Donald Trump has driven Democrats into madness … again.

In a stunning and bold move, Trump ordered the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, who had kept his grip on power after losing an election in 2024. Maduro had indictments for drug trafficking, as well as connections to Hezbollah. His removal makes the United States safer, and makes tyrants in Iran, Russia, and China weaker.

In response, Democrats have rushed to defend Maduro and cast Trump as the villain. Democrats have attempted this every time Trump has succeeded in improving American security, most notably in closing the southern border and enforcing immigration law.

This time, however, Axios reports that even some Democrats in Congress are pushing back on Trump derangement. Recalling that Democrats have spent years condemning Maduro and the stolen election, one observed: “I think it looks weak. If you don’t acknowledge when there is a win for our country, then you lose all credibility.”

Donald Trump keeps racking up the wins. And Democrats keep doubling down on derangement.

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Zohran Mamdani was inaugurated mayor of New York City on January 1st—and he’s already moving aggressively to put a hard left stamp on his new administration.

Just twenty-five years after Islamic terrorists brought down the World Trade Center, Mamdani appointed a former lawyer for an al Qaeda operative as the city’s top attorney. He overturned an executive order prohibiting boycotts of Israeli businesses and organizations. And he scrapped another executive order adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, as well as one designed to keep houses of worship from being overrun by protestors.

New York City is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel. During his campaign, Mamdani pledged to protect the city’s Jewish community. But now he’s sending very different and disturbing signals.

Jewish Americans are wary of Mayor Mamdani. They’re right to be.

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In 1981, Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick said the election of Ronald Reagan meant the United States was taking the “kick me” sign off its back. So, too, is that true with President Donald Trump. The deposing and arrest of the Fidel Castro of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, is the latest example. Because of Trump, Maduro is not running drugs, nor a gauntlet of death for innocents, nor a criminal cartel… but he may be running a criminal defense team in New York.

The liberation of Venezuela will come with collateral positives:

• Iran’s mullahs know clearly that they are not dealing with a tentative American president who will continue to allow their death march targeting our country;
• we’ll see a dramatic drop in cocaine and criminality exported to the U.S.;
• Russia, China, and Hezbollah will be on their heels in our region, not their toes;
• Cuba will be strangled of vast economic support

And, finally: protestors will know they finally have America on their side.

Americans are safer. Freedom is expanding. Peace through strength is back.

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In 1981, Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick said the election of Ronald Reagan meant the United States was taking the “kick me” sign off its back. So, too, is that true with President Donald Trump. The deposing and arrest of the Fidel Castro of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, is the latest example. Because of Trump, Maduro is not running drugs, nor a gauntlet of death for innocents, nor a criminal cartel… but he may be running a criminal defense team in New York.

The liberation of Venezuela will come with collateral positives:

• Iran’s mullahs know clearly that they are not dealing with a tentative American president who will continue to allow their death march targeting our country;
• we’ll see a dramatic drop in cocaine and criminality exported to the U.S.;
• Russia, China, and Hezbollah will be on their heels in our region, not their toes;
• Cuba will be strangled of vast economic support

And, finally: protestors will know they finally have America on their side.

Americans are safer. Freedom is expanding. Peace through strength is back.

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In a stunning act of moral obtuseness, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors recently created a reparations fund for the city’s black community.

Just for starters, racial reparations are illegal — barred by California’s Proposition 209 and the U.S. Constitution. Both forbid governmental discrimination based on race.

But reparations are also morally wrong. It’s unjust to take from people who never owned slaves in order to give to those who were never enslaved — especially in a state that never had slavery.

Supporters claim reparations will heal historic wounds. They actually deepen them. Once government divides Americans by race and stokes grievance politics, there’s no limiting principle. You can’t legitimize racial sorting for some groups and not expect it to fuel resentment in others.

The answer isn’t race-baiting policies like reparations. We’re all Americans.

It’s time our leaders acted like it.

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Too often, it may seem that our jury system doesn’t hold powerful people to account. This time, it did.

A federal jury has convicted Milawaukee judge Hannah Dugan of a felony: obstructing federal agents who were attempting to arrest an illegal immigrant defendant in her courtroom.

Dugan’s case drew national attention last spring. ICE agents were waiting outside her courtroom to arrest an illegal immigrant, who was also a defendant in her courtroom on battery charges. Dugan sent the agents to speak with the chief judge, then ushered the defendant out through a discreet back door.

Judge Dugan was free to disagree with federal immigrant law or its enforcement. She wasn’t free to ignore it because it didn’t conform to her policy preferences.

Judges don’t get to decide which laws apply to them. When they break the law, consequences follow.

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As we move toward the end of the year—and look at January and 2026 in front us, it’s it is worth remembering that January is named after the Roman figure “Janus,” whose head looked forward and backward.

Looking backward, it was a year with some awful moments. We lost one of the youngest and brightest of our age in Charlie Kirk as well as one of the oldest and brightest of the age that educated all of us, Norman Podhoretz. The conservative constellation weeps over 2025. But as we look forward, we have much to celebrate and build on: Namely: Our 250th anniversary as a country which still very much is, as Lincoln said, “the last best hope of earth.” And, second, a presidency that has sidelined transnational progressivism in favor of Western superiority. Finally, the hope we all have for the uplift of our fellow citizens and the destruction of the enemies of civilization in a world torn between civilizational abuse and civilizational liberation.

From the Salem Media family to all of you: Happy New Year!

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As we move toward the end of the year—and look at January and 2026 in front us, it’s it is worth remembering that January is named after the Roman figure “Janus,” whose head looked forward and backward.

Looking backward, it was a year with some awful moments. We lost one of the youngest and brightest of our age in Charlie Kirk as well as one of the oldest and brightest of the age that educated all of us, Norman Podhoretz. The conservative constellation weeps over 2025. But as we look forward, we have much to celebrate and build on: Namely: Our 250th anniversary as a country which still very much is, as Lincoln said, “the last best hope of earth.” And, second, a presidency that has sidelined transnational progressivism in favor of Western superiority. Finally, the hope we all have for the uplift of our fellow citizens and the destruction of the enemies of civilization in a world torn between civilizational abuse and civilizational liberation.

From the Salem Media family to all of you: Happy New Year!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.