Secure Freedom Minute

“Happy New Year” is a wish, but not by any means a prediction. Whether it will prove to be a healthy, productive and prosperous one for Americans will depend in part on circumstances beyond our control, both domestically and externally.  Here are a few ways in which we can improve the prospects for the twelve months ahead:  Get right with God. With His Grace, all things are possible. Prize this amazing country as we celebrate its first two-hundred-and-fifty years. We must devote ourselves to protecting and practicing our constitutional freedoms so that they can be enjoyed as well by future generations. Recognize that there are those, both here at home and globally, whose aspirations for this year conflict with ours. Their hostile ideologies drive quests for power, control and dominance over us that must be deterred and, where necessary, resisted.  This is Frank Gaffney.

After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, President Trump warned the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestinian terrorist franchise Hamas that it must live up to its agreement to disarm. Then he added that, if that didn't happen, there were numerous nations who would be willing to use force to “wipe Hamas out.”  Unfortunately, Hamas spokesmen have repeatedly insisted that the jihadists never committed to lay down their arms. And it's unclear whether even a single country – other than Israel – is prepared to engage in the kind of costly combat required to  disarm the terrorists, let alone eliminate their organization. The likely sources for claims to the contrary are two unreliable so-called U.S. “allies”: Hamas' enablers, Qatar and Turkey. If Hamas is actually to be “wiped out” – as it must be – only Israel has the will and the capability to accomplish it. Make it so. This is Frank Gaffney.

When President Trump meets Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu today, their conversation should reflect a fundamental transformation over the past year. Israel has emerged from a status some have described as a U.S. “protectorate” to an exemplar – and regional pillar – of the Trump Doctrine. It expects American allies to bear the principal burden of their own security, and – with U.S. material support – that of their neighborhoods, as well.  None does that more effectively than Israel. She has laid low her enemies and ours and is greatly enhancing our mutual interests in the eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea. Let's pray that the partnership thus forged between Messrs. Trump and Netanyahu will be further strengthened today and that, pursuant to the Trump Doctrine, this powerful bilateral alliance – not misbegotten deals with actual foes – will be the centerpiece of U.S. Mideast policy going forward. This is Frank Gaffney.

In recent days, President Trump has unleashed American military power against jihadists in Syria and Nigeria. Such actions are clearly necessary in light of their intensifying attacks in both countries and demonstrate his commitment that “our country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.” Fulfilling that warranted pledge, however, will require more than symptomatic treatment, important as it is. Prior to his first election to the presidency, Mr. Trump recognized and decried the ideology that animates such jihadism.  And on December 20th, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard underscored the point, declaring that “the greatest near- and long-term threat to both our freedom and our security is…Islamist ideology.”  Fortunately, the President can help counter this toxic ideology systemically by banning the organization that is its preeminent champion and enabler: the Muslim Brotherhood.  Urge him to do so at BantheBrotherhood.org.  This is Frank Gaffney.

On this holy day, Christians everywhere are celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, a Jewish baby named Jesus, and the civilization those two faiths have bequeathed to the world. As we pray for peace in the year ahead, we must seek God's grace in countering those who threaten that peace.  For example, in countries like Nigeria, Syria, Communist China, Iran and North Korea, Christians are being subjected to brutal persecution.  And in each, the persecutors and their respective regimes seek to replace our Western civilization with one kind of totalitarian global order or another. If we are to continue to enjoy, among others, the freedom of religion guaranteed by our nation's Christian founders strongly influenced by the Judaic traditions Jesus honored, we must pray for His help in protecting America and Western civilization from those determined to destroy them.  This is Frank Gaffney.

Today, President Trump is supposed to receive recommendations of the Secretaries of State and the Treasury concerning arguably his second presidency's most consequential national security decision to date.  At stake is whether the United States joins other allied nations in banning the Muslim Brotherhood. Or alternatively, pretends that the organization is not leading a global Islamic movement to destroy our constitutional Republic and Western civilization.  Dozens of leading American freedom-fighters just appealed to Mr. Trump to ban the Brotherhood, meaning the parent organization as well as all of its chapters and subdivisions, including the U.S. ones and their extensive infrastructure in this country. By so doing, the President can clearly demonstrate that America will resist, not submit to, the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies' bid to transform ours from the land of the free to the home of the enslaved. This is Frank Gaffney.

The threat the Chinese Communist Party poses not just to us, but the whole world is truly catastrophic. For example, China expert Gordon Chang recently illuminated the CCP's global predations via immense, and often illegal, fishing operations. Notably, he reports Communist China has fifty-setven thousand industrial fishing vessels that have over two recent years fished in the waters of more than ninety countries for more than twenty-two million hours. Mr. Chang concludes that “thanks to Chinese illegal fishing and other factors, the seas have been stripped bare,” citing an expert as estimating that ninety-three percent of the world's major fish stocks are either fully exploited, overexploited, or significantly depleted. Such “locusts” of the seas imperil billions worldwide, as does the Chinese Communist Party that weaponizes them.  This is Frank Gaffney.

On December 20th, President Trump's Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard issued a powerful warning to the AmFest audience. She declared that Islam's sharia-supremacist ideology, which she called “Islamism,” is “the greatest near and long-term threat to our freedom and security.” Director Gabbard's warning could hardly be more timely as the President will imminently act on recommendations by the Secretaries of State and Treasury about whether, and to what extent, he should ban the world's preeminent champion of that toxic ideology – namely, the Muslim Brotherhood.  The Brotherhood's most important enablers, Qatar and Turkey, clearly oppose any such sanctions. But the evidence that it is a foreign terrorist organization and its toxic “political ideology” seeks our nation's destruction cannot be ignored, let alone given a pass.  Take action now by calling on President Trump to ban the Brotherhood at BantheBrotherhood.org.  This is Frank Gaffney.

2026 will be a challenging year. The United States will be preoccupied with potentially game-changing mid-term elections. Western European nations seem likely to slide further into what Team Trump calls illegal immigrant-induced “civilization erasure.”  Then, there's Russia's intensifying bloodletting in Ukraine and  Western civilization's unfinished wars with jihadists in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.  The question to which we must give earnest, focused and sustained attention is: Will China's dictator, Xi Jinping, perceive such distractions – at least some of which he relentlessly fosters – as an irresistible opportunity to transition from the pre-kinetic warfare his Chinese Communist Party has long waged against us to a shooting war? An important webinar today will explore that prospect – and what we must be doing now to prepare for, and hopefully deter, it. You have a need-to-know. Join us at PresentDangerChina.org at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.  This is Frank Gaffney.

President Trump will soon make what may be the most important national security decision of his second presidency. And scarcely anyone even knows it's impending, let alone how fraught the wrong choice would be.  Given the incredibly high stakes for our people and constitutional Republic, the lack of the necessary public awareness and national debate about this decision is completely unacceptable. By Christmas Eve, Mr. Trump is supposed to get a report from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about how to handle the threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood. Our Victory Coalition report describes the President's “choice” as either ban the Brotherhood or face “civilization erasure” here.  You have a need to know the right answer – and why. So does President Trump. Learn why he must ban the Brotherhood and encourage him to do so at BantheBrotherhood.org. This is Frank Gaffney.

During a White House Hannukah celebration yesterday, President Trump declared that, “All nations will stand together against the evil forces of radical Islamic terrorism” and observed that the perpetrators of a weekend massacre of Jews at a Hannukah party in Australia were “driven by Islamic state ideology.” As it happens, Mr. Trump has a looming opportunity to act on those statements. By Christmas Eve, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are supposed to provide a report on the Muslim Brotherhood, the international organization that champions the ideology known as sharia that animates the Islamic State and other jihadists. Mr. Trump will either ban the Brotherhood or encourage sharia's adherents to believe they and their ideology will get away with achieving not just more terrorist attacks, but “civilization erasure,” here as well as abroad.  Take action at BantheBrotherhood.org. This is Frank Gaffney.

'Tis the season for celebrating traditions of the great Abrahamic faiths. Christmas markets and Hannukah parties. Increasingly, however, adherents to sharia – which is actually not a religion, let alone one the Bible's Abraham would embrace – are emulating Mohammed's jihad against Christians and Jews. It's a reasonable bet that those jihadis are inspired – if not actually enabled – by the Muslim Brotherhood or its myriad allies, front groups, “chapters” and “subdivisions.” So are others pursuing in pre-violent ways what President Trump calls “civilization erasure.” Consequently, President Trump has to decide if he'll do nationally what Texas and Florida's governors have done in their states, namely, ban the Brotherhood. He's asked his Secretaries of State and Treasury to advise him. Today, our Victory Coalition is, too, with a report called, “The Choice: ‘Ban the Brotherhood' or Face ‘Civilization Erasure' Here.”  Read it at for free at BantheBrotherhood.org. This is Frank Gaffney.

Missing from official comments and press reporting about the murder this weekend of three Americans in Syria and sixteen Jewish Australians on a Sydney beach is the word “jihad.” That failure is deliberate – a symptom of, and a contributor to, a metastasizing danger. Fifteen years ago, our group called “Team B II” published a book entitled, Sharia: The Threat to America. It challenged the policy that prevailed then – and continues to operate today, namely, ignoring acts of violence clearly animated by that totalitarian Islamic doctrine, depicting them instead as random incidents of “terrorism” or “extremism.” Today, sharia-supremacists tied to or inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood are poised to engage in much more jihadist violence, both elsewhere and here, and on a far greater scale.  Warnings like Team B's must no longer be ignored. Join us in saying so at BantheBrotherhood.org. This is Frank Gaffney.

Too many Americans remain unaware of the threat posed to this country, its Constitution and freedoms by what President Trump has called “the ideology of Radical Islam.” The Muslim Brotherhood is the prime-mover behind translating that ideology known as sharia into action worldwide – meaning, jihad and conquest. Doctrinally, when sharia's enemies exhibit weakness and submission, its adherents must redouble their efforts to finish achieving Islam's triumph worldwide, violently if possible. For example, when Brotherhood-inspired sharia-supremacists now waging jihad as members of the Syrian army chant in the presence of their former commander and un-sanctioned president “Death to the Jews” and there is no cost, expect worse to come. Ditto if the Brothers' sponsors in Qatar and Turkey get away with subverting Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza by rescuing Hamas.  Join us in urging President Trump to push back at BantheBrotherhood.org.  This is Frank Gaffney.

President Trump's new National Security Strategy has offended Europeans with its warning that they face “the prospect of civilizational erasure.” While several reasons for that dire prognosis are offered, the key one appears to be “migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife.” Unsaid, but clearly a factor in erasing Western civilization in Europe is the rising aggressiveness of Islamic immigrants increasingly under the influence of, and weaponized by, the Muslim Brotherhood and other sharia-supremacists financed by Qatar and enabled by Turkey.  Unfortunately, similar forces are working to erase civilization in this country, as well. The Trump administration is expected shortly to decide whether to join Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida in effectively banning the Muslim Brotherhood.  Join us in encouraging President Trump to protect our constitutional Republic and defend Western civilization at BantheBrotherhood.org.  This is Frank Gaffney.

Artificial intelligence and its seemingly limitless financial prospects are raising concerns that it may be a bubble about to burst. What should be even more worrying, however, is what's coming out of the pell-mell race to create ever more powerful AI technology justified by the imperative of staying ahead of China's counterpart efforts.  I call what's in prospect “FrankenAI” because, among others, even some of those involved in developing advanced artificial intelligence are warning that we'll soon lose control of such creations and they'll destroy the human race.   If running such risks is impelled by the Chinese getting such capabilities first, no American company should help them acquire the technology or intellectual property that can only intensify that danger. That's especially true if, in the process, we risk becoming more like Communist China with its AI-powered, totalitarian social credit system.  This is Frank Gaffney.

Yesterday, Governor Ron DeSantis joined Texas Governor Gregg Abbott in designating the Muslim Brotherhood and its preeminent American front group, the Council on American Islamic Relations, as foreign terrorist organizations.  As a result, Florida agencies have been directed to undertake “all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities by these organizations, including denying privileges or resources to anyone providing material support.” Providing material support for terrorism is, of course, precisely what the Muslim Brothers do every day around the world – and in this country.  Presumably, that role – as well as the MB's inspiration for and enabling of violent acts of global jihad will feature prominently in the process President Trump has put in motion to determine whether, and to what extent, the federal government will also effectively Ban the Brotherhood. Help us encourage the President to do just that at BantheBrotherhood.org.   This is Frank Gaffney.

On Sunday, the “Titanium Lady,” Fox News' Maria Bartiromo, lit up one of the worst perpetrators of the sort of treachery her three-part “Underwriting the Enemy” series has relentlessly exposed: J.P.Morgan's CEO Jamie Dimon. While Dimon was given a chance to tout his company's commendable commitment to invest $1.5 trillion in enhancing U.S. security and resiliency, he was also pressed about his practice of raising funds for Chinese military companies. He declared that he was not going to violate American national security policy and would “absolutely walk away from deals with China…assisting with military equipment.”  In fact, Dimon and his ilk know that doing otherwise actually violates President Trump's America First Investment Policy – which, thanks to Rep. John Moolenaar, Congress is poised to make the law of the land. American security and resiliency starts with ending our underwriting of the enemy. This is Frank Gaffney.

A U.S. official just reminded Congress of the enormous threat we face from Communist China: “America's adversaries…are already embedded in our systems, mapping our infrastructure, and preparing to disrupt critical operations at a time of their choosing….Cyberattacks on energy infrastructure are a daily reality and a growing strategic weapon.”  This report makes all the more astounding the fact that the Securities and Exchange Commission continues to enable Chinese Communist companies – even ones blacklisted for being tied directly to the CCP's military – to have privileged access to America's capital markets.  While SEC Chairman Paul Atkins says he's going to “scrutinize” more carefully such companies and what they are doing, unless and until he terminates a 2013 Memorandum of Understanding engineered by then-Vice President Joe Biden, our investors will continue – mostly unwittingly – to prop up and otherwise underwrite the greatest threat this country has ever faced. This is Frank Gaffney.

It's not every day that the American people can have a direct input into the making of decisions that can critically affect the national and homeland security of the United States. Today is such a day.  During a VictoryCo.org briefing at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, we'll launch a new AlignAct campaign that enables the public to communicate to President Trump the necessity of “stripping out” and “removing” the support networks of Radical Islam in this country.  Donald Trump promised to do just that on August 15, 2016 when, as the Republican nominee for president he pledged to take numerous steps to counter Radical Islam's ideology, known as sharia, in America. The prime-mover behind such sharia-supremacism here is the Muslim Brotherhood, a group he's considering designating as a terrorist organization.  Join us in supporting President Trump in doing so at BantheBrotherhood.org.   This is Frank Gaffney.

A critical national security decision is currently under high-level review inside the Trump administration. By Christmas eve, the Secretaries of State and the Treasury are tasked with reporting to the President whether to designate some or all of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations.  This should be a no-brainer since the Brotherhood is committed to the destruction of America and its submission, along with the rest of the world, to a global “caliphate” ruling according to Islam's totalitarian sharia code. Filmmaker Ami Horowitz brilliantly documented these ambitions in a short video entitled, “Inside the Muslim Brotherhood.”   The Brothers are aggressively enabled by two influential, but actually subversive so-called U.S. “allies”: Qatar and Turkey. Both are actively opposing any such designation.  But last month, Texas Governor Greg Abbot effectively banned the Brotherhood in his state. President Trump must do the same nationwide. This is Frank Gaffney.

Official Washington is seized at the moment with the question of whether efforts to stop what amounts to chemical warfare against the United States have involved violations of the laws of war and, therefore, illegal orders to military personnel. Specifically, congressional committees are investigating the use of lethal force to destroy Venezuelan fast boats fitting the profile of drug traffickers of the Soles cartel's seaborne smuggling operations.  The transparent hope of congressional Democrats and, apparently some Republicans, is to find a pretext for removing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.  Like the recent video by six Democratic legislators encouraging service personnel to refuse to obey illegal orders, the practical effect will be to render the U.S. armed forces less unified, focused and ready at a time when serious threats to the national security from Communist China, sharia-supremacists and other enemies are metastasizing. This is Frank Gaffney.

The murder last week of a National Guard soldier by an Afghan veteran granted asylum earlier this year was reminiscent of numerous so-called “green-on-blue” jihadist attacks on our servicemen and women in his country.  Worse yet, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Sunday that as many as 100,000 other Afghans brought here without proper vetting when Joe Biden surrendered their country to the Taliban may also wish to do us harm. And, according to Secretary Noem, this individual, who was trained and worked with U.S. forces prior to that debacle, was actually radicalized in America.  President Trump has announced sweeping actions meant to keep such people from coming and staying here. He must also fulfill a promise made in 2016 that, “The support networks for Radical Islam in this country will be stripped out and removed one by one.” This is Frank Gaffney.

In response to the murder of a National Guard soldier by one of the thousands of Afghan jihadists Joe Biden let into this country after he surrendered theirs to the Taliban, President Trump pledged to do, among other things, the following:  “I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries…, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions…and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country;                                                                               denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.” The place to start with this ambitious agenda is by designating the U.S. chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, identifying and removing its operatives, and doing the same to their allies – many thousands of Chinese soldiers now in this country.  This is Frank Gaffney.

On the eve of Thanksgiving, two members of the West Virginia National Guard protecting Washington were attacked in a manner reminiscent of how jihadists surprised and murdered American servicemen during the war in Afghanistan.  That may be because, as President Trump announced last night, their assailant was an Afghan national imported after Joe Biden surrendered his nation to the Taliban.  Unfortunately, Biden not only admitted without screening tens of thousands of such likely Taliban operatives following the fall of Kabul. Countless other jihadists and apparent Chinese soldiers also came across his open borders.  In response to the Guardsmen's shooting, President Trump pledged to remove “any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country.”  We will be very lucky – and must be very thankful – if the worst of what those misbegotten Biden policies unleashed is yesterday's attack.  This is Frank Gaffney.

Amidst talk of progress on an end to hostilities in Ukraine, the war emanating from the other side of the world continues, at best, to be misunderstood, at worst, greatly exacerbated by our inattention.  That's the war the Chinese Communist Party has long waged against the United States. Consider just a few examples of the damage the CCP has done to date with ongoing and intensifying “unrestricted warfare” aimed at destroying America:  It's hollowed out our industrial base, ravaging the economy.   It's killed over a million of us with biological warfare in the form of COVID-19.  It's murdered half-a-million more with chemical warfare inflicted by weaponized fentanyl. And tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers are inside our country prepared to do even worse to America's people and infrastructure. We must recognize the CCP is at war with us, and respond appropriately. This is Frank Gaffney.

Yesterday, President Trump established by executive order a process for designating “chapters and subdivisions” of the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations. For those of us deeply concerned about this group's metastasizing enabling of sharia-supremacism globally, this is welcome news.  That said, the President's stated concerns about the threat the Brotherhood poses overseas to U.S. nationals and interests apply, if anything, even more to the many millions of us who can be harmed by the organization's vast numbers of radical clerics, mosques, front groups and terrorist cells operating in this country. So, will Mr. Trump's 30-day tasking to the Secretaries of State and Treasury “concerning the designation of any Muslim Brotherhood chapters or other subdivisions, including those in Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt, as foreign terrorist organizations” allow for the threat the Brothers pose domestically to be addressed, as well?  It absolutely must. This is Frank Gaffney.

Donald Trump says he'll designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. When he does – and enforces it, he'll make the most important policy course-correction towards jihadism since 9/11. Until now, our government has refused to recognize that those like the Brothers determined to impose Islam's totalitarian sharia – at least initially, through stealthy means, rather than violent ones – are our enemies, too. Hereafter, President Trump must fulfill promises made in a key campaign speech in August 2016. He condemned the “ideology of Radical Islam” and pledged to screen out “any [immigrants] who have hostile attitudes towards our country or its principles – or who believe that sharia law should supplant American law.” He also promised “the support networks for Radical Islam in this country will be stripped out and removed one by one.” Start with the Muslim Brotherhood's vast “civilization jihad” network in America. This is Frank Gaffney.

Michigan Representative John Moolenaar is a national treasure.  As chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, he's led opposition to Wall Street's ongoing practice of “funding our demise.” In a recent interview on “Securing America,” Chairman Moolenaar declared: “We see these situations where American investor dollars unknowingly are either advancing…Chinese slave labor or cooperation with the Chinese military industrial complex. And that's just wrong. But we need to make it illegal, and we need to [enact] legislation, as well as cooperation with the executive branch, to shut that down.” A PresentDangerChina.org webinar today featuring Mr. Moolenaar's leadership, will showcase an immediate corrective: SEC Chairman Paul Atkins can swiftly, and unilaterally, terminate a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding that allows CCP companies uniquely to ignore our securities laws and regulations.  Stop financing our demise! This is Frank Gaffney.

Texas Congressman Keith Self just delivered a poweful indictment of the toxic operating code of authoritative Islam known as sharia. In just a few minutes on the House floor, he powerfully documented how “fundamentally at odds” that “dangerous culture of violence and domination” is with our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees. An Army Ranger veteran who actually fought sharia-supremacists, Rep. Self concluded by warning that, “This is a time for choosing. Either we defeat the sharia advances in America or government of the people, by the people and for the people may indeed perish from the earth.”  As it happens, on Tuesday, another leading Texan – Governor Greg Abbott – made such a choice by designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations.  Memo to the jihadis: Don't mess with Texas – or America.  This is Frank Gaffney.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott yesterday designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations. He explicitly subjected those groups and “any persons promoting or aiding their criminal activities” to prosecution pursuant to state law. These initiatives are long overdue, urgently needed and templates for what must be done across America.  After all, Texas is just ground-zero for efforts by the Brothers, CAIR and other sharia-supremacists to subvert our constitutional republic and impose instead their totalitarian rule.  Fortunately, a Republican primary ballot measure next spring will afford voters a chance to endorse a Texas prohibition of such efforts to supplant our Constitution as “the supreme law of the land.”  But the jihadists of the Muslim Brotherhood and front groups like CAIR explicitly aspire to take down our entire country. They must be stopped, now.  This is Frank Gaffney.

President Trump meets Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House today. Their public focus will be assorted commercial and military deals. In private, however, they better address the need for a course-correction in U.S. foreign policy. The Saudis are rightly concerned about the influence being exercised by two purported U.S. “allies,” Qatar and Turkey. Prince “MBS,” understands those countries are actually working to undermine America and its interests in the Mideast.  That's a problem for the UN's just-approved plan for post-Hamas Gaza and a broader regional peace. The Qataris and Turks intend to exploit it to ensure that the terrorists they sponsor in Gaza will not actually disarm, let alone surrender power.  Turkey and Qatar must be prevented from redoubling their worldwide campaigns to arm, fund and otherwise enable jihadists and perpetuate their war on the West.  This is Frank Gaffney.

The National Counter-Terrorism Center is warning that al-Qaeda is threatening to assassinate our leaders, attack corporations and cause mass casualty events in the United States.  If you haven't heard such alarms, you're not alone. When the country's political elite and media is focused elsewhere – notably obsessing about Jeffrey Epstein's crimes and files documenting them, disseminating information that may help save Americans' lives just doesn't get the focused national effort it urgently requires.    Unfortunately, evidence that jihadists are emboldened to think they can strike us with impunity also conflicts with preferred official narratives. These include: Iran is no longer at war; Hamas is out of business; a Syrian terrorist deserves our support; and Qatar and Turkey are reliable U.S. allies, not prime enablers of toxic sharia-supremacism.  To defend against jihad, Americans must be equipped to help, starting with knowing the truth.   This is Frank Gaffney.

President Trump is the author and preeminent practitioner of The Art of the Deal. The first year of his second presidency has been marked by many of them.  The question is: What happens when the other party to “the deal” lies, cheats or otherwise defeats its “object and purpose”? For example, the Iranian regime is clearly not complying with the basis for ending what the President dubbed “the 12-day war.” China, Russia and North Korea are helping the mullahs' regime rebuild its military capabilities, evidently including their nuclear weapons program. Hamas is neither disarming nor relinquishing power in Gaza, let alone disbanding. And the Chinese Communist Party is asserting that it will continue to deny rare earth minerals to American companies deemed to be “dual-use.”   There must be consequences for such deal-breaking, or there will be a lot more of it.    This is Frank Gaffney.

Ten years ago today, jihadists launched coordinated and murderous attacks against civilians across Paris. The experience deeply traumatized France – but will be commemorated by a country that has, if anything, become over the past decade even more vulnerable to such Muslim terrorism.  So, unfortunately, is ours.  That's because, in the intervening years, both France and America have allowed in large numbers of young men who practice the supremacist Islamic doctrine known as sharia. It obliges them to use violence to impose Muslim rule worldwide.  In France, civil war between such immigrants and the native population seems increasingly inevitable. And here, following sharia-adherent Zohran Mamdani's election in New York, emboldened Islamists are insisting that their rule must replace our constitutional republic.  Failing to learn, and respond appropriately to, the lessons of past jihadism is an invitation to much more of it.  This is Frank Gaffney.

Eighty-years ago this month, a trial began for top Nazis responsible for perpetrating immense crimes against humanity. Tragically, the systematic murder of 6 million Jews and other victims prosecuted in Nuremberg is today being vastly surpassed by those persecuting Christians around the world.  According to Open Doors USA, 380 million followers of Jesus are currently being heavily persecuted globally, primarily by Sharia-supremacists and Communists.  To his credit, President Trump has made a priority of saving Christians, notably by threatening military action against jihadists in Nigeria who are relentlessly murdering and horrifically displacing them with the evident complicity of their government.  In the absence of a Nuremberg-style process, we need America's leadership to be consistently and effectively applied to holding accountable and punishing those responsible for persecuting Christians around the world.   This is Frank Gaffney.

On Veterans Day, we honor those who have sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic – often giving their lives to do so. An important VictoryCo.org webinar today at 11 a.m. Eastern Time will call attention to the importance of such oaths sworn by other public servants, as well. Specifically, the question arises: Can those like New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who adhere to one or more ideologies that require the destruction of our constitutional Republic, be allowed to faithlessly swear such an oath? And, if they do so, how can such perfidy not be grounds for preventing their serving?  The Founders wisely required that officeholders attest to their loyalty to the Constitution. Those who won't do so faithfully cannot be allowed to pursue their revolutionary agendas inside our government.   This is Frank Gaffney.

A social media satire claimed New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani canceled an oath-taking ceremony requiring him to pledge to “support and uphold” the U.S. Constitution.  Evidently, the event will take place. But it's no laughing matter that he can't possibly make such a promise truthfully. In fact, both of Mamdani's ideologies – Communism and sharia-supremacism – require the overthrow of our constitutional Republic.  The prospect that there will be a growing number of candidates like Mamdani demands that individuals elected to jobs vital to the safety and security of Americans, like those appointed to such positions, be subject to background checks and obtain security clearances.  The Founders wisely required that officeholders attest to their loyalty to the Constitution. Anyone who cannot or will not faithfully state and honor such a commitment must be precluded from pursuing their revolutionary agenda from inside our government.   This is Frank Gaffney.

Soviet Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin promised, “Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.”  New York Communist-Islamist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani reportedly is “all but assured” to entrust the teaching of his city's children to former Congressman Jamaal Bowman. Such an appointment would be an early indicator of just how radical Mamdami's regime will be.  After all, Bowman formerly ran a radical leftist school in the Bronx in which “social justice” took precedence over academic performance. For example, cop-killers were lionized while the vast majority of his students were not proficient in English and math.  America is already reckoning with the cumulative effects of leftists dominating our educational institutions for several generations. God help New Yorkers, and the rest of us, if their schools are further weaponized by Comrades Mamdani and Bowman. This is Frank Gaffney.

Last week, President Trump – to his great credit – resolved to punish “radical Islamists” in Nigeria responsible for the “mass slaughter” of Christians.  In a social media post on October 31st, he declared,“The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!” Next week, though, President Trump will actually be hosting Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House – a man who, until recently, led radical Islamists of al Qaeda and ISIS in committing atrocities against Christians and others in Syria.  Worse yet, now that he's Syria's president, they have ties to his regime and are continuing with impunity to perpetrate such persecution.  Let us pray that Mr. Trump will make clear that his protection extends to those Great Christians in Syria, too.  This is Frank Gaffney.

One of the most time-tested principles in international affairs is the prescription “If you want peace, prepare for war.”  Since he became Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth has been clear about the most serious threat against which we must prepare – namely, that posed by the Chinese Communist Party.  The long-awaited National Defense Strategy reportedly will emphasize that reality. Secretary Hegseth told senior military leaders recently there would be “no rear areas” in the next war –presumably, because of the large numbers of Chinese soldiers here.  And on Saturday, Secretary Hegseth warned Asian nations of the imperative of improving “threat awareness” and maritime capabilities in the face of China's increasingly “destabilizing” and “coercive” actions in the South China Sea.   If you want “everlasting peace” with China, prepare for war – and help bring down the greatest threat we've ever faced: the Chinese Communist Party. This is Frank Gaffney.

Today, a tiny fraction of New York City voters will enable a “Trojan horse” to be wheeled into their mayor's office in the person of the Democratic candidate, Zohran Mamdani.  Worse yet, he may prove to be a horseman of the apocalypse.  A recent, chilling VictoryCo.org webinar documented Mamdani's ominous personification of the “Red-Green axis” forged by a shared goal of destroying our constitutional Republic.  His candidacy has drawn heavily on the national manpower of the Marxist Democratic Socialists of America. Mamdani also converted to Islam, resulting in substantial financing from jihadist groups, including the Council on American Islamic Relations.    And his strain of Islam is a Shiite death-cult whose adherents – notably, the “12er” leaders of Iran – believe they must cause apocalyptic destruction now to prompt their messiah violently to achieve Muslim rule worldwide.  God help New York City, and America. This is Frank Gaffney.

In what may be the finest hour to date of his two presidencies, Donald Trump has pledged to counter the dire threat to civilization inherent in history's greatest crime against humanity: the persecution of over 380 million Christians worldwide.  The overwhelming majority of the acts of heavy persecution to which those followers of Jesus are subjected occur at the hands of adherents to Islam's totalitarian sharia code. In two recent Truth Social posts, Mr. Trump focused on one of the most egregious and ongoing examples of a place where such barbarity is allowed to occur with impunity: Africa's Nigeria.   To his credit, President Trump has committed to hold accountable and punish the Nigerian government – which has long tolerated, and even aided and abetted, such persecution – including by U.S. military attacks on the perpetrators. Praise God! This is Frank Gaffney!

For thirty-three years, the United States has unilaterally refrained from conducting even very-low-yield underground tests of our aging arsenal of nuclear weapons.  By relying on computer simulations and educated guesses – instead of actual, realistic experimentation, we have precluded the sort of modernization in which both Russia and China have engaged relentlessly, surely with the benefit of covert nuclear tests. Worse yet, we have seen serious and growing concerns about the reliability and effectiveness of our deterrent forces.  Dr. Mark Schneider, one of America's most competent experts on nuclear weapons policy and arms control, recently published an extraordinarily important paper laying out the case for a resumption of nuclear testing.  Fortunately, President Trump has just ordered the Department of War to start testing immediately our nuclear weapons on an equal basis with other nations.  Praise the Lord, and test the ammunition. This is Frank Gaffney.

The meeting between President Trump and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping in South Korea is now in the past. Still in the future, and very much in doubt, is what will come of it.  The President has characterized the meeting as “a 12” on a one-to-ten scale. He announced numerous initiatives designed to help: American manufacturers dependent on Chinese exports of rare earth minerals; U.S. farmers' agricultural sales, and the vast numbers of predominantly young people in this country not yet killed by Chinese chemical warfare in the form of fentanyl.  If past experience is any guide, however, the Chinese Communist Party will not live up to its commitments and will persist in its decades-long “unrestricted warfare” against us.  President Trump and every American should take aboard yesterday's PresentDangerChina.org webinar on why we must not ignore that reality – and respond appropriately.  This is Frank Gaffney.

A chilling VictoryCo.org briefing yesterday raised an alarm about a mortal threat posed to America's preeminent metropolis.  According to four eminent experts, the predicted election of Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani would put a man who adheres to several ideologies that call for the destruction of this country in charge of the security of its most populous city. While New York City voters have been on notice about Mamdani's ominous ties to the Communist Democratic Socialists of America front group and his Muslim Sharia-supremacism, until yesterday, his attachment to the apocalyptic death cult that animates Iran's regime has gone basically unremarked.  The federal government calls for us to “See something, Say something.” We need it urgently to do the same by warning New Yorkers that Zohran Mamdani is a “12er” whose his election could imperil their city and the country.      This is Frank Gaffney.

The ancient Chinese strategist, Sun Tse, had profound insights about The Art of War, including these:  “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” The question of whether America risks succumbing to what are, in fact, mortal enemies arises as we consider deals in the works with Communist China and with Qatar and Turkey. All three adhere to ideologies and agendas requiring our destruction. None seeks to coexist with us in the long run, or honor commitments predicated on that goal.  Americans must know these enemies – and know that our nation is actually at war with them, and proceed accordingly. This is Frank Gaffney.

The China Matrix is a brilliant, and very timely, new book by Lee Smith. It chronicles how successive presidents of both parties and countless leaders of America's business, political and other elites have subordinated national security and economic strength to the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party, and often their personal enrichment.   Mr. Smith documents how Donald Trump started warning about this sell-out pioneered by Henry Kissinger decades ago, and how as a presidential candidate and in office he has worked to put America First, instead.  President Trump will be tempted this week to ignore the “unrestricted warfare” the CCP has long waged against us by approving yet another “trade deal” that props up that mortal enemy. A generation ago, Ronald Reagan faced a similar choice at Reykjavik – and declined.  Will Mr. Trump do the same, or join the China Class?  This is Frank Gaffney.

President Trump told Time Magazine that he will soon decide whether to press Israel to release Marwan Barghouti from prison. Doing so is being portrayed as a step towards an alternative to Hamas and consistent with our interests and efforts to promote peace in Gaza and regionally. In fact, unleashing Barghouti – a jihadist serving multiple life sentences for his involvement in the murder of five Israelis – would add immeasurably to the narrative that those who are, like him, committed to the destruction of Israel have won.  A truth-telling briefing by American and Israeli experts yesterday warned of the already-great dangers for both our countries of reinforcing that perception.  Sharia-supremacists, notably the leaders of so-called “allies” Qatar and Turkey, will simply intensify their double-game of using the President's “20 Points” deal to pursue what is, in fact, a truly “endless war” against Western civilization.  This is Frank Gaffney.

Last week, President Trump struck a blow for freedom against “global governance.” He rallied fifty-seven members of the International Maritime Organization to prevent for at least a year the imposition of “international taxation” on this and other sovereign nations. That's the very good news.  The bad news is that, to date, the United States has not acted to oppose the creation of another, ominous instrument of globalist domination – namely, the institution of surveillance, data aggregation and AI algorithms to monitor and control populations worldwide.  We must not tolerate the imposition here of digital platforms, like “Real IDs,” that can serve as the information infrastructure for Chinese-style “social credit systems.” Ditto a central bank digital currency, like the so-called “Stable Coin,” that would enable the state to punish its perceived enemies by cutting off their access to funds. This is Frank Gaffney.

The so-called Fourth Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party now underway in Beijing may determine whether its dictator, Xi Jinping, retains absolute control – or is removed from power by the large numbers of Chinese military leaders and those of political factions who have suffered at his hands. Grounds for Xi's removal include: his relentless purges of the CCP rivals and senior officers; his successive economic policy failures; the resulting widespread popular discontent; and his preparations for a shooting war with the United States and its allies.   Unfortunately, initiating such a war may offer Xi the best hope of shoring up his position. Political jockeying in that case would be portrayed as treason, justifying far more extensive and lethal purges.  We should be rooting – and working – for the demise of the Chinese Communist Party, especially if Xi Jinping remains its emperor. This is Frank Gaffney.