In a wide-ranging interview with the NYT, US president claims he is probably the least antisemitic person in the world and says he does not know who Nick Fuentes is

US President Donald Trump said there is no room in his MAGA movement or the Republican Party for antisemites.

In a wide-ranging two-hour interview with The New York Times, whose full transcript was published on Sunday, Trump was asked about leading conservative figures who have espoused antisemitic views and their place in the Republican Party and Make America Great Again movement.

“I think we don’t need them. I think we don’t like them,” Trump responded.

Asked if he condemns those in the conservative movement who have been espousing antisemitic views, Trump said, “certainly.”

“If you talk about the antisemitic views, there’s been nobody better for us. As an example, I just got the Israel award, which is the biggest award they give. It was just given to me. First time it was ever given to anybody outside of Israel,” he said.

“There has been no better president in the history of the world as we know it that has been stronger or better and less antisemitic, certainly, than Donald Trump,” Trump continued, referring to himself in the third person.

“I have been the best president of the United States in the history of this country toward Israel. And that’s, by the way, acknowledged by everybody, including the fact that we have peace in the Middle East, and that’s going to hold.”

Asked if he would condemn the far-right shock-jock and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, Trump said he does not know who he is. One of the interviewers reminded him that he dined with Fuentes along with Kanye West in 2022.

“I had dinner with him, one time, where he came as a guest of Kanye West. I didn’t know who he was bringing. He said, ‘Do you mind if I bring a friend?’ I said, ‘I don’t care.’ And it was Nick Fuentes? I don’t know Nick Fuentes.”

West, a world-famous rapper, began issuing antisemitic tirades on social media and in other forums in 2022, vowing to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” and making a stream of other anti-Jewish remarks. The invective has badly damaged his career, including Adidas cutting off its partnership with Ye in 2022.

His antisemitic vitriol has since surfaced intermittently. In February, he aired a Super Bowl ad for a website selling a swastika T-shirt, and then, in May, released a song called “Heil Hitler,” featuring a recording of the Nazi leader, that garnered millions of views on social media.

In November, he met with a prominent rabbi to apologize for his antisemitic behavior, attributing it to his bipolar disorder.

The Times reporters also pressed Trump on Paul Ingrassia, who he appointed deputy general counsel of the General Services Administration, even after a series of his offensive text messages, including one expressing sympathy for Nazism, were made public.

“I don’t know that. It’s possible. I have thousands of people working here,” Trump said.

“I have a daughter who’s married to a Jewish person. My daughter happens to be Jewish, beautiful, three grandchildren are Jewish. I’m very proud of them. I’m very proud of that whole family. I am the least antisemitic person probably there is anywhere in the world,” he added, referring to his daughter Ivanka who is married to Jared Kushner.

A poll in May found that half of US Jews believe Trump to be antisemitic.

Since his return to office, Trump’s administration has taken a number of high-profile actions with the stated goal of fighting antisemitism, including pulling billions of dollars in funding from universities and seeking to deport foreign student anti-Israel activists.

The poll found that only a fraction of respondents thought those actions reduce antisemitism, while a much larger share said the actions increase antisemitism.

Jacob Magid, Times of Israel

Places run by these kinds of Muslims are dark, backward places. Don’t let it happen here.

Palmer’s, a bar on Minneapolis’ West Bank, has been a fixture of the community it has served for 119 years. Locals even called it “the heart of the city” because it brought people together. It has now been permanently closed. It is to become a mosque.

Islamist ideology bans alcohol, music, and dancing. Pork and dogs are considered dirty and are frowned upon at best.

It is no wonder that most countries that are in the thrall of Islamism, and are populated by these kinds of Muslims are dark places that have not evolved much from the 7th or 8th centuries.

Traditionally, we in the West have proposed a toast to those we love, to honor someone, to recognize or enshrine a memory, or to acknowledge the passing of a loved one — or of time.

Usually with a beverage containing alcohol. We may drink to someone’s memory, or to a principle with which we agree.

Music is the soundtrack of civilization.

We dance to express joy or to bond with another.

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Pork is tasty and perhaps a healthier choice than red meat.

Dogs have evolved along with human beings, and, for some, truly are their best friends.

If we accede to the dictates of Islamist ideology, if native American citizens assimilate to the values of this brand of Muslim rather than vice versa, if we stop toasting, singing, and dancing, we will lose much of the joy in our lives, much of what makes us human. And we will have turned our back on our own values.

When the music’s over, we won’t have to turn off the lights, because it will already be dark.

So let’s drink a cup of cheer again

And share a dance one last time

Let’s make a toast to freedom again

For these are the days of Auld Lang Syne.

So, “Dry January” be damned, I’m going to drink a toast to President Trump — and Making America American Again.

And then I’m going to put on some Toby Keith and pet my golden retriever.

If we accede to the dictates of Islamist ideology, if native American citizens assimilate to the values of this brand of Muslim rather than vice versa, if we stop toasting, singing, and dancing, we will lose much of the joy in our lives, much of what makes us human. And we will have turned our back on our own values.

When the music’s over, we won’t have to turn off the lights, because it will already be dark.

So let’s drink a cup of cheer again

And share a dance one last time

Let’s make a toast to freedom again

For these are the days of Auld Lang Syne.

So, “Dry January” be damned, I’m going to drink a toast to President Trump — and Making America American Again.

And then I’m going to put on some Toby Keith and pet my golden retriever.

Eric Utter, American Thinker

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Gold and silver prices are strongly up and both hit new record highs in early U.S. trading Monday. Risk aversion is significantly elevated in the marketplace to start the trading week, amid tumult in the Federal Reserve and civil unrest in Iran that are driving safe-haven demand to the precious metals markets. February gold was last up $98.30 at $4,599.30. March silver prices were up $4.849 at $84.205.

Jim Wykoff

BRUSSELS, Jan 11 (Reuters) – It is now up to Russia to show it is interested in peace, after Kyiv and its allies agreed on a peace plan and security guarantees that would take effect following a ceasefire, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said.

Speaking to reporters, she said the peace plan was the 20-point proposal that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed with U.S. President Donald Trump at the end of last year.

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She added that, alongside the plan, there were substantial, robust, and well-defined security guarantees for Kyiv from the United States and Europe.

“Now, Russia has to show that they are interested in peace,” von der Leyen said.

She said the security guarantees would rely first on Ukraine’s armed forces, which she said were well-trained and battle-experienced. It would be the task of the Europeans to make sure the Ukrainian army is also well equipped, she said.

The second line of defence would be the so-called Coalition of the Willing — 35 states including most EU countries as well as Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey.

“Here it is very good that the Americans are involved, specifically in the verification and the monitoring, but also with a backstop,” von der Leyen said.

She said that the EU was working on plans to ensure Ukraine’s economic prosperity after a ceasefire, with ideas to be spelled out in a forthcoming “prosperity paper”. The document would set out measures for the short-term and over the next decade to boost Ukraine’s economy and support its recovery.

HAVANA (AP) — As U.S. seizures of Venezuela-linked oil tankers surge, concerns grow in Cuba about whether the island’s government and economy will survive.

Experts warn that a sudden halt in Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba could lead to widespread social unrest and mass migration following the stunning U.S. military raid that resulted in the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro.

“I’d be lying if I told you that I don’t want to leave the country,” said 16-year-old Cuban student Amanda Gómez. “We’re all thinking about leaving, from the youngest to the oldest.”

Long before the Jan. 3 attack, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

The lack of Venezuelan oil could push Cuba over the brink, experts say.

“This will take an already dire situation to new extremes,” said Michael Galant, senior research and outreach associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. “This is what a collapsing economy looks like.”

The lack of Venezuelan oil could push Cuba over the brink, experts say.

“This will take an already dire situation to new extremes,” said Michael Galant, senior research and outreach associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. “This is what a collapsing economy looks like.”

Galant said he believes that’s the goal of the Trump administration: “to cause such an indiscriminate suffering in the civilian population as to instigate some sort of uprising, regime change.”

Someone is going to have to take the big pill’

From 2020 to 2024, Cuba saw its population drop by 1.4 million, which experts largely attribute to migration spurred by the worsening crisis.

Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos, a Cuban economist and demographics expert, noted that while Cubans with means have already left, migration will continue.

“Fuel is a factor that affects everything,” he said. “People are going to feel that they are in worse conditions, and people who hadn’t considered leaving will feel the need to do so.”

At the Spanish embassy in Havana on Friday, Ernesto Macías, a 53-year-old doctor, stood in line behind dozens of people to request a family member visa for his daughter, having already obtained his Spanish citizenship.

“I wouldn’t want Cuba to be invaded or anything like that. I hope it doesn’t happen, but I’m sure people will continue to emigrate because there is no other way,” he said.

Cuba’s gross domestic product has fallen 15% in the last six years, and President Miguel Díaz-Canel noted in December that there was a 4% decrease in 2025 alone.

Although the Cuban economy never fully recovered after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, it experienced relative prosperity between 2000 and 2019, fueled by a boom in tourism and exports of services, nickel, rum and tobacco.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and coupled with a radical increase in U.S. sanctions under Trump’s second administration to pressure for political change – stifling every imaginable sector – Cuba’s crisis erupted with force.

Through it all, Cuba remained dependent on Venezuela for oil, receiving an estimated 35,000 barrels a day from the South American country before the U.S. attacked, along with some 5,500 barrels daily from Mexico and roughly 7,500 from Russia, according to Jorge Piñón, of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, who tracks shipments using oil tracking services and satellite technology.

Even with all those shipments, blackouts persisted, experts noted.

“An indefinite shutdown of the electrical system, which is no longer so impossible to imagine, can be envisioned under a total suspension of oil shipments from Venezuela, which seems to be the current strategy of the American government,” said Jorge Duany, with the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University.

“It would lead us to imagine the possibility of mass protests,” he said.

Andy S. Gómez, retired dean of the School of International Studies and senior fellow in Cuban Studies at University of Miami, said that even if protests do occur, he doesn’t envision the downfall of Cuba while Raúl Castro is still alive and running the military.

“Are they concerned? You bet,” Gómez said. “They’re not well armed; their equipment is outdated.”

But Gómez noted that civilians aren’t armed, and that it’s unlikely one of the three factions of Cuba’s army would break with the ruling elite.

“At the end of the day, someone is going to have to take the big pill, and it’s either going to be Díaz-Canel or (Prime Minister) Manuel Marrero Cruz for not being able to solve the problems,” Gómez said.

Food, electricity and a home

On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker as part of a wider push by Trump’s administration to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally.

It’s not clear if any of the seized tankers were bound for Cuba, but experts believe any obstruction in the supply line would be a shock given the fragility of the island’s economy.

As the uncertainty continues, Gómez said Cuba only has one card to play with the U.S.: mass migration.

“I don’t think that Cubans are going to provoke the United States at this time,” he said, adding that Cuban authorities “can absolutely control that.”

“Cuban military forces are on high alert,” he said.

Gómez added that even if the worsening crisis does lead to unrest and the ouster of a top government official, that person would likely be replaced by a well-known figure.

“It would just be a continuation of the government,” he said, adding that he doesn’t believe it would bother a majority on the island. “The Cuban people only care about one thing right now, unfortunately….they want to put food on the table, have electricity, have a place to live, have a job and then what do we do about the government.”

___

With evidence emerging of more than $9 billion worth of taxpayer fraud in Minnesota, the media are finally starting to cover the problem of criminals stealing from the taxpayer. But fraud is by no means limited to Minnesota—it is a nationwide problem that leaders at both the federal and state levels need to tackle before it gets even worse.

Even the New York Times was forced to take notice, publishing an explosive article showing evidence of more than $1 billion of taxpayer money stolen by about 80 different Somali immigrants to Minnesota. Just days after the Minnesota story broke, a Somali immigrant in Maine was accused by a whistleblower of defrauding both Medicaid and the pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program. The alleged fraudster in the case, while ostensibly working in Maine, ran for office in Somalia and boasted of raising money for the Somali military. According to the whistleblower, his non-profit organization had, for years, sought reimbursement from the federal government for non-existent “services” under Medicaid.

Now, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts announced charges against two Boston men for trafficking more than $7 million worth of food stamps, and a local news station in Oregon uncovered more than $91,000 in food stamp fraud in Oregon just in the month of November alone.

This dizzying list of fraud cases just keeps getting longer.

For years, conservatives have been sounding the alarm about the problem of fraud, but too often those warnings fell on deaf ears. Finally, it seems like the sheer scale of the fraud has shocked the media and their viewers alike: The fraudsters in these cases have stolen more than 10 times as many tax dollars than the entire Somali community in Minnesota pays in taxes each year.

Much of the reporting has focused on the missteps of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who backed down on any attempts to stop the fraud out of fear of being labeled a racist. This scandal is career-ending for Governor Walz, but the story is much bigger than him or Minnesota.

The fraud in these sensational news stories is just the tip of the iceberg.

The non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) has documented nearly $3 trillion in known waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government over the last 22 years. This number is just the waste, fraud, and abuse that we know about—and it does not even include all federal programs. According to GAO, more than 10 cents out of every food stamp dollar is wasted or stolen.

The good news is that President Trump is fighting back against the fraudsters. Not only is the Department of Justice arresting them and putting them in jail, but President Trump signed new policies into law that will make it a lot more difficult to steal from the taxpayer. Instead of checking eligibility annually, states will be required to double-check the eligibility of Medicaid recipients every six months.

President Trump’s new law will also kick millions of illegal immigrants off welfare, reserving welfare resources to help Americans who need it the most. The new law will even penalize states who fail to protect taxpayer dollars, requiring the worst offenders to pay back a percentage of their own erroneous payments.

But there is a lot more to do. Many states, including Minnesota, Maine, and Massachusetts, are using budget gimmicks to hide the real rate of fraud from the federal government. The most salient is called Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility, which is when states don’t bother to check if someone is eligible for one welfare program if they’re already receiving another kind of welfare. This just multiplies fraud where it occurs and gives the false impression to the federal government—and to voters—that fraud is less common than it really is. Every state in America needs to stop using this blatant loophole, do their jobs, and check to ensure that people receiving our tax dollars are actually eligible.

This holiday season’s string of fraud cases is infuriating to hardworking Americans who pay their taxes and follow the rules. But after decades of waste and fraud of our tax dollars, they ought to be the trigger that finally leads to the real reforms we need.

Adam Gibbs is the Communications Director for the Foundation for Government Accountability.

An Indiana band delivered the national anthem before the Peach Bowl, which saw No. 1 Indiana face off against No. 5 Oregon in a high-stakes matchup with a College Football Playoff berth hanging in the balance.

The national anthem performance was somewhat unconventional: rather than featuring a celebrity or solo performer, the Indiana band commanded center stage. The rendition generated mixed reactions across social media. “The National Anthem should have been a combination of the bands from both schools. IMO,” one critic posted.

“Gotta be the worst damn National Anthem I’ve ever listened to,” another college football fan commented. It came after Oregon quarterback Dante Moore was given an NFL Draft advice that speaks volumes about the New York Jets.

However, others responded more favorably. “For those who missed the Star Spangled Banner at the Peach Bowl, Indiana vs Oregon, you missed the best live performance by the Indiana Band,” one supporter shared on Twitter.

“I haven’t heard the National Anthem played like this in Decades. Truly inspirational for Americans. As it once was.”

A fan pointed out that the band’s Indiana roots might have influenced the crowd’s response.

“A quick observation during the National Anthem for Peach Bowl,” they penned.

“The camera panned the crowd and the fans (middle-aged fans) for Oregon stood with their arms folded, staring forward, while the Indiana fans, young and old, stood with their hands on their hearts singing the words to the National Anthem, while the Oregon fans stood like statues.”

The Indiana band, known as The Marching Hundred, joined forces with Oregon’s band to get the crowd going with a series of pre-game medleys.

One supporter believed the Oregon fans’ response would affect the team’s on-field showing. “I was on Oregon to win this game. Then the National Anthem played,” they posted.

“They scanned the stands. EVERY SINGLE OREGON FAN HAD ARMS CROSSED AND WAS CLEARLY NOT HAPPY WITH THE ANTHEM. Incredible Go back and look. Go Hoosiers.”

Oregon did, in fact, endure a disastrous opening to the contest, with Moore throwing a pick-6 on the opening drive.

The Ducks struggled to contain quarterback Fernando Mendoza and the dominant Indiana offense during the opening half. The 2025 Heisman Trophy winner connected on 10 of his 11 attempts for 110 yards and three touchdowns as the Hoosiers surged to a 35-7 lead at the break.

Indiana continued to dominate in the second half, eventually pulling off a 56-22 rout of Oregon to secure a spot in the national championship game against Miami.

“Inside Every Progressive Is A Totalitarian Screaming To Get Out”—David Horowitz

Islamophobic Iranian Protesters Burn Mosques

In the West, they’re building mosques, while in Iran they’re tearing them down.

January 11, 2026 by Daniel Greenfield 

Newsletter

In an outpouring of Islamophobia, pro-democracy protesters in Iran have been accused of burning down as many as 30 mosques.

Video has shown the Al-Rasool Mosque in Tehran being set on fire on Friday, a ‘holy day’ for Muslims, in a show of troubling ‘Islamophobia’ which Iran’s Chief Islamic Judge warned would result in “maximum punishment”. That’s saying something for a regime which already chops off fingers and rapes female protesters before executing them.

It’s unknown what occasioned this ‘Islamophobia’ from protesters.

Perhaps it was the generations of oppression in the name of Islam.

Perhaps it was the constant state of Islamic terror, not at the hands of bombers or hijackers, but the regime that they installed.

Perhaps it was the mandatory ‘hijab’ that is celebrated by western liberals, but which brave Persian women risk their lives to tear off.

Leftists believe that Islam is a force of liberation. That’s why they supported the Islamic Revolution which took over Iran and imposed decades of death, terror and tyranny. The Iranian people know better which is why they’re fighting and dying for freedom from Islam.

Western liberals may call them ‘Islamophobes’, just as they condemned the protesters in East Germany and Hungary, but just as those who lived under Communism knew it best, who knows Islam better than those who are forced to suffer under it?

In the West, they’re building mosques, while in Iran they’re tearing them down.

The people of Iran have been here before with mass protests, and the Iranian authorities have honed their playbook. There is a long way to go in terms of how much they could crack down, and they have shown no sign of relenting.

Diana Magnay

International correspondent @DiMagnaySky

Sunday 11 January 2026 04:

Mass protest is a long way from revolution.

The people of Iran have been here before. In 2009, over perceived electoral fraud; in 2019, over fuel prices; in 2022, over the abuses of the morality police.

The authorities have honed their playbook, through the thuggery of the revolutionary guard and the Basij militias, the killing of protesters, mass detentions, public executions and the shutting down of the internet.

That last point is hugely significant. It means that people don’t know if anyone else is going out.

They can’t connect. They won’t know whether it’s worth continuing to stick their heads above the parapet after the last two nights of protest, which had been signposted and communicated in advance.

The videos they’ll see are those on state TV where they’ll hear the threats to use the death penalty on protesters dubbed ‘vandals’ or ‘terrorists’ and see pro-government crowds, and tempered but still sinister crackdowns.

It is hard to keep momentum going across Iran’s 31 provinces, especially a protest with no apparent leader (at least within Iran itself), if people are left in an information black hole.

Reza Pahlavi, son of the former shah, clearly has some support on the streets, but he is in the US, and his calls for strikes and further protest may have problems filtering through.

And of course, the shutdown allows the authorities to crack down as they choose, without the visibility that connectivity would confer on them.

That’s what happened in 2019 when at least 1,500 protesters were killed. We are still a long way from those kinds of numbers, although given the scarcity of information, it is hard to tell.

The one barrier to the regime extending that blackout indefinitely is the economic toll it will take on an already gasping economy.

But there is a long way to go in terms of how much they could crack down, and they have shown no sign of relenting.

Revolutions would require elite buy-in – for elements of the security apparatus to decide that continuing to defer to the 86-year-old supreme leader no longer makes sense. That doesn’t look like it’s happening either.

The wild card is Donald Trump. He has promised to hit Iran hard if the regime opens fire on protesters. And then there is Israel, too, which might take the opportunity for another strike.

Iran’s Islamic theocracy is more vulnerable than it has ever been. But it was born of a revolution itself, and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not about to show weakness.