Biden pardons Chinese spies convicted of stealing American tech secrets

 

President Biden pardoned two Chinese spies and the relative of a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party who was caught with tens of thousands of images of child pornography on his computer last month in a prisoner swap between the two countries that was made public Thursday when the three received clemencies.

Yanjun Xu and Ji Chaoqun, who were both convicted of espionage, were granted clemency last month, along with Shanlin Jin, who was convicted of possession of more than 47,000 images of child pornography while a doctoral student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 2021.

Their clemencies, signed by President Biden, are dated Nov. 22

Prestigious private school diversity conference devolved into ‘festival of Jew hate

Princeton Professor Ruha Benjamin Chief Antisemite!

An “equity and justice” conference involving many of the country’s most prestigious private schools devolved into a “festival of Jew hate” that had scared students leaving in tears, according to outraged parents and attendees.

Speakers at last week’s National Association of Independent Schools’ annual People of Color Conference accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” and downplayed the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 Israeli civilians — prompting some frightened kids to hide their Jewish stars as they left early.

“There was an overwhelming feeling that we were not welcome,” one Jewish senior from the Milken Community School in Los Angeles told The Post.

“We felt small and insignificant,” said the student, who asked for anonymity out of fear of retribution.

Iran’s massive drone ship left home port last month – and went weeks without being spotted... Is the Ship launching the Drones Seen in New Jersey and Staten Island?.

 

A newly minted and massive Iranian drone carrier was captured in new satellite images sailing in the Persian Gulf this week — the ship’s first reported sighting since leaving its home port for the first time in mid-November.

The satellite images taken Thursday by commercial operator Maxar Technologies shows three Iranian drone ships in the waters off the country’s coast as theories have swirled in the US that Iran could be behind the mysterious drone sightings across the tri-state area, according to Business Insider.

Iran’s new carrier — the Shahid Bagheri — is a converted shipping container that was outfitted to support drone operations and was last seen on Nov. 12, when it was captured by satellite imagery sitting in Bandar Abbas, the report said.

The Shahid Bagheri left its home Iranian home port sometime between Nov. 12 and Nov. 28, revealed by satellite imagery that shows an empty dock where the ship once sat, according to another Business Insider report.

The new images from this week show the overhauled ship was pictured with two other Iranian drone vessels — Shahid Roudaki and Shahid Mahdavi — off the Bandar Abbas port in the Persian Gulf, according to NDTV

News of the Shahid Bagheri’s whereabouts came days after speculation that an Iranian drone “mothership” was parked out in the Atlantic and was carrying out clandestine drone operations in the airspace of New Jersey and Staten Island.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) claimed to Fox News on Wednesday morning that the drones were possibly being launched by Iran, citing confidential sources.

“I’m going to tell you the real deal. Iran launched a mothership that contains these drones,” Van Drew said. “It’s off the East Coast of the United States of America. They’ve launched drones.”

The Pentagon quickly poured cold water on those claims — saying there was “no evidence” that the country was responsible for the mysterious drones that have reportedly been seen across the state of New Jersey since Nov. 18.

However, no explanation has been provided to state and local officials who have been receiving thousands of reports from concerned New Jerseyans.

On Thursday, White House national security council spokesperson John Kirby said no federal agency has been able to corroborate any of the reports made of drone activity — saying all crafts reviewed by feds have been flying in accordance with the law.

Kirby backtracked on those comments in an interview on Fox’s “The Story” on Friday.

“I said many of the corroborated sightings have turned out to be piloted aircraft, I didn’t say all of them. I said those were the ones we were able to corroborate,” Kirby said.

“There’s certainly the ones that we have not been able to [corroborate] and don’t know the answers to it,” he added.

Erin Molan pro-Israel host fired by Sky News

 Erin Molan, a pro-Israel host who was fired by Sky News Australia, responded to her firing with a video message, thanking her supporters and everyone who reached out to her, and stressing that she is "harder to kill off than you think" and adding that her mission "has just begun."

"I loved every second of my time with Sky," she said, adding that her job had become her entire life, other than her child, partly because she "cares too much."

"I'm just getting started," she promised.

In her message, Molan promised to continue fighting for children, and for "every single hostage still held captive in Gaza."

But the international community insists on "falling for the demonization of Israel - hook, line, and sinker."

She stressed that evil thrives on three things: weak leadership, useful idiots, and a silent majority. "I’m here to be the loudest member of the silent majority that I can be," she added.

"When hate is allowed to fester, we all lose; when stupidity isn't called out, it becomes very dangerous, and if I sit idly by, I am just as much to blame as the fool waving the flag at the Hamas protest."

Zera Shimshon Parshas Vayishlach

 

Little Twerp Macron on the wrong side of history

 

Often a man's perfidy will rebound on himself –Jean de La Fontaine

French President, Emmanuel Macron is facing trying times, and recent pronouncements by French officials appear only to exacerbate his unenviable situation.

As will be recalled, last week, the French government fell with a resounding thud that could well reverberate across Europe.

This week, the French came out with an astounding rebuke of Israel’s military action in Syria, to prevent strategic armaments from falling into the hands of the militant Sunni Islamist rebels—invoking an Israeli-Syrian disengagement agreement signed half a century ago on which to base their censure. In a perverse reprimand, the French foreign ministry grumbled: any military deployment in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria is a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement which must be respected by its signatories, Israel and Syria." ”

One can only puzzle over how Macron and his government would relate to a reality in which such a strategic stockpile was at the disposal of groups with close affiliation with ISIS and A-Qaeda in the not-too-distant past.

The shortest serving PM ever

“Assad Regime’s Collapse Opens Path for IDF To Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Sites”

 

Israeli security officials assess that in light of the Air Force’s amazing achievements in the past week, during which IAF fighter jets destroyed 85% of Syria’s air defense systems, opening the skies for IAF pilots to fly over Damascus for the first time in over 50 years, the time is ripe to attack Iran’s nuclear sites.

“Our UAVs can now fly as far as eastern Syria and our fighter pilots circle Damascus freely. This is unprecedented,” a military official said, as quoted by Ynet. The official added that the withdrawal of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials and indications of Russian troop pullbacks, including S-300 batteries, add to the IDF’s renewed confidence.

Israel’s defense establishment wants to use this new operational opportunity to target Iran’s nuclear facilities. “The IDF’s focus is now on Iran,” Kan News reported.

The IDF is updating its plans to target Iran’s nuclear facilities, motivated by concerns that the collapse of the Shiite axis and the weakening of Hezbollah’s weakening might drive Tehran to make a desperate move toward reaching military nuclear capabilities.

Other factors at play include the upcoming inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, signaling potential shifts by 2025; the IDF’s significant blow to Iran’s air defense capabilities in a major strike six weeks ago, and the loss of Hezbollah, Iran’s primary regional deterrent against an attack on its nuclear sites.

Kan also reported that the IDF estimates that the Houthis in Yemen are trying to take the lead in what remains of Iran’s Axis of Resistance in the region. In the last 24 hours, the Houthis launched four explosive drones at Israel. Two were intercepted by the IDF and two fell in open areas.

The IDF has noted the increasing Houthi attacks against Israel on behalf of Iran. They are trying to cause significant damage to Israeli assets, such as the ports of Ashdod and Haifa, the Israel Electric Corporation’s power stations, and Israel’s off-shore gas rigs.

According to the report, Israel is considering an attack on Yemen in retaliation for the increasing drone and ballistic missile attacks.

26 FBI Agents were directly involved in the Jan 6 Riots .

 

he FBI had at least 26 confidential informants on the ground in Washington, DC, during the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the Capitol — most of whom engaged in illegal activity during the chaos, the Justice Department’s watchdog confirmed in a bombshell report. 

Leadership at the bureau had long been adamant that it did not have sources who “orchestrated” the riot. Questions about whether the FBI had informants involved in the riots were met with “conspiracy theory” labels by many mainstream media outlets.

“If you’re asking if the violence at the Capitol was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources or agents, the answer is no!” outgoing FBI director Christopher Wray told lawmakers back in July. Wray had long refused to divulge exactly how many informants were present that day. 

FBI informants engaged in illegal activity

But the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General found that of the FBI’s confidential sources on the ground, four entered the Capitol in the midst of the riot and 13 went into a restricted area. Only nine were not found to have engaged in illegal activity, according to a long-awaited report released Thursday.

Critically, that report also shot down unsubstantiated speculation that the bureau had agents stoking some of the mayhem that day, 

“We found no evidence in the materials we reviewed or the testimony we received showing or suggesting that the FBI had undercover employees in the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on January 6,” the report said.

Only three of its 26 informants present had been instructed to observe potential domestic terrorist suspects on the day of the riot, the DOJ watchdog found. The rest of the 23 appear to have gone to the Capitol of their own accord.

The FBI did not give its informants permission to flout the law by entering restricted areas, the watchdog report stressed. 

“Our review concluded that none of these three FBI [informants] were authorized to enter the Capitol or a restricted area, or to otherwise break the law on January 6, nor was any [informant] directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6,” the report said, referring to the three informants instructed to go there by FBI field offices. 

Some of the 26 informants in question had obtained information about the planned movements of right-wing groups such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys during the events surrounding the storming of the Capitol, per the report.

At least one informant “indicated they had concerns for the safety of Members of Congress on Jan. 6.”

“For those keeping score at home, this was labeled a dangerous conspiracy theory months ago,” Vice President-elect JD Vance posted on X in response to the report.

Previously known FBI had informants there

It had been previously known that the FBI had some informants on the ground during the riot — but the exact scope was unclear. Lawmakers had peppered officials with questions to that effect but were greeted with sidestepping. 

Months later, the New York Times reported that one of the Capitol rioters was caught texting his FBI handler real-time information as the ransacking unfolded. 

Other court documents also previously indicated that there were FBI informants on the ground. Eventually, former FBI Washington Field Office director Steven D’Antuono confirmed to lawmakers last year that informants were indeed present during the riot. 

FBI’s missteps

The watchdog assessed that it was appropriate for the bureau to lean on informants that day, concluding that due to the potential threats on the ground, “the FBI, therefore, should have canvassed its field offices for any relevant [informant] information in advance of Jan. 6.”

However, the bureau later inaccurately reported to Congress that it canvassed field offices for threats prior to the riot. In reality, there was “no canvassing of field offices for source information had occurred,” according to the watchdog, which attributed the mishap to confusion and poor coordination.

To prevent repeats of dubious reporting to Congress, the inspector general’s office recommended that the bureau take steps to ensure better clarity over its procedures revolving around situations that haven’t officially been designated special security events but have the potential to pose significant security concerns. 

“[FBI should] ensure that its processes and procedures set forth with clarity the division of responsibilities,” the report recommended. “[And] clearly define a mechanism for making a formal determination whether and what kind of a nationwide intelligence and [informant] canvass is necessary and appropriate under FBI policies.”

That was the sole recommendation within the report. 

FBI was not leading intel gathering on Jan. 6, 2021, riot

The inspector general’s office also found that the FBI did not have “primary responsibility” for intelligence gathering or security on the day of the riot,” but “recognized the potential for violence and took significant and appropriate steps to prepare for this supporting role.”

The watchdog noted that it “did not identify any potentially critical intelligence in the FBI’s possession as of January 6 that had not been provided to, or was not otherwise known to law enforcement stakeholders prior to January 6.”

When reached for comment, the FBI referred The Post to its response that had been attached to the report, which said the “FBI continues to disagree with certain of the factual assertions in the report regarding the manner of specific steps, and the scope of the canvass undertaken” prior to the riot. 

“The FBI nonetheless accepts the OIG’s recommendation regarding potential process improvements for future events.”

Yanky Friedman of Monsey Killed in a Single-Engine Aircraft

 

A small plane crash on Interstate 684 near Exit 2 in Harrison, New York, has resulted in one confirmed fatality, identified as Yanky Freidman, a 32-year-old Monsey resident and employee of Fireside Kosher restaurant.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul confirmed that a second individual involved in the crash is in serious condition. The plane, a TECNAM P2008, took off from Linden, New Jersey, according to FlightAware data.

The crash occurred around 7 p.m. Thursday, prompting state troopers to respond to reports of a downed aircraft. Authorities confirmed that the plane carried two individuals, with Friedman tragically losing his life. Further updates are expected as the investigation continues.

As of 8:30 p.m., Interstate 684 remains closed in both directions, with detours causing significant traffic disruptions near Armonk and White Plains. It is unclear how long the closure will last.

Emergency communications received the first alert at 6:58 p.m., reporting a crash on the median of I-684 near Exit 2, the exit for Westchester County Airport.

The plane, typically a single-engine, two-seat aircraft, was identified through scanner reports as a 2021 TECNAM P2008. Westchester County Communications Director Catherine Cioffi confirmed that the county is not the lead agency handling the incident.

How a Trump knockout punch can take out the federal DEI Craziness on Day 1

 

This is a guy

There is a great clanging and clamoring around the offices in Washington, DC, and Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Political operatives, policy wonks and opposition figures are all planning for the arrival of the second Donald Trump administration.

I’ve spoken with many of the people in the president-elect’s orbit who are planning how to staff Cabinet departments and set a new tone on the administration’s first day. Much of our discussion has focused on the approach to DEI, or “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

While the officials in Trump world are all committed to abolishing DEI in theory, they have yet to settle on a practical approach for doing so.

Here’s how they can shut down DEI — and win the fight for public opinion.

DEI bureaucracies became embedded in the federal government as a result of actions by two presidents: Barack Obama, whose Executive Order 13583 laid the groundwork for many national “diversity” initiatives; and Joe Biden, whose Executive Orders 13985 and 14035 entrenched DEI principles into every federal department and routed billions of dollars toward advancing this ideology throughout American society.

Given this history, Cabinet officials must work with Trump to rescind those executive orders.

In their place, he should sign an order advancing the principle of colorblind equality, stating that the government shall treat all individuals equally according to their merit, rather than unequally according to their ancestry.

The second task is harder. It’s one thing to issue an executive order, and another to make it a reality across the sprawling federal bureaucracy.

On this score, Trump’s Cabinet should swiftly shut down all DEI programs and terminate the employment of all policy officials responsible for those programs — effective immediately.

There is an enormous advantage to acting quickly and aggressively on the first day, when the public is most willing to grant the new administration discretion.

Every president has the right to shape his own administration according to his principles, and DEI principles are diametrically opposed to those of Trump, Vice President JD Vance and the Cabinet writ large.

I have experience implementing such a policy as a trustee at New College of Florida, which became the first institution in America to abolish the DEI department.

As expected, this led to frenzied headlines and a fierce public debate. But we were able to cut that debate short because we acted decisively and effectuated our policy immediately.

The policy was issued, the department was terminated and the director was pink-slipped — all in one fell swoop.

Cabinet officials in the second Trump administration should pursue a similar course of action. They have important work to pursue, and the federal DEI bureaucracy, if not dispatched immediately, will prevent that work from being done effectively.

Cabinet secretaries should task their aides with creating a list of all DEI programs, departments and policies, and, if the president issues an order along the lines I’ve outlined, terminate them within hours of the decision.

The third step is to win the fight in the press. Here again, our policy at the New College of Florida is instructive.

Progressive media outlets tried to turn our elimination of DEI into a negative news cycle, but we outwitted them by speed and substitution.

Working quickly ensured that stories about our policy were part of a single news cycle. Simultaneously, we paired our abolition of DEI with a replacement policy that advanced the principle of colorblind equality.

This created an immense narrative advantage, as it allowed the public to weigh one approach against another. And public polling data indicate that Americans support a colorblind society over a race-conscious one by a nearly 70-to-20 margin.

If Cabinet officials publicly emphasize the concept of colorblind equality, they will ground their case against DEI in popular opinion — and cast their opponents into the fringes.

Finally, Cabinet members should take advantage of the inevitable frenzy that will surround the new administration’s various policies and personalities.

Abolishing DEI, while important, will register as a secondary headline, and a clean break means these diversity programs need never be addressed again.

The principle underlying this course of action is simple: America doesn’t need a permanent DEI bureaucracy, but an effective administration that treats its citizens in a fair manner without regard to race.

This is broadly popular, morally just and, with this administration, achievable as public policy for the first time in a generation.

My lasting hope is that Trump can disband the DEI bureaucracy — forever.

Such a prospect may sound unlikely, but supplemented with legislation in Congress, this administration can persuade the American people never to go back to discrimination under the guise of “equity.”

So prepare for the opening salvo. The fight to abolish DEI has arrived.

Adapted from the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal.

Rep Mike Lawler & Rep Mills tell off Blinken in a Congressional Hearing

 

Pocahontas sympathizes with UnitedHealthcare CEO killer

 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren outrageously sympathized with the killer of former UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson — and others who cheered the murderer on — claiming “people can only be pushed so far,” before condemning the violence.

“The visceral response from people across the country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system,” Warren (D-Mass.) told the Huffington Post in an interview.

“Violence is never the answer, but people can only be pushed so far.”

In a subsequent statement, the Massachusetts senator added: “Violence is never the answer. Period. I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.”

Last Wednesday morning, a gunman shot Thompson, 50, in the back of his head outside a Sixth Avenue hotel.

UnitedHealthcare is the largest private health insurance provider in the US.;

Since then, authorities have apprehended tech whiz Luigi Mangione, 26, as the suspected assassin.

Investigators have speculated that Mangione may have had a grudge against the healthcare industry as evidenced by an X-ray photo on his X account and the fact that he had books involving chronic back pain on his Goodreads account reading list, sources previously told The Post.

Strikingly, an outcry of netizens has cheered the slaying of Thompson, ripping into the US healthcare system. This included former Washington Post media journalist Taylor Lorenz taking “joy” in the killing.

“This is a warning that if you push people hard enough, they lose faith in the ability of their government to make change, lose faith in the ability of the people who are providing the health care to make change, and start to take matters into their own hands in ways that will ultimately be a threat to everyone,” Warren added to the outlet.

The Massachusetts senator has long decried the US healthcare system and advocated for a Medicare for All-style program.

She championed this during her failed 2020 Democratic presidential primary bid, though critics argued that her pay-fors in the program were very dubious.

Mangione has since been charged over the assassination of Thompson, including one count of second-degree murder. Bullet casings near where the shooting took place reportedly had “deny,” “defend,” and “depose,” written on them.

That’s an apparent reference to the 2010 book, “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why insurance companies don’t pay claims and what you can do about it,” authored by former Rutgers Law professor Jay Feinman.

Amid the populist uproar over the assassination of Thompson, several Democrats have decried the positive reaction as perverse.

“The public execution of an innocent man and father of two is indefensible, not ‘inevitable.’ Condoning and cheering this on says more about YOU than the situation of health insurance,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) wrote on X in response to a New York magazine headline.

“The cold-blooded murder of the United Healthcare CEO is not cause for celebration or an ‘opportunity to vent.’ It is barbarism for which there should be no tolerance. Any civilization that celebrates cold-blooded murder is sowing the seeds of its own downfall,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) wrote on X.

NY’s Phony Fake legal costs hit a staggering $89B, as NYC ranked second-worst ‘judicial hellhole’ in US

 New York’s clogged and bloated legal system is costing taxpayers and companies a whopping $89 billion a year in excessive litigation expenses, according to a report released this week.

Lenient liability laws and lawsuit-friendly policies have fostered an environment where greedy attorneys can make bank, often off the backs of local businesses and city government, the report, conducted by the American Tort Reform Association, suggests.

“The City’s courts are a playground for fraudsters and opportunistic trial lawyers, while honest New Yorkers foot the bill,” said ATRA President Tiger Joyce.

As a result, the Big Apple ranks No. 2 on the group’s list of Top 10 worst judicial hellholes in the country, with the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and Pennsylvania Supreme Court tied for first.

The tort reform report cites a study conducted by the economic consultancy the Perryman Group last year to estimate the economic impact of excessive litigation. In New York, the group estimates, businesses spent a massive $88.6 billion dealing with frivolous lawsuits.

“The state’s liability environment and lawsuit-friendly policies drive up costs and are a major factor driving businesses and residents to greener pastures in other states,” said Ashley Ranslow, the New York State director for the small business advocacy group National Federation of Independent Business.

ATRA points to several key policies it says are especially responsible for driving up costs — including the state’s scaffold law, which holds construction companies entirely liable for injuries on work sites, even if an employee was negligent.

Critics say the law has been weaponized by dubious litigation lenders who front costs for plaintiffs — sucking millions of dollars out of businesses and municipal governments, many of which settle claims instead of bearing the costs of letting them languish in court.

The ATRA report also cites New York’s high auto insurance rates as a policy that encourages and increases the cost of fraudulent claims.

And it notes a vague statute that allows people to receive compensation in court for ambiguous and undefined “pain and suffering.”

“Lawsuit abuse isn’t just a courtroom problem – widespread fraud is an economic and social crisis that costs jobs, drives up prices, and exploits vulnerable communities,” said Tom Stebbins, executive director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York.

“Lawmakers must step up by passing stricter laws to punish staged car and construction site accidents and by increasing transparency around third-party funding of lawsuits,” Stebbins wrote in a statement.

ATRA places a large amount of blame for the excessive tort costs on New York’s powerful trial lawyers groups.

The New York Trial Lawyers Association maintains a robust lobbying presence in Albany. Top law firms and political groups aligned with the association have pumped millions of dollars into Democrats as well as Republican campaigns statewide.

The organization — one of the largest and most robust trial lawyers groups in New York — has been pushing an expansion of the state’s wrongful death statute that critics argue could be a driver of excessive litigation costs on healthcare providers if passed.

Also referred to as the Grieving Families Act, it would allow people to seek emotional damages in wrongful death cases, among other changes.

“If we are serious about making New York more affordable for businesses and consumers alike, tort reform is a great place to start, including a veto on the wrongful death bill,” a spokesperson for the Business Council of New York wrote in a statement.

What do you think? Post a comment.

Proponents of the legislation say its a timely update to the statute, which hasn’t been updated in decades.

“After losing my partner in childbirth, I’ve watched insurance companies use the pain of families like mine to justify their greed. While we struggle to rebuild our lives after real, devastating losses, they cry ‘lawsuit abuse’ to defend their skyrocketing premiums and record profits. It’s not the lawsuits that are breaking the system—it’s the insatiable greed of these insurers,” Bruce McIntyre, an activist involved in the coalition Justice for Grieving Families, wrote in a letter reported on by POLITICO, this week.

Gov. Kathy Hochul — who received over half a million dollars from the top law firms and trial lawyer PAC’s since 2017, according to the ATRA report — has vetoed the bill twice in the last two years.

Donald Trump named Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ after ‘historic comeback’: ‘Unparalleled in American History’

 

President-elect Donald Trump was named Time’s “Person of the Year” on Thursday after his stunning political comeback — which the magazine described as “unparalleled in American history.”

“It’s been an honor. And every time, it’s an honor” Trump said about being named Person of the Year, again.   

Trump also joked that Time coordinated their pick to line up for his trip to the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning to ring the opening bell. 

“They brilliantly picked them both at the same time… and it only takes me one trip,” he said of his return to his native New York.  

Sam Jacobs, Time’s editor in chief, announced earlier on NBC’s “Today” show that Trump was selected as the  magazine’s 2024 Person of the Year because “for better or for worse, [he] had the most influence on the news in 2024.”

“This is someone who made an historic comeback, who reshaped the American presidency and who’s reordering American politics,” Jacobs said.

“It’s hard to argue with the fact that the person who’s moving into the Oval Office is the most influential person in news.”

Jacobs noted that while “there’s always a hot debate” about who Time will honor every year, the decision was simple this year given Trump’s Election Day victory. 

In his interview with the magazine published Thursday, Trump touted his final campaign blitz as an indication that the nation was frustrated with the Biden Administration and demanded change. 

“I called it ‘72 Days of Fury,’” Trump said of the weeks leading up to the election. 

“We hit the nerve of the country. The country was angry,” he added. 

Trump was among the finalists announced for 2024’s Person of the Year alongside his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, X owner Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kate, Princess of Wales. 

This is the second time Trump was named Time’s Person of the Year following a stunning campaign victory, the first being in 2016 when he beat Hillary Clinton. 

Trump’s victory comes on the same day he’s expected to be on Wall Street to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. 

Voters hope that Trump’s return to the White House will bring a positive swing for their wallets as the soon-to-be 47th president has vowed to usher in a “golden age” for the US economy.

Thursday’s event at Wall Street was Trump’s first time ringing the opening bell, an honor given to celebrities and business leaders who have made their mark on culture and politics. 

During the first Trump administration, his wife, Melania, was given the honor to ring the bell during her “Be Best” initiative. 

Last year, Time CEO Jessica Sibley rang the NYSE opening bell to unveil the magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year, Taylor Swift.

Now both those honors went to Trump this year.

Alexander brothers charged with sex trafficking conspiracy dating back over a decade

 

Police arrested Oren and Tal Alexander, as well as a third brother, for sexual assault.

The Alexander brothers were arrested on Wednesday on federal charges of sex trafficking. Prosecutors accused the siblings of operating a "long-running sex trafficking scheme," according to an unsealed indictment.

The New York prosecutors said in the indictment that Tal and Oren — who are among the nation's top luxury real estate agents — and their brother, Alon, collaborated for more than a decade with others both "known and unknown" to "repeatedly and violently drug, sexually assault, and rape dozens of victims."