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Feb 1, 2026 - World

For the first time in American history, a foreign government official took "a major ownership stake in an incoming U.S. president's company," according to a report Saturday night.According to the Wall Street Journal's reporting, a so-called "spy Sheikh" signed an "unprecedented" deal to buy part of Trump's company for half of a billion dollars.According to the report, "Four days before Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal secretly signed a deal with the Trump family to purchase a 49% stake in their fledgling cryptocurrency venture for half a billion dollars, according to company documents and people familiar with the matter."The article continues:"The buyers would pay half up front, steering $187 million to Trump family entities. The deal with World Liberty Financial, which hasn’t previously been reported, was signed by Eric Trump, the president’s son. At least $31 million was also slated to flow to entities affiliated with the family of Steve Witkoff, a World Liberty co-founder who weeks earlier had been named U.S. envoy to the Middle East, the documents said."It further states that the "investment was backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Abu Dhabi royal who has been pushing the U.S. for access to tightly guarded artificial intelligence chips, according to people familiar with the matter. Tahnoon—sometimes referred to as the 'spy sheikh'—is brother to the United Arab Emirates’ president, the government’s national security adviser, as well as the leader of the oil-rich country’s largest wealth fund. He oversees a more than $1.3 trillion empire funded by his personal fortune and state money that spans from fish farms to AI to surveillance, making him one of the most powerful single investors in the world."Read it here.

Feb 1, 2026 - World

Five years after the junta’s coup, the civil war devastating Myanmar has reached a turning point. The military is carrying out large-scale counter-offensives across the country to reclaim territory seized by pro-democracy rebels of various ethnic and religious backgroundsIn Tanintharyi, the southernmost region of Myanmar, the local resistance has managed to contain the military. After five years of guerrilla warfare, the revolutionary youth there remain determined to restore democracy through armed struggle.A long, narrow stretch of land at the southern tip of Myanmar, between the Andaman Sea to the west and Thailand to the east, Tanintharyi region is one of the areas where the resistance challenges the military’s authority. For decades, the region has been home to an armed rebellion led by the Karen ethnic minority, which operated mainly in the peripheral mountains.Soldiers from the Karen National Union (KNU) inspect the ruins of a Buddhist monastery destroyed by a junta airstrike in Myeik district, Tanintharyi region Continue reading...

Jan 31, 2026 - World

By Rachelle Wilson Tollemar, Adjunct Professor of Spanish, University of St. Thomas. Minneapolis residents say they feel besieged under what some are calling a fascist occupation. Thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been swarming a city whose vast majority in 2024 did not vote for Donald Trump — or for a paramilitary roundup of its diverse population.Tragically, two residents have been killed by federal agents. Consequently, social media is aflame with comparisons of Trump’s immigration enforcers to Hitler’s Gestapo.While comparisons to Hitler’s fascist regime are becoming common, I’d argue that it may be even more fitting to compare the present moment to a less-remembered but longer-lasting fascist regime: that of Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain from 1936 until his death in 1975.In 2016, critics warned that Trump’s campaign rhetoric was grounded in textbook fascism, exhibiting signs such as racism, sexism and misogyny, nationalism, propaganda and more. In return, critics were met with intense backlash, accused of being hysterical or overly dramatic.Now, even normally sober voices are sounding the alarm that America may be falling to fascist rule.As a scholar of Spanish culture, I, too, see troubling parallels between Franco’s Spain and Trump’s America.Putting them side by side, I believe, provides insightful tools that are needed to understand the magnitude of what’s at risk today.Franco’s rise and reignThe Falange party started off as a a small extremist party on the margins of Spanish society, a society deeply troubled with political and economic instability. The party primarily preached a radical nationalism, a highly exclusive way to be and act Spanish. Traditional gender roles, monolingualism and Catholicism rallied people by offering absolutist comfort during uncertain times. Quickly, the Falange grew in power and prevalence until, ultimately, it moved mainstream.By 1936, the party had garnered enough support from the Catholic Church, the military, and wealthy landowners and businessmen that a sizable amount of the population accepted Gen. Francisco Franco’s coup d'etat: a military crusade of sorts that sought to stop the perceived anarchy of liberals living in godless cities. His slogan, “¡Una, Grande, Libre!,” or “one, great, free,” mobilized people who shared the Falange’s anxieties.Like the Falange, MAGA, the wing of the Republican Party named after Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again,” repeatedly vilifies the left, who mostly live in cities, as godless anarchists who live like vermin.Once in power, the Francoist regime commissioned a secret police force, the Political-Social Brigade — known as the BPS — to “clean up house.” The BPS was charged with suppressing or killing any political, social, cultural or linguistic dissidents.Weakening resistanceFranco not only weaponized the military but also proverbially enlisted the Catholic Church. He colluded with the clergy to convince parishioners, especially women, of their divine duty to multiply, instill nationalist Catholic values in their children, and thus reproduce ideological replicas of both the state and the church. From the pulpit, homemakers were extolled as “ángeles del hogar” and “heroínas de la patria,” or “angels of the home” and “heroines of the homeland.”Together, Franco and the church constructed consent for social restrictions, including outlawing or criminalizing abortion, contraception, divorce, work by women and other women’s rights, along with even tolerating uxoricide, or the killing of wives, for their perceived sexual transgressions.Some scholars contend that the repealing of women’s reproductive rights is the first step away from a fully democratic society. For this reason and more, many are concerned about the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Roe v. Wade.The #tradwife social media trend involves far-right platforms echoing Francoist-style ideologies of submission, restriction, dependence and white male dominance. One of TikTok’s most popular tradwife influencers, for instance, posted that “there is no higher calling than being a wife and a mother for a woman.” She also questioned young women attending college and rebuked, on air, wives who deny their husbands sexual intimacy.Weakening the economyEconomically, Franco implemented autarkic policies, a system of limited trade designed to isolate Spain and protect it from anti-Spanish influences. He utilized high tariffs, strict quotas, border controls and currency manipulation, effectively impoverishing the nation and vastly enriching himself and his cronies.These policies flew under the motto “¡Arriba España!,” or “Up Spain.” They nearly immediately triggered more than a decade of suffering known as the “hunger years.” An estimated 200,000 Spaniards died from famine and disease.Under the slogan “America First” — Trump’s mutable but aggressive tariff regime — the $1 billion or more in personal wealth he’s accumulated while in office, along with his repeated attempts to cut nutrition benefits in blue states and his administration’s anti-vaccine policies may appear to be disconnected. But together, they galvanize an autarkic strategy that threatens to debilitate the country’s health.Weakening the mindFranco’s dictatorship systematically purged, exiled and repressed the country’s intellectual class. Many were forced to emigrate. Those who stayed in the country, such as the artist Joan Miró, were forced to bury their messages deeply within symbols and metaphor to evade censorship.Currently in the U.S., banned books, banned words and phrases, and the slashing of academic and research funding across disciplines are causing the U.S. to experience “brain drain,” an exodus of members of the nation’s highly educated and skilled classes.Furthermore, Franco conjoined the church, the state and education into one. I am tracking analogous moves in the U.S. The conservative group Turning Point USA has an educational division whose goal is to “reclaim" K-12 curriculum with white Christian nationalism.Ongoing legislation that mandates public classrooms to display the Ten Commandments similarly violates religious freedom guarantees ratified in the constitution.Drawing comparisonsTrump has frequently expressed admiration for contemporary dictators and last week stated that “sometimes you need a dictator.”It is true that his tactics do not perfectly mirror Francoism or any other past fascist regime. But the work of civil rights scholar Michelle Alexander reminds us that systems of control do not disappear. They morph, evolve and adapt to sneak into modern contexts in less detectable ways. I see fascism like this.Consider some of the recent activities in Minneapolis, and ask how they would be described if they were taking place in any other country.Unidentified masked individuals in unmarked cars are forcibly entering homes without judicial warrants. These agents are killing, shooting and roughing up people, sometimes while handcuffed. They are tear-gassing peaceful protesters, assaulting and killing legal observers, and throwing flash grenades at bystanders. They are disappearing people of color, including four Native Americans and a toddler as young as 2, shipping them off to detention centers where allegations of abuse, neglect, sexual assault and even homicide are now frequent.Government officials have spun deceptive narratives, or worse, lied about the administration’s actions.In the wake of the public and political backlash following the killing of Alex Pretti, Trump signaled he would reduce immigration enforcement operations] in Minneapolis, only to turn around and have Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorize the use of an old military base near St. Paul, suggesting potential escalation, not de-escalation. Saying one thing while doing the opposite is a classic fascist trick warned about in history and literature alike.The world has seen these tactics before. History shows the precedent and then supplies the bad ending. Comparing past Francoism to present Trumpism connects the past to the present and warns us about what could come.

Jan 31, 2026 - World

Trump Tower. Trump Steaks. Trump University. Trump Watches. Trump cologne, candles, coins, robes, ornaments, towels, pens, gerbils, and gold-tipped suppositories. It’s hard to think of anything Trump hasn’t tried to monetize. And now, from his premier fantasy collection, there’s Trump UN. Last September, while Trump was busy solving eight wars that leaders of those countries say never started, never ended, or had nothing to do with him, Trump hatched a plan to line his own pockets with the misery in Gaza. He came up with a Gaza Board of Peace vested with magical powers to maintain order while steering private investments to his friends and family. Billion-dollar racketFor a mere billion-dollar membership fee, you can join Trump’s Orwellian-themed Board of Peace and dine with the world’s most brutal dictators. Trump, who invested his dad’s money in Middle East real estate decades ago, claimed last year that the U.S. would “run” Gaza, that he saw “long-term ownership” possibilities there. His “Riviera of the Middle East” proposal with son-in-law Jared Kushner floated luxury tourism and an economic hub, describing a “phenomenal location, on the sea, the best weather” with “unbelievable” potential. The only hitch? Someone would first need to relocate more than two million desperately poor Palestinians who have nowhere else to go. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, no fan of international law or Palestinians, loved the concept. Arab leaders, not so much. Palestinians, leaders of surrounding Arab nations, and international organizations saw Trumps ‘Riviera’ as ethnic cleansing, ripe for war crimes under international law. Trump’s peace deal didn’t surviveAfter widely congratulating himself for the Gaza ceasefire, Trump first mentioned a Gaza Board of Peace to govern reconstruction of the rubble pile last October. The ceasefire never really materialized — they’re still killing each other — but Trump’s Board idea took hold of his ego and ran with it. As Trump originally designed it, the Board would provide a forum where Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and other Middle East countries could discuss political reforms and reconstruction of Gaza, the latter rife with private profit potential. Trump, who has already pocketed $1.4 billion in loose emoluments since re-assuming the presidency, magnanimously offered to serve as chairman.By the time he got around to presenting the Board last week at Davos, it had become a barnacle attached to his id, distorted beyond recognition. The Times of Israel published the Board’s charter, announcing that it would “promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.” The grandiosity of purpose was not limited to Gaza; as the Times of Israel noted, the charter doesn’t even mention Gaza. Instead Trump’s Board aspires to be a private, mini United Nations divvying up the spoils of war and operating under one thumb: Trump’s. Democratic leaders politely declinedThe Board is Trump’s power fantasy strutting on a catwalk. Under Trump’s plan, he personally gets to decide policies for the world and declare resolutions by majority vote, reserving veto power for himself. He also gets to name his successor, which, preliminarily, will be Don Jr. (when he isn’t in a helicopter slaughtering animals endangered by his dad’s climate ignorance).Trump has crowned himself and his smirking spawn Chairmen of the Universe of Rogue Actors which includes the leaders of Hungary, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan. They’re all royals or dictators or both, or they’re wannabes buying access. Their billion-dollar entrance fee is a solid investment in their oligarchs, not just in Gaza but around the globe.When Trump presented the idea at Davos, EU leaders were already aghast at his Greenland blunder. When he invited Canada, the U.K, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and other European nations to join, the invitees had already gotten a good look at who he is, and what he is up to. Unsure whether to attribute Trump’s bombast to dementia, malice or some sick combination of hubris and ignorance, their unified response was to say no thank you, and back away. What’s left for the Board to do?While wrecking the global economy and trying to start a civil war at home to slake his midterm worries, Trump has awarded himself the power to “administer Gaza” even as European leaders roll their eyes and describe his derangement as “dangerous.” They are also walking the talk, pivoting away from Trump’s adulterated version of democracy. This week India and the European Union closed a breakthrough free trade agreement reducing tariffs. German firms’ investments in China are at a four-year high. Working around Trump, Mexico, Canada and China are rapidly expanding their cooperation. Despite Trump’s stated goal of weakening China economically, his tariffs accelerated supply-chain reconfiguration, causing China’s 2025 trade surplus to surge to a record-breaking $1.2 trillion. After treating Venezuela like a real-estate acquisition, Trump can’t even convince his own big oil supporters to invest there. Real leaders, in short, aren’t buying Trump’s “U.S. economy is hotter than ever” schtick or his Gaza “Peace” Board.Trump thinks he can fool the world, but he can’t fool anyone outside the Fox News/Sinclair propaganda bubble. He will try to do his worst in Gaza, but the civilized world, fed up with Trump’s insanity, is moving on.Sabrina Haake is a columnist and 25+ year federal trial attorney specializing in 1st and 14th A defense. Her Substack, The Haake Take, is free.

Jan 30, 2026 - World

A hot mic on a livestream Thursday night caught someone behind the camera naming several notable no-shows at the premiere of first lady Melania Trump's self-titled documentary screening at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.In the video, which was shared by several users on social media, a black carpet appeared empty while a voice behind the camera listed names of several Trump allies — including a number of administration officials — who did not appear at the Amazon MGM Studios film's premiere. Kari Lake, Bret Baier, Kellyanne Conway, Riley Gaines, Kash Patel, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Sean Duffy and Peter Navarro were all named as missing at the event by the person behind the camera. Ticket sales for the film have reportedly been dismal, with the London premiere reportedly drawing in only single-digit ticket sales. "Melania" will open in 1,400 theaters Friday across the U.S. and in more than 27 other countries. Amazon dropped a reported $35 million on marketing the documentary, and social media posts have suggested that many theaters will be empty as the film rolls.BREAKING - Humiliating hot mic moment at the Melania premiere red carpet.NO ONE is showing up and they had to cut the feed. ????????????Kari Lake, Bret Baier, Kellyanne Conway, Riley Gaines, Kash Patel, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Sean Duffy, and Peter Navarro all no-showed! pic.twitter.com/uiV7l0156z— DonkConnects ♻️™ (@donkoclock) January 30, 2026