US Government Agencies Terminate 67 Wasteful Contracts Worth $1.4 Billion: DOGE

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

Federal government agencies terminated and descoped 67 wasteful contracts over the past five days, which had a ceiling value of $1.4 billion, while saving $648 million in taxpayer funds, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced in an X post on Nov. 8.

The canceled contracts include “a $54k State Dept. training contract for ‘leader as a coach course’, a $456k USAGM broadcasting contract for ‘24/7 FM broadcast service in hosting, operations, technical, and maintenance support in Juba, South Sudan’, and a $1.3M State Dept. education contract for ‘Botswana MI curriculum,’” the post said.

In another Nov. 8 X post, DOGE praised the cross-agency coordination involved in tackling fraud related to the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program.

Businesses that partake in the 8(a) program are eligible to receive federal contracting as well as training and technical assistance.

According to DOGE, the General Services Administration has facilitated the nonrenewal or termination of 17 “wasteful” 8(a) contracts, generating a savings of $75.1 million. These contracts were active across four federal agencies—the Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Energy, and the Department of War.

DOGE had responded to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Nov. 7 X post about the crackdown on fraudulent use of government programs.

“President Trump has directed his administration to eliminate fraud and waste wherever it occurs, ensuring that each taxpayer dollar is spent as intended,” Bessent wrote.

“Treasury will not tolerate fraudulent misuse of federal contracting programs. These initiatives must benefit legitimate small businesses that deliver measurable value to the government and the public.”

Democrats have raised concerns about DOGE’s activities, particularly regarding the data privacy of Americans.

In September, Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) released a report suggesting that DOGE’s activities were likely violating federal privacy and security laws while putting the personal data of millions of Americans at risk, according to a Sept. 25 statement from the lawmaker’s office.

The report was based on investigations done by Peters’s staff and whistleblower statements.

At the Social Security Administration, DOGE employees had access to personal data of all Americans, including their Social Security Numbers (SSNs), the report said, adding that such access was made available in a cloud environment without “any verified security controls.”

“One whistleblower noted the possibility that the agency may need to re-issue SSNs to all who possess one. A compromised SSN can be personally devastating. That’s because SSNs are the backbone for accessing all kinds of public and private services, from acquiring a driver’s license to going to the doctor,” the report said.

“Unwinding the harm done by identity thieves can involve years of credit and identity monitoring, mountains of paperwork. If penetrated, this data vulnerability could result in the most significant data breach of Americans’ sensitive data in history.”

Meanwhile, during an Oct. 31 interview with Joe Rogan on his podcast, former DOGE head Elon Musk said the initiative continues to reduce government waste and fraud.

Musk said that since he left DOGE in May, the initiative has become less publicized because people who oppose DOGE now have no single person to target.

“You turn off the money spigot to fraudsters, they get very upset, to say the least,” he said.

“My death threat level went ballistic, you know, was like a rocket going to orbit. But now that I’m not in D.C., I guess they don’t really have a person to attack anymore.”

According to the DOGE website, the initiative has so far saved $214 billion in taxpayer funds as of Oct.4.

This comes to more than $1,329 saved per taxpayer, based on an estimate of 161 million individual federal taxpayers.

The savings were made through a combination of asset sales, interest savings, grant cancellations, minimizing fraud and improper payments, workforce reductions, and regulatory savings.

The Department of Health and Human Services ranks as the top agency that has registered the most savings under DOGE. This was followed by the General Services Administration, the Social Security Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Small Business Administration.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 15:40

'Mark It Zero': BlackRock Hit With Sudden Total Loss On $150 Million Private Loan

Another cockroach crawls out of the woodwork...

In the grand tradition of Wall Street's endless parade of "resilient" investments that evaporate faster than a hedge fund's excuses, BlackRock - that $10 trillion behemoth masquerading as a fiduciary - has just discovered the hard way that private debt isn't quite the "uncorrelated" panacea it's been hawking to pension funds and the terminally optimistic.

Bloomberg reports that a mere month ago, the iShares overlords were marking Renovo Home Partners' IOUs at a pristine 100 cents on the dollar, as if the Dallas-based kitchen-and-bathroom flipper was churning out profits like an OnlyFans 'influencer'.

Fast-forward to last week, and poof: valuation revised to a resounding zero.

Because nothing says "diversification" like watching your balance sheet get torched in a single earnings call.

Renovo, a Frankenstein's monster of a roll-up stitched together by private equity players at Audax Group back in 2022, didn't just stumble - it plunged into Chapter 7 oblivion, signaling a full liquidation shutdown.

Bloomberg notes that while BlackRock, ever the glutton for yield, gobbled up the lion's share of Renovo's $150 million private debt buffet, it was not alone.

Apollo Global's MidCap Financial and Oaktree Capital nibbled at the scraps, per whispers from those in the know who wouldn't dare attach their names to this private equity horror show.

No one with a Bloomberg terminal needed a crystal ball to see the dumpster fire brewing.

Back in April, the lenders - those paragons of patience - took haircuts, swapped loans for equity confetti, and prayed a recap would resurrect the zombie.

By Q3, they even greenlit "payment-in-kind" interest deferrals.

Regulatory filings paint the picture: a desperate bid to keep the lights on while pretending the emperor had clothes.

Yet, as September wrapped, BlackRock and MidCap funds were still polishing their Renovo turds to a par-value shine, signaling to the world (or at least their NAV reports) that full repayment was as inevitable as the Fed's next pivot.

Ah, the magic of private debt mark-to-model - where liquidity is whatever you say it is, until it's not.

Enter Q4: the quarter where illusions go to die.

“Early in the fourth quarter, company-specific performance and liquidity issues led the Renovo board to determine that the best available path forward was a liquidation process,” Philip Tseng, chief executive officer of BlackRock TCP Capital Corp., said during an earnings call. 

Tseng, in a tone-deaf earnings confessional, admitted the inevitable:

"We expect to fully write down this position in the fourth quarter of 2025."

Because nothing screams confidence like pre-announcing a wipeout.

While the Renovo debt represents a mere sliver of total assets for the three lenders, Bloomberg concludes poignantly that its sudden collapse strikes at the heart of what critics see as a major vulnerability in the private credit market: the disconnect between the valuation of illiquid loans and the performance of the underlying companies.

Remember Zips Car Wash? Lenders marked it near-par for months before it imploded earlier this year. Or Tricolor Holdings and First Brands Group, those subprime auto and auto-parts cadavers that blindsided the Street, igniting a blame-game cage match over who peddled the shoddiest underwriting standards.

In private credit's shadow banking circus, where yields are chased like molly at a rave, Renovo's vaporization is less anomaly than canary in the coal mine... and to mix metaphors, we suspect more cockroaches are on their way, and the next one may not be a mere 'fleshwound'.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 15:20

Trump Says US Close To Securing 'Fair Trade Deal' With India

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump said on Nov. 10 that the United States was “pretty close” to reaching a trade deal with India that would be fair to both sides and indicated that he may lower tariffs on Indian goods.

“We’re making a deal with India, a much different deal than we had in the past,” he told reporters at the Oval Office. “We’re getting a fair deal, just a fair trade deal.”

Trump did not provide further details about the potential trade deal with India but said it would be “good for everybody.”

When asked whether the U.S. government would lower tariffs on imports from India, Trump suggested it is possible “at some point,” noting that India has recently reduced its purchases of Russian oil.

“Well, right now the tariffs are very high on India because of the Russian oil, and they’ve stopped doing the Russian oil,” he said. “It’s been reduced very substantially. Yeah, we’re going to be bringing the tariffs down.”

India currently faces a total U.S. tariff rate of 50 percent, including a 25 percent tariff that Trump imposed in August over the country’s purchases of Russian crude.

Trump made the comments during the swearing-in ceremony of his envoy to India, Sergio Gor, whose role will focus on strengthening U.S.–India ties, promoting investment in key U.S. industries and technology, increasing U.S. energy exports, and expanding security cooperation, the president said.

During a White House press conference last week, Trump hinted that he could visit India next year at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“[Modi] largely stopped buying oil from Russia, and he’s a friend of mine, and we speak, and he wants me to go there. We’ll figure that out, I’ll go,” he said. “Prime Minister Modi is a great man, and I’ll be going.”

The U.S. president has previously warned that his administration would maintain its massive tariffs on imports from India if it continued to buy Russian oil amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

While Trump had repeatedly said that India has largely reduced its imports of Russian oil, the Indian government has not publicly confirmed any such cutback.

India has become a major market for Russian oil as Russia faces sanctions and export controls from Western nations aimed at pressuring Moscow to end its war in Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 2022.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine, India’s annual crude oil imports from Russia hovered at about $1 billion. Since the war began, imports have skyrocketed, reaching $25.5 billion in 2022, $48.6 billion in 2023, and $52.7 billion in 2024, according to the U.N. Comtrade database.

Trump signaled on Sept. 7 that his administration is ready to move forward with a second phase of sanctions against Russia, as negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine stalled and Moscow intensified its attacks on Kyiv.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 15:00

UK Cuts Intelligence Sharing With US Related To 'Illegal' Venezuela Action

Just as the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group entered Caribbean waters on Tuesday, it's been revealed that the United Kingdom has made the unprecedented and provocative move of cutting off intelligence-sharing with the United States related to suspected drug trafficking vessels off Venezuela.

CNN reports Tuesday that Britain cited that it does not want to be complicit in ongoing US military strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats, as it believes the action is illegal, amounting to extrajudicial killings, also after recent criticisms from United Nations officials. However, it is said to be a cut-off in only "some" intel-sharing.

UK Ministry of Defence

This is of immense importance from one of America's closest allies - and part of the 'Five Eyes' intelligence sharing nations - which has time and again enthusiastically joined in Washington's military adventurism abroad, from Afghanistan to Iraq to Libya and Syria.

The fresh report details the UK's prior role in assisting US agencies in the Caribbean, where Britain has small overseas territories:

For years, the UK, which controls a number of territories in the Caribbean where it bases intelligence assets, has helped the US locate vessels suspected of carrying drugs so that the US Coast Guard could interdict them, the sources said. That meant the ships would be stopped, boarded, its crew detained, and drugs seized.

The intelligence was typically sent to Joint Interagency Task Force South, a task force stationed in Florida that includes representatives from a number of partner nations and works to reduce the illicit drug trade.

The report confirms that the intelligence has actually been paused for over a month, which would have been soon after the Pentagon began attacking small boats off Latin America in September.

There is an irony in London suddenly discovering the moral high ground on the issue of Venezuela, given that for years the government has frozen more than $1.8bn worth of Venezuelan gold stored at the Bank of England. The Maduro government has sued to get it back, denouncing the move as brazen theft.

It could be that UK leaders sense that Trump is serious about pressing regime change in Caracas, and doesn't want to be a direct part of it. Indeed the unprecedented numbers of US warships currently parked in SOUTHCOM waters does strongly point to imminent military action.

But clearly London is now saying it will sit on the sidelines on this particular military adventure in America's backyard. At this point some 76 alleged drug-smugglers have been killed, and 19 boats destroyed, in the Trump-ordered Pentagon action.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 14:40

MSU Under Fire For Radical Teacher Training Materials On Race And Capitalism

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Michigan State University’s College of Education is under scrutiny for its radical training materials for teachers as part of its program, “Social Foundations of Justice and Equity in Education.” The material includes radical race theories and a video of Communist and Black Panther Angela Davis explaining that “racism is integrally linked to capitalism.”

The Federalist reported on the material, which includes a warning to educators that those “who cling to their Whiteness cannot participate in abolitionist teaching because they are a distraction, are unproductive, and will undermine freedom at every step, sometimes in the name of social justice.”

Imagine if material told black or other minority teachers that they had to drop identities to their race if they want to teach. “Clinging to your Whiteness” is often a complaint leveled against those who do not repeat race-based mantras or statements in these sessions. Such public demonstrations have long been a part of the academic orthodoxy. Years ago, I noted with concern how academics were expected to engage in public confessions like the one at Northwestern University School of Law when Northwestern Law Dean declared publicly, “I am James Speta and I am a racist.” He was followed by Emily Mullin, executive director of major gifts, who said, “I am a racist and a gatekeeper of white supremacy. I will work to be better.”

MSU requires teachers to listen to Davis make the absurd claim that capitalism is inherently racist. Another video claims that “America can never be a meritocracy” without fundamental changes to create an “equal starting point and equal resources.” 

Telling teachers that they cannot succeed unless they give up their racial identity can be an environment of extreme intolerance and orthodoxy. It is one thing to address racism (in all forms) and singling out white teachers as having to address their race. Some students may assume that public demonstrations or affirmations are required to counter assumptions about their bias or inherent racism.

As for the use of Davis to claim that capitalism is the driver of racism, it ignores how capitalism fuels the advancement and empowerment of citizens. There is nothing inherently racist about a system emphasizing individual productivity and success. My Sicilian grandparents faced prejudices and extreme poverty in arriving in our country. They soon found that hard work allowed them to secure a better life for themselves and their children.

While she later left the party over internal disputes, Davis previously declared:

“I am a Communist because … If we are going to rise out of our oppression, our poverty, if we are going to cease being the targets of the racist-minded mentality of racist policemen, we will have to destroy the American capitalist system. We will have to obliterate a system in which a few wealthy capitalists are guaranteed the privilege of becoming richer and richer, whereas the people who are forced to work for the rich, and especially Black people, never take any significant step forward.”

I actually think that Davis’s views on capitalism and racism would be valuable in a course on those subjects to explore different views on such subjects. The question is why MSU would select Davis to be part of the mandatory material for new teachers as part of an education training and whether there is true balance offered in the material from figures like Milton Friedman or others on the benefits of capitalism. That does not appear to be the case at MSU.

MSU should address these concerns and show how, if such material is included in required reading, there is also material that offers real balance and counterpoints to these radical views.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 13:40

Syria Signs Declaration To Join US-Led Coalition To Defeat ISIS Terrorist Group

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

Syria has agreed to join the U.S.-led coalition to tackle the ISIS terrorist group following a meeting between President Ahmed al-Sharaa and U.S. President Donald Trump on Nov. 10, according to a Syrian official.

Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said on Nov. 10 that Syria has signed “a political cooperation declaration” with the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS—a coalition signed by 89 other partners to combat ISIS in Iraq, Syria, and globally—confirming its commitment to efforts to combat terrorism and support regional stability.

“The agreement is political and until now contains no military components,” al-Mustafa said in a statement posted to X.

A senior U.S. administration official also confirmed to The Epoch Times that Syria will join the international coalition.

Al-Sharaa’s meeting with Trump at the White House on Nov. 10 was the first visit by a Syrian leader since the country gained independence from France in 1946.

Al-Mustafa said the talks centered on expanding economic cooperation between the two nations, U.S. investments, and easing sanctions imposed under the Caesar Act—which bars the sale of U.S. goods and technology to Syria and blocks the country from the international banking system.

The two leaders also discussed plans to integrate the Syrian Democratic Forces into the Syrian Army, al-Mustafa stated, noting that the move aims to “unify institutions and ensure lasting stability” in the region.

The meeting resulted in Trump granting a 180-day extension of his waiver of sanctions against Syria. Trump told reporters Nov. 10 that he wants to see Syria “become a country that’s very successful.”

In an interview with Fox News that aired Nov. 10, al-Sharaa said Syria has entered “a new era” in its relations with the United States after the fall of the Assad regime, emphasizing Damascus’s intention to establish itself as a geopolitical partner.

“The goal is for Syria to no longer be seen as a security threat but as a geopolitical ally and a country where the U.S. can invest significantly, especially in gas extraction,” he said, according to a translation from Syria’s state media.

When asked about Syria’s participation in the coalition against ISIS, al-Sharaa acknowledged the reasons for the U.S. military presence in Syria but said that it should now be coordinated with the Syrian government.

“We need to discuss these issues and reach an agreement regarding ISIS,” he stated.

Al-Sharaa took office in December 2024 after former leader Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow, ending his family’s 53-year rule in Syria. Al-Sharaa led the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which claimed victory in the country’s 13-year civil war.

HTS, which has roots in the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda, was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department in 2018 but was removed from the list this year.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 13:00

Flight Cancellations Climb To 6% As Washington Edges Closer To Ending Record Shutdown

Airlines are set to cancel 6% of flights at 40 major U.S. airports today under the FAA's mandated reductions linked to the longest-ever federal government shutdown, even as the Senate passed a bipartisan deal - now awaiting a House vote for final passage before arriving on President Trump's desk. 

The eight Democrats who broke ranks late Monday to support the bill likely did so after realizing that the FAA's planned wave of flight cancellations threatened to paralyze the nation's busiest airports in the coming weeks, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warning that flight reductions could soon exceed 20%. 

Was your flight delayed or cancelled?

Thank a Democrat!

All of this chaos could have been avoided had Democrats put Americans over politics 40+ days ago. pic.twitter.com/IcjzzPCAZn

— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) November 11, 2025

As of 11:00 ET, 1,528 flights were delayed and 1,201 were canceled, with United Airlines publishing a nationwide list of cancellations through Wednesday. Major airports in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Boston, Charlotte, and Dallas are among the hardest hit. 

The FAA intends to ramp up flight cancellations this week to ease pressure on air traffic controllers and TSA staff, many of whom have now gone 42 days without pay. The agency's plan calls for cancellations to rise to 8% on Thursday and 10% by Friday if lawmakers fail to resolve the shutdown. 

Related:

• Duffy Warns Flight Cancellations Could Top 20% If Gov't Shutdown Drags On

Polymarket odds now show a 95% probability that the government will reopen by Saturday, suggesting relief may be imminent.

On Monday, President Trump wrote on X, urging "All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!!" threatening that "Anyone who doesn't will be substantially "docked.""

Furthermore, he offered 'patriotic' controllers, who did not skip work, a sizable bonus: 

"For those Air Traffic Controllers who who were GREAT PATRIOTS, and didn't take ANY TIME OFF for the "Democrat Shutdown Hoax," I will be recommending a BONUS of $10,000 per person for distinguished service to our Country."

On Sunday, before there was any news of moderate Democrats crossing the aisle to back the GOP bill to reopen the government, we outlined:

• As Thanksgiving Travel Looms, Airport Chaos Threat Could Force Washington To End Shutdown 

Duffy's warning that flight cancellations could surge to 20% likely jolted Dems to the negotiating table, as the prospect of nationwide travel chaos during the busiest travel period of the year threatened to infuriate tens of millions of voters.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 12:40

PA Election Results Signal Danger For The GOP in 2026

Authored by John Hinshaw via RealClearPennsylvania,

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is pretty evenly divided, so why did voters send such a lopsided signal?

In terms of voter registration, Pennsylvanians divide their loyalty between the Republican and Democratic parties.  Yet more than 60% of voters supported the retention of Democratic Supreme Court justices. 

Decennial off-year elections for judges are notoriously quirky things, and only one justice has lost a retention election since 1968.  And as the GOP’s base has become less country club and more country, Democrats hold an edge in more educated voters, who reliably vote even in municipal elections.

However, this was not a particularly low-turnout election. About 40% of the electorate showed up, or about two thirds more than in 2015, when these justices were first elected. This reflects the large amounts of money that Republican and Democratic groups spent to raise awareness and to encourage participation.

Moreover, in two judicial elections where a Republican faced a Democrat, Democrats won around 56% of the vote. Other down ballot elections tell a similar story of a blue wave.  Democrats swept control over the Luzerne County Council. In Allegheny County, Republicans lost all but eleven elections they contested. School board elections in suburban Philadelphia likewise saw a Democratic sweep.

The elections signal the erosion of once-stalwart Republican strongholds, such as Lancaster County. In 2015, Democrats won just under 36% of the vote in that year’s judicial election. In 2025, that figure was 48%. Likewise, Democrats increased their share of the electorate from 45% to 62% of the vote. In more rural counties, like Perry or Juniata, Republicans held onto voters. The problem is that increasingly voters are living in Southern or Eastern counties that more closely resemble counties like Lancaster or Chester than Perry or Juniata.

Democrats were energized by the Trump presidency for a host of reasons that you can imagine for yourselves. Likewise, Republican voters were not particularly energized, if for no other reason than President Trump was not on the ballot.

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Of course, one swallow does not make a summer, but if this is the electorate that shows up in 2026, Republicans would likely lose some vulnerable seats in the House of Representatives (like Mackenzie and Perry) and likely control over that body. Republicans certainly hope that the economy improves for everyday voters by the midterms and are downplaying these election results.

In our era of nationalized elections, local elections are reasonably good indications of how, and who, will show up to vote. So, let’s glean what we can from the races in Virginia, New Jersey, and Georgia.

Until Tuesday, Republicans had high hopes that they were assembling a diverse working-class coalition. In 2024, significant numbers of working-class Latinos and African Americans voted for Trump. That support evaporated on Tuesday. 

In Virginia, Republicans lost whatever ground the GOP had gained with Black, Hispanic, and Asian voters.  The spread between the 2024 and 2025 races indicate a loss of 20% of the vote share of Latino voters, 11% of Blacks, 42% of Asian Americans, and 17% of those with incomes under $100,000. This is why Abigail Spanberger won, and Democrats picked up 13 seats in the House of Burgesses. The shift in Latino voters was also evident in New Jersey. In Union City, a city that is more than 80% Latino, more supported Sherill than had voted for Kamala Harris last year. 

Georgia also had elections on Tuesday, and Democrats won their first state-wide elections since 2006, flipping two seats on the Public Services Commission.  This was a low turnout election, with about 20-30% of the rate of the last presidential race.  (Morris breaks down figures by county).  Morris observes a consistent shift in Democratic vote share, consistent with the new reality that Democratic voters tend to show up for off-year elections more so than Republican voters.

But Virginia and New Jersey’s elections were not low turnout affairs. There, turnout was about 65-80% of the size of 2024 presidential election. There, the same pattern emerges of a strong shift toward Democrats. 

Exit polls showed that around two thirds of voters concerned about the economy voted for Democratic governors. In 2024, Trump won 81% of those voters. That’s a 93% shift in voter sentiment on that issue and should be a klaxon for Republican elected officials. These election results indicate that Democrats are overperforming their 2024 baseline by 8% points. That’s a strong indication of a blue wave like in 2018.

It’s quite possible that the electorate’s mood will sour more by 2026. Today, voters are dealing with higher prices, which they hate, and levels of economic pessimism are growing due to tariffs, the threat of AI on jobs, etc. The labor market is not booming, but we have not yet experienced the kinds of layoffs that typically accompany recessions.  Last Tuesday voters were worried about rising costs of health insurance, or the possibility of hospital closures; by 2026, those will be realities they are living with. 

It's likely that the government shut down had raised the profile of the cuts to health care subsidies, or Medicaid, or SNAP, and that voters’ anxiety or anger about that has peaked.  Perhaps forces will shift voters’ attentions to culture war issues.

If not, or if the economy deteriorates further, voters’ moods would darken further and likely take it out on the party in control of government. In this election cycle, Democrats came close to winning the partisan judicial races in ruby red counties like Washington (where Trump won 63% of the vote), or Adams, where Trump won 66% of the vote. In that scenario, Republicans would likely lose control over the state Senate.

Buckle up, we’re in for a heck of a ride.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 12:25

Clock Ticking On Looming Anti-Maduro Action As Ford Carrier Group Has Arrived

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group has finally arrived in the US Southern Command Area of Responsibility, after late last month President Trump ordered it to Caribbean waters from its deployment in the Mediterranean.

This represents a drastically-stepped up campaign with an eye on Venezuela, at a moment Washington is mulling possible regime change targeting President Nicolás Maduro, with US officials describing the Ford carrier's purpose as to bolster the Navy's capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities.

US Navy Image

It also comes after weeks of drones strikes taking out alleged drug smuggling boats - and the tally now stands at nineteen vessels destroyed and over 70 killed.

The Ford and its current three accompanying warships sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar on Nov. 4. "Ship spotters detected Ford escort, USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) off the coast of Puerto Rico early Tuesday. Bainbridge sailed with Ford through Gibraltar," naval publications note Tuesday. Additionally, Navy.mil announces Tuesday:

The maritime forces’ arrival comes after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth directed the Carrier Strike Group to support the President’s directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland.

Previously, the Washington-based Center for Strategic & International Studies laid out why an entire carrier group in Caribbean waters represents a "use it or lose it" scenario which is ultra-costly, also in terms of removing it from other parts of the world:

Moving such a major element of U.S. combat power is highly significant because of the strategic trade-off it represents. The Navy has only 11 aircraft carriers. In general, only three are at sea at any one time because of the need for maintenance and training. All the regional commanders want them. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command always wants one—as a supplement to the carrier permanently stationed in Japan to counter the Chinese navy and conduct exercises with regional allies and partners.

Central Command wants one for the Indian Ocean for use against Iran and the Houthis or in the Eastern Mediterranean to provide air defense for Israel. European Command wants one for operations around Europe to deter Russia. By contrast, the Caribbean has been a low-visibility region for decades, with carriers rarely visiting.

Of course, all of this represents something likely much more than just a renewed 'war on drugs' - after Trump already said that potential land strikes against cartels in Venezuela are on the table.

The CSIS report also hinted that the scope is likely far beyond blasting a few drug boats out of the water:

Carriers are immensely powerful because of their air wing. Their striking power comes primarily from the fighter/attack aircraft, typically 24 F/A-18E/Fs and 24 F-35Cs. However, these aircraft are not well suited for counterdrug search because they move too fast. In addition to the fighters, carriers have support aircraft like E-2Ds for aerial surveillance (four, typically) and SH-60R/S helicopters (19) for antisubmarine warfare. The helicopters could help with search and can fire antiship missiles, like Penguins, which are designed to attack fast boats.

There's also the immense numbers of missiles which can now be trained on Venezuela, as CSIS further documents: "With the addition of these three ships, U.S. naval forces in the region will have over 700 Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells."

The report continues: "Those launchers carry a variety of missiles, including Tomahawk missiles for land attack, SM-2/SM-6 missiles for air defense, and SM-3 for ballistic missile defense. With an average loadout across the force of 25 percent land attack missiles, roughly 180 Tomahawks would be available for strikes against the Maduro regime or cartel facilities."

With this level of Pentagon assets parked in one SOUTHCOM region, which is unprecedented in recent history, the "clock is ticking" - as The Economist has highlighted.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 12:05

Supreme Court Takes Up Case On Whether Ballots Must Arrive By Election Day

Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Supreme Court decided on Nov. 10 to consider a challenge to a federal law that blocks states from counting mail-in ballots that officials receive after Election Day.

The court granted the petition in Watson v. Republican National Committee in an unsigned order on Nov. 10. No justices dissented.

The Republican National Committee, the state Republican Party, and the state’s Libertarian Party sued over the law.

Eighteen states accept mailed ballots received after Election Day if they bear a postmark from on or before Election Day, according to a National Conference of State Legislatures report.

​​Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson filed the petition with the Supreme Court in June.

Federal election law sets the Tuesday after the first Monday in November every four years as “the ‘election’ day for federal offices,” the petition said.

Mississippi law requires that ballots for federal offices have to be marked and filed with election officials by that day, but also permits ballots to be counted if election officials received them within five business days after Election Day.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the federal law requiring ballots to be cast and received by election officials by Election Day preempts—or prevails over—Mississippi law.

The Fifth Circuit’s decision “defies statutory text, conflicts with this Court’s precedent, and—if left to stand—will have destabilizing nationwide ramifications.” Five circuit judges said in dissent from a denial of rehearing that the ruling is “deeply wrong and raises an issue of exceptional importance,” the petition said.

In a related case, the Supreme Court seemed receptive on Oct. 8 to a Republican congressman’s argument that he should be allowed to challenge an Illinois law that allows the counting of ballots for two weeks after Election Day.

Arguments in the case, known as Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections, focused on the question of legal standing, as opposed to the merits of the lawsuit contesting the Illinois statute.

Standing refers to the right of someone to sue in court. A party must show a strong enough connection to the claim to justify participating in a lawsuit.

If the lawmaker wins at the high court, his stalled lawsuit would be reinstated and would continue its journey in the lower courts.

The oral argument in the case has not yet been scheduled, but is likely to take place early in 2026.

A ruling would likely come by the end of June 2026, in time for the mid-term elections.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 11:50

Islamabad Court Bombing Kills 12 - Pakistan Quickly Blames India, Afghanistan

A suicide bombing attack outside a court in Pakistan's capital Islamabad has killed 12 people and injured at least 27 more, and by all reports the carnage could have been worse as the attacker was unable to get inside a district courthouse, the intended target.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has said he "strongly condemned the suicide blast." And Sindh province’s Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar said in a statement, "Suicide bombers and terrorists have no religion. They are enemies of humanity."

Aftermath of the attack Tuesday, AFP/Getty Images

"As I entered the court building, a huge blast occurred. I thought the entire judiciary building would collapse on me," a court lawyer and eyewitness, Zahid Khan, told CBS News. "When I went upstairs, I saw people lying on the ground around the fire … Just three minutes earlier, I had been at that exact spot while parking my bike."

"I saw many people lying injured, with blood on the road," he said. Smoke had still been visible rising over the area in the wake of the blast.

Importantly Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has quickly laid blame on India, despite suicide bombings not being typical of operations out of India:

Sharif has blamed India for the “suicide attack” in Islamabad as well as the attack on a cadet college that took place near the border with Afghanistan earlier today.

Without providing any evidence to back up his statement, Sharif said: "Both attacks are the worst examples of Indian state terrorism in the region."

"It is time for the world to condemn such nefarious conspiracies of India," he continued in an official government account post on X. "We will continue the war against them until the complete elimination of the scourge of terrorism."

Casting stones at India is typical of rival nuclear-armed power Pakistan, as the neighboring countries have long been bitter enemies, but the past week has seen the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, as well as some representatives within the Afghan Taliban issue repeat threats against Pakistani cities.

Pakistan's Minister of Defense Khawaja Asif did narrow his blame on Afghan and border terrorism. "Kabul's rulers can stop terrorism in Pakistan, but today's suicide attack at the Islamabad district courts proves this is a nationwide war," Asif said in a statement Tuesday.

Explosion outside Islamabad court in Pakistan kills at least 12

'We are probing what kind of blast it was. It is not clear yet,' a police spokesperson said pic.twitter.com/JmNCyTZthj

— RT (@RT_com) November 11, 2025

"Anyone who believes the Pakistan Army is only fighting on the Afghan-Pakistan border and in remote Balochistan should take this attack as a wake-up call. This is a war for all of Pakistan," he added.

The timing of this attack is interesting related to India, however, as just the day prior a large car blast targeted Red Fort, which is a highly populated tourist destination. It killed eight and wounded many more, after which India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed that the "conspirators" behind the blast "will not be spared," and that "all those responsible will be brought to justice."

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 11:20

61% Of Institutions Plan To Boost Crypto Exposure, Despite October Crash; Sygnum

Authored by Zoltan Vardai via CoinTelegraph.com,

Institutional investors are maintaining confidence in digital assets despite a sharp market correction in October, with most planning to expand their exposure in the months ahead, according to new research.

Over 61% of institutions plan to increase their cryptocurrency investments, while 55% hold a bullish short-term outlook, Swiss crypto banking group Sygnum said in a report released on Tuesday.

The survey covered 1,000 institutional investors globally.

Roughly 73% of surveyed institutions are investing in crypto due to expectations of higher future returns, despite the industry still recovering from the record $20 billion market crash at the beginning of October.

However, investor sentiment continues facing uncertainty due to delays in key market catalysts, including the Market Structure bill and the approval of more altcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Institutional crypto allocation plans. Source: Sygnum

While this uncertainty may carry over into 2026, Sygnum’s lead crypto asset ecosystem researcher, Lucas Schweiger, predicts a maturing digital asset market, where institutions seek diversified exposure with long-term growth expectations.

“The story of 2025 is one of measured risk, pending regulatory decisions and powerful demand catalysts against a backdrop of fiscal and geopolitical pressures,” he said, adding:

“But investors are now better informed. Discipline has tempered exuberance, but not conviction, in the market’s long-term growth trajectory.” 

Despite October’s correction, “powerful demand catalysts” and institutional participation remained at an all-time high, with the growing ETF applications signaling more institutional demand, added Schweiger.

At least 16 crypto ETF applications are currently awaiting approval, which were delayed by the ongoing US government shutdown, now in its 40th day.

Crypto staking ETFs may be the next institutional catalyst

Crypto staking ETFs may present the next fundamental catalyst for institutional cryptocurrency demand.

Over 80% of the surveyed institutions expressed interest in crypto ETFs beyond Bitcoin and Ether, while 70% stated that they would start investing or increase their investments if these ETFs offered staking rewards.

Staking means locking your tokens into a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain network for a predetermined period to secure the network and earn passive income in exchange.

Meanwhile, investors are now anticipating the end of the government shutdown, which could bring “bulk approvals” for altcoin ETFs from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, catalyzing the “next wave of institutional flows,” according to Sygnum.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 11:00

FBI Seeks To Unmask Anonymous Web Archiving Service Owner

Authored by José Niño via Headline USA,

The FBI has issued a subpoena to Canadian domain registrar Tucows seeking to unmask the anonymous owner of Archive.today, a popular web archiving service used by millions worldwide. 

The subpoena, dated last Tuesday and posted publicly on Archive.today’s X account, states it relates to a federal criminal investigation being conducted by the FBI, as The Verge reported. However, the document provides no specific details about what alleged crime is under investigation.

The FBI is requesting comprehensive identifying information from Tucows, including customer or subscriber name, address of service, and billing address associated with Archive.today, per The Verge report.

Beyond basic contact details, the subpoena demands an extensive array of data such as telephone connection records, including incoming and outgoing calls and SMS or MMS records, payment information like credit card or bank account numbers, internet connectivity session times and durations, device identifiers, IP addresses, and details about services used such as email, cloud computing, and gaming services.

The subpoena instructs Tucows not to disclose its existence indefinitely, as any such disclosure could interfere with an ongoing investigation and enforcement of the law, as recounted by Gizmodo. 

That request became moot when Archive.today publicly posted the document. Journalist Max Blumenthal, editor of The Grayzone, drew attention to the subpoena on X, emphasizing that Archive.today is used by journalists and researchers to “document edits to articles, bypass subscription walls and avoid giving traffic to the failing corporate media.”

The FBI has issued a subpoena seeking to unmask the owner of https://t.co/V3xqR5qqoa, which we use to document edits to articles, bypass subscription walls and avoid giving traffic to the failing corporate media https://t.co/g36rB7G83R

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) November 6, 2025

Launched in 2012, Archive.today functions similarly to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine but with key differences.

Users can submit URLs to create permanent snapshots of web pages, preserving content before it disappears or changes. 

The service supports ZIP downloads and image based page saves, and crucially, pages are almost never deleted except in extreme cases like child pornography. As AV Club noted, the site gained prominence during the 2014 GamerGate controversy, when users employed it to track article edits while avoiding directing traffic to certain websites.

Very little is known about who runs Archive.today. The original domain was registered in May 2012 by someone using the name Denis Petrov from Prague, Czech Republic, as Gigazine reported. However, this is likely a pseudonym, since Denis Petrov is an extremely common Russian name, and the same contact information was used to register sketchy domains including carding forums and piracy sites.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 10:25

Electric Bill Crisis Blame-Game Begins: Democrats Slam Data Centers, GOP Faults "Climate-Cult Ideology"

It only took politicians a little over a year to catch up to our Mid-Atlantic power bill crisis theme (read here), as the battle to control the narrative over surging electricity costs intensifies.

Democrats are pointing the finger at the explosion of data center buildouts and power-hungry server racks, while conservative politicians blame disastrous green-energy policies, specifically, the early retirement of fossil-fuel power generation plants and the rapid rollout of unreliable solar and wind generation. 

On Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders and several Democratic senators, including Sens. Blumenthal, Van Hollen, Markey, and Wyden, penned a joint letter to the Trump administration and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the adminstration's fast-tracking of AI infrastructure is creating "bidding wars" between households and trillion-dollar companies such as Meta, OpenAI, Alphabet, and Oracle for limited electricity supplies.

"As American families face soaring electricity bills caused by the Trump Administration's sweetheart deals with Big Tech companies, we write to demand information about the failure of the Administration to prevent consumers from being forced to subsidize the cost of data centers — costs compounded by the Administration's reckless abandonment and assault on new, clean energy sources," the senators wrote in the letter. 

Democrats are correct that data centers are certainly fueling the power bill crisis across the Mid-Atlantic states. However, they are never able to tell the whole truth, conveniently leaving out that their climate crisis hoax led to the early retirement of fossil fuel generation plants, which in turn stripped the grids of now much-needed spare capacity. Goldman warned this past summer of "Price-Spikes & Blackouts."

In fact, these Democrats doubled down and blamed this mess on Trump's "assault on clean energy sources." Democrats need a major wake-up call: intermittent green power sources do not provide stable power for data centers. In fact, Spain's nationwide blackout last summer was centered on unreliable renewable energy.

On the opposite side of the political spectrum, the Maryland Freedom Caucus, a coalition of conservative Republican members of the Maryland House of Delegates, joined forces with lawmakers in surrounding states to address skyrocketing power bills.

"Politicians and special interest groups have traded energy independence for a delusional climate cultist ideology, and every Maryland family is paying the price with skyrocketing bills and a rapidly dwindling energy supply," Maryland Delegate Brian Chisholm recently told local outlet Fox Baltimore. 

Chisholm continued, "We stand firmly united with our colleagues in neighboring states to deliver real, adult solutions and finally put an end to the childish nonsense impacting our state."

ICYMI: https://t.co/IXynLYD8o4 pic.twitter.com/PzQsOpnP3F

— Maryland Freedom Caucus (@MDFreedomCaucus) October 23, 2025

In a recent note, we cited a Goldman Sachs report by analyst Carly Davenport that found "higher power bill inflation has been the most pronounced in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and California in the past three years." Please do note, these regions and states are governed by leftist politicians wearing climate crisis blinders, ones that even Bill Gates had to take off last month after he acknowledged the whole climate crisis narrative was fake news.

Why is it that Democrat-run states are experiencing the brunt of the power bill crisis? Is it grid mismanagement?

Davenport added more color:

Residential utility bill inflation has accelerated in certain regions, raising concerns about customer affordability. A few states in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic such as MD, CT, DE and DC, as well as California, have seen accumulated bill inflation of 29% in the past three years (20pp above CPI), while other states such as MI, ND, AR, SD and LA had bill growth of only 5% in the same period (Exhibit 2). Interestingly, the states with higher bill inflation during this period have deregulated or competitive power markets, and those with lower inflation are in traditional regulated markets. We provide more details on power market fundamentals and utility bills within.

Northeast/Mid-Atlantic States Hit Hardest by Power Bill Crisis

While Democrats are busy pushing their affordability narrative ahead of the 2026 midterms and blaming data centers for the power bill crisis, they're conveniently ignoring one key fact: their so-called "climate crisis" agenda has gutted America's power grid. By forcing the early retirement of fossil-fuel plants and replacing them with unreliable solar and wind, they've stripped the grid of critical spare capacity, a policy failure now colliding head-on with the data center power surge.

What's clear is that political parties will be ramping up their own narratives about why power bills are exploding in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

In one year, this will be the most popular chart on this site pic.twitter.com/h93gWXMoNL

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 11, 2025

This is happening much sooner than we anticipated. 

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 10:05

Electric Bill Crisis Blame-Game Begins: Democrats Slam Data Centers, GOP Faults "Climate-Cult Ideology"

It only took politicians a little over a year to catch up to our Mid-Atlantic power bill crisis theme (read here), as the battle to control the narrative over surging electricity costs intensifies.

Democrats are pointing the finger at the explosion of data center buildouts and power-hungry server racks, while conservative politicians blame disastrous green-energy policies, specifically, the early retirement of fossil-fuel power generation plants and the rapid rollout of unreliable solar and wind generation. 

On Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders and several Democratic senators, including Sens. Blumenthal, Van Hollen, Markey, and Wyden, penned a joint letter to the Trump administration and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the adminstration's fast-tracking of AI infrastructure is creating "bidding wars" between households and trillion-dollar companies such as Meta, OpenAI, Alphabet, and Oracle for limited electricity supplies.

"As American families face soaring electricity bills caused by the Trump Administration's sweetheart deals with Big Tech companies, we write to demand information about the failure of the Administration to prevent consumers from being forced to subsidize the cost of data centers — costs compounded by the Administration's reckless abandonment and assault on new, clean energy sources," the senators wrote in the letter. 

Democrats are correct that data centers are certainly fueling the power bill crisis across the Mid-Atlantic states. However, they are never able to tell the whole truth, conveniently leaving out that their climate crisis hoax led to the early retirement of fossil fuel generation plants, which in turn stripped the grids of now much-needed spare capacity. Goldman warned this past summer of "Price-Spikes & Blackouts."

In fact, these Democrats doubled down and blamed this mess on Trump's "assault on clean energy sources." Democrats need a major wake-up call: intermittent green power sources do not provide stable power for data centers. In fact, Spain's nationwide blackout last summer was centered on unreliable renewable energy.

On the opposite side of the political spectrum, the Maryland Freedom Caucus, a coalition of conservative Republican members of the Maryland House of Delegates, joined forces with lawmakers in surrounding states to address skyrocketing power bills.

"Politicians and special interest groups have traded energy independence for a delusional climate cultist ideology, and every Maryland family is paying the price with skyrocketing bills and a rapidly dwindling energy supply," Maryland Delegate Brian Chisholm recently told local outlet Fox Baltimore. 

Chisholm continued, "We stand firmly united with our colleagues in neighboring states to deliver real, adult solutions and finally put an end to the childish nonsense impacting our state."

ICYMI: https://t.co/IXynLYD8o4 pic.twitter.com/PzQsOpnP3F

— Maryland Freedom Caucus (@MDFreedomCaucus) October 23, 2025

In a recent note, we cited a Goldman Sachs report by analyst Carly Davenport that found "higher power bill inflation has been the most pronounced in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and California in the past three years." Please do note, these regions and states are governed by leftist politicians wearing climate crisis blinders, ones that even Bill Gates had to take off last month after he acknowledged the whole climate crisis narrative was fake news.

Why is it that Democrat-run states are experiencing the brunt of the power bill crisis? Is it grid mismanagement?

Davenport added more color:

Residential utility bill inflation has accelerated in certain regions, raising concerns about customer affordability. A few states in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic such as MD, CT, DE and DC, as well as California, have seen accumulated bill inflation of 29% in the past three years (20pp above CPI), while other states such as MI, ND, AR, SD and LA had bill growth of only 5% in the same period (Exhibit 2). Interestingly, the states with higher bill inflation during this period have deregulated or competitive power markets, and those with lower inflation are in traditional regulated markets. We provide more details on power market fundamentals and utility bills within.

Northeast/Mid-Atlantic States Hit Hardest by Power Bill Crisis

While Democrats are busy pushing their affordability narrative ahead of the 2026 midterms and blaming data centers for the power bill crisis, they're conveniently ignoring one key fact: their so-called "climate crisis" agenda has gutted America's power grid. By forcing the early retirement of fossil-fuel plants and replacing them with unreliable solar and wind, they've stripped the grid of critical spare capacity, a policy failure now colliding head-on with the data center power surge.

What's clear is that political parties will be ramping up their own narratives about why power bills are exploding in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

In one year, this will be the most popular chart on this site pic.twitter.com/h93gWXMoNL

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 11, 2025

This is happening much sooner than we anticipated. 

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 10:05

Trump Asks Supreme Court To Take Up E. Jean Carroll's Defamation Case

Authored by Sam Dorman via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to wade into his defamation dispute with author E. Jean Carroll, alleging that an appeals court failed to recognize multiple evidentiary flaws that led to an adverse verdict for him.

Trump’s legal team told The Epoch Times it filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court on Nov. 10. The justices have not yet decided whether to take up the case.

“The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes,” a spokesman for Trump’s legal team told The Epoch Times.

“President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he continues to focus on his mission to Make America Great Again.”

The petition, which has been reviewed by The Epoch Times, is the latest development in a years-long saga surrounding Carroll’s allegation that Trump sexually assaulted her in a department store at some point during the 1990s. Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Carroll sued him for defamation and won more than $80 million in two trials. Trump’s petition to the Supreme Court concerns a December 2024 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that upheld the verdict in one of the trials. That trial resulted in a $5 million award for Carroll.

The purported evidentiary errors in that trial prevented Trump from fully contesting Carroll’s case in another trial that resulted in an award of $83 million, Trump’s attorneys argued. The Second Circuit later upheld that larger verdict in a decision from September.

According to Trump’s attorneys, the Second Circuit’s 2024 opinion misinterpreted the Federal Rules of Evidence and wrongly allowed Carroll to rely on propensity evidence, or evidence that purported to show Trump had a propensity to act in a particular way.

One of those pieces of evidence was the Access Hollywood Tape released during the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s attorneys also took issue with allowing testimony from two women who accused Trump of unwanted touching and kissing.

In its 2024 decision, the Second Circuit rejected Trump’s criticisms of the lower court’s handling of the evidence.

“On review for abuse of discretion, we conclude that Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings,” an unsigned opinion read.

“Further, he has not carried his burden to show that any claimed error or combination of claimed errors affected his substantial rights as required to warrant a new trial.”

An attorney who represented Carroll in the Second Circuit did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment before publishing time. In a briefing to the court, Carroll’s attorneys called Trump’s evidentiary arguments “empty.”

“There was no error here, let alone a violation of Trump’s substantial rights.”

Trump attempted to have the whole circuit rehear the case, but was denied in June, with two judges dissenting from that decision.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 09:50

Trump Asks Supreme Court To Take Up E. Jean Carroll's Defamation Case

Authored by Sam Dorman via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to wade into his defamation dispute with author E. Jean Carroll, alleging that an appeals court failed to recognize multiple evidentiary flaws that led to an adverse verdict for him.

Trump’s legal team told The Epoch Times it filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court on Nov. 10. The justices have not yet decided whether to take up the case.

“The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes,” a spokesman for Trump’s legal team told The Epoch Times.

“President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he continues to focus on his mission to Make America Great Again.”

The petition, which has been reviewed by The Epoch Times, is the latest development in a years-long saga surrounding Carroll’s allegation that Trump sexually assaulted her in a department store at some point during the 1990s. Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Carroll sued him for defamation and won more than $80 million in two trials. Trump’s petition to the Supreme Court concerns a December 2024 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that upheld the verdict in one of the trials. That trial resulted in a $5 million award for Carroll.

The purported evidentiary errors in that trial prevented Trump from fully contesting Carroll’s case in another trial that resulted in an award of $83 million, Trump’s attorneys argued. The Second Circuit later upheld that larger verdict in a decision from September.

According to Trump’s attorneys, the Second Circuit’s 2024 opinion misinterpreted the Federal Rules of Evidence and wrongly allowed Carroll to rely on propensity evidence, or evidence that purported to show Trump had a propensity to act in a particular way.

One of those pieces of evidence was the Access Hollywood Tape released during the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s attorneys also took issue with allowing testimony from two women who accused Trump of unwanted touching and kissing.

In its 2024 decision, the Second Circuit rejected Trump’s criticisms of the lower court’s handling of the evidence.

“On review for abuse of discretion, we conclude that Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings,” an unsigned opinion read.

“Further, he has not carried his burden to show that any claimed error or combination of claimed errors affected his substantial rights as required to warrant a new trial.”

An attorney who represented Carroll in the Second Circuit did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment before publishing time. In a briefing to the court, Carroll’s attorneys called Trump’s evidentiary arguments “empty.”

“There was no error here, let alone a violation of Trump’s substantial rights.”

Trump attempted to have the whole circuit rehear the case, but was denied in June, with two judges dissenting from that decision.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 09:50

EU Eyes Huawei Ban Over Half-Decade After Trump Flagged 'Security Danger'

Once again Donald Trump has proven himself light-years ahead of Europe in foreseeing major security issues and deep flaws in EU policy.

It was of course all the way back in President Trump's first term that he first signed the May 2019 executive order seeking to block Chinese telecommunications companies like Huawei from selling equipment in the US, as tech comms by "a foreign adversary" could likely to create an "undue risk of sabotage" or else "catastrophic effects" to US infrastructure, particularly related to sensitive communications systems.

Now, well over a half-decade later and European Union is weighing the possibility of mandating that all member states prohibit the use of Huawei and ZTE equipment in their telecommunications networks. Bloomberg and Reuters are reporting the possible move based on unnamed sources Monday and Tuesday.

Image source: Light Reading

And not just that but the new policy would actually have teeth behind it as the EU’s current recommendations would become binding regulations. Member states that fail to comply could face sanctions, which clearly reflects much-belated growing concerns about national security risks linked to Chinese technology companies.

Again, this is something Trump has warned about all along, which earlier was met with a collective shrug in Brussels. Back in 2019 while on a state visit to European countries he had proclaimed, "I do think it's a security risk, it's a security danger."

But like on a number of other issues, such as importation of Russian energy, EU members are not lockstep and on the same page, with outliers like Greece and Spain continuing to rely on Chinese suppliers.

Once again this represents uneven security standards across the bloc, which apparently EU leadership is only very late wising up to when it comes to the threat of Chinese tech embedded within European comms and systems.

Bloomberg writes in a fresh report:

Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen wants to convert the European Commission’s 2020 recommendation to stop using high-risk vendors in mobile networks into a legal requirement, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. 

While infrastructure decisions rest with national governments, Virkkunen’s proposal would compel EU countries to align with the commission’s security guidance. If the recommendations become legally binding, member countries that don’t follow the rules could face a so-called infringement procedure and financial penalties.

"The security of our 5G networks is crucial for our economy," commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier has said this week.

And Bloomberg continues, "Virkkunen is examining ways to limit the use of Chinese equipment suppliers in fixed-line networks, as countries push for the rapid deployment of state-of-the-art fiber cables to expand high-speed internet access."

Widely viewed by critics as committing intellectual property theft, a violator of trade regulations, and a security risk, Huawei has already been barred from accessing key American technologies and their associated suppliers. Nevertheless, the company managed to release a fairly advanced 5G smartphone in late 2023, and its 5G network equipment continues to hold a strong position in the market.

China's foreign ministry has reacted to the latest news as follows: "Certain countries’ forced removal of secure and high-quality Chinese telecom equipment has not only delayed their own technological progress but also caused significant economic losses," according to spokesman Lin Jian. "Politicizing economic and trade issues under the guise of security will hinder technological advancement and economic development."

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 09:35

EU Eyes Huawei Ban Over Half-Decade After Trump Flagged 'Security Danger'

Once again Donald Trump has proven himself light-years ahead of Europe in foreseeing major security issues and deep flaws in EU policy.

It was of course all the way back in President Trump's first term that he first signed the May 2019 executive order seeking to block Chinese telecommunications companies like Huawei from selling equipment in the US, as tech comms by "a foreign adversary" could likely to create an "undue risk of sabotage" or else "catastrophic effects" to US infrastructure, particularly related to sensitive communications systems.

Now, well over a half-decade later and European Union is weighing the possibility of mandating that all member states prohibit the use of Huawei and ZTE equipment in their telecommunications networks. Bloomberg and Reuters are reporting the possible move based on unnamed sources Monday and Tuesday.

Image source: Light Reading

And not just that but the new policy would actually have teeth behind it as the EU’s current recommendations would become binding regulations. Member states that fail to comply could face sanctions, which clearly reflects much-belated growing concerns about national security risks linked to Chinese technology companies.

Again, this is something Trump has warned about all along, which earlier was met with a collective shrug in Brussels. Back in 2019 while on a state visit to European countries he had proclaimed, "I do think it's a security risk, it's a security danger."

But like on a number of other issues, such as importation of Russian energy, EU members are not lockstep and on the same page, with outliers like Greece and Spain continuing to rely on Chinese suppliers.

Once again this represents uneven security standards across the bloc, which apparently EU leadership is only very late wising up to when it comes to the threat of Chinese tech embedded within European comms and systems.

Bloomberg writes in a fresh report:

Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen wants to convert the European Commission’s 2020 recommendation to stop using high-risk vendors in mobile networks into a legal requirement, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. 

While infrastructure decisions rest with national governments, Virkkunen’s proposal would compel EU countries to align with the commission’s security guidance. If the recommendations become legally binding, member countries that don’t follow the rules could face a so-called infringement procedure and financial penalties.

"The security of our 5G networks is crucial for our economy," commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier has said this week.

And Bloomberg continues, "Virkkunen is examining ways to limit the use of Chinese equipment suppliers in fixed-line networks, as countries push for the rapid deployment of state-of-the-art fiber cables to expand high-speed internet access."

Widely viewed by critics as committing intellectual property theft, a violator of trade regulations, and a security risk, Huawei has already been barred from accessing key American technologies and their associated suppliers. Nevertheless, the company managed to release a fairly advanced 5G smartphone in late 2023, and its 5G network equipment continues to hold a strong position in the market.

China's foreign ministry has reacted to the latest news as follows: "Certain countries’ forced removal of secure and high-quality Chinese telecom equipment has not only delayed their own technological progress but also caused significant economic losses," according to spokesman Lin Jian. "Politicizing economic and trade issues under the guise of security will hinder technological advancement and economic development."

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 09:35

Russia Claims It Thwarted British & Ukrainian Plot To Steal Hypersonic Missile-Equipped Jet

In an entirely bizarre - though perhaps not completely without precedent - allegation from the Russian government, Ukrainian and British intelligence attempted to steal a MiG-31 fighter jet equipped with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it had thwarted the alleged plot in which the foreign spies allegedly offered Russian pilots $3 million if they would perform the heist.

Via The Aviationist 

The RIA news agency quoted the FSB as saying the stolen aircraft was intended to be flown toward a NATO base in the Romanian city of Constanta.

"The measures taken have thwarted the Ukrainian and British intelligence services’ plans for a large-scale provocation," RIA quoted the FSB as saying.

But this is where the high-risk caper and narrative gets even stranger. The FSB isn't alleging that Ukraine was simply trying to steal the Russian hypersonic missile or aircraft in order to use it, but that the whole objective was to see the MiG-31 get shot down while inbound over NATO-member Romania's airspace

"In order to hijack the aircraft, Ukrainian military intelligence officers tried to recruit Russian pilots, offering $3 million," the FSB statement reads. "The special services then planned to send the jet with the Kinzhal missile to the area where NATO's largest airbase in southeastern Europe is located, in the Romanian city of Constanta, where it could be shot down by air defenses," it emphasized.

Apparently Russian intelligence is saying all of this was ultimately aimed at creative a huge false-flag operation, or major provocation, in order to drastically escalate NATO tensions with Moscow, which would see the West intervene more directly on Kiev's behalf.

Russia's RT has offered a precedent for Ukrainian intelligence seeking to lure Russian pilots to its side, writing the following:

Kiev has previously offered money and assistance to defectors. In 2023, Russian Mi-8 pilot Maksim Kuzminov defected to Ukraine, landing his helicopter behind the front lines with the HUR’s help. Two of the other crew members, unaware of his plan, were killed upon landing. Kuzminov was assassinated a year later in Spain, where he was living under a new identity and with a Ukrainian passport.

In 2022, the FSB accused former Bellingcat investigator Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian-born journalist, of taking part in a failed Ukrainian attempt to recruit Russian military pilots. Grozev said he was embedded with Ukrainian intelligence officers as a documentary filmmaker and claimed that his text messages were forged.

NATO operations in Constanta currently serve as a significant hub for the military alliance's operations in Eastern Europe, with at least 5,000 multi-national troops stationed there. These numbers are expected to grow as the NATO base there is undergoing expansion.

As for the fresh FSB claims of the attempted jet and hypersonic missile theft, Ukraine and the UK will no doubt express outrage and denial, but it does serve to illustrate the level of suspicion and 'shadow wars' currently raging in the background related to the Ukraine conflict.

Tyler Durden Tue, 11/11/2025 - 09:00