a chain of events that can be directly tied to Russia’s reckless invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and Hamas’s unthinkable terrorist surge into Israel in October of 2023. With American weakness on full display, adversaries around the world were enticed to fill the void. President Donald Trump and Secretary Pete Hegseth have been unequivocal in their calls for complete accountability. Their staffs have echoed these same commitments to the American people. Several months later, Americans eagerly await results, and the anniversary offers the ideal time for the Administration to unveil its findings and to finally close this gut-wrenching chapter in American history. The voters have already held President Biden and the Vice President Kamala Harris accountable at the ballot box, with the results of the 2024 election being informed by this tragic geopolitical misstep. America’s confidence in their lackluster leadership rightfully never recovered from this self-inflicted wound.

CNN [8/17/2025 7:00 PM, John Liu, 662K] reports in a surprising reversal of the United States’ years-long technology restrictions on China, President Donald Trump last month allowed Nvidia to resume sales of a key AI chip designed specifically for the Chinese market. Yet rather than celebrating, Beijing’s response has been noticeably lukewarm, despite having long urged Washington to ease the stringent export controls. In the weeks since the policy U-turn, Beijing has called the chip a security risk, summoned Nvidia for explanations and discouraged its companies from using it. The less-than-welcoming sentiment reflects Beijing’s drive to build a self-sufficient semiconductor supply chain – and its confidence in the progress its rapidly advancing chip industry has made. But the cold shoulder may also represent some political posturing. Despite significant advances in its semiconductor sector, China still needs America’s chips and technology. Experts said China’s national champion Huawei has developed chips with performance comparable to — and in some cases surpassing — the newly approved Nvidia chip. However, China still wants the more advanced AI processors that remain blocked under US export controls.

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