Economy

• A scathing congressional COVID report confirms our hunches: “A distrust in leadership.” That’s perhaps the ultimate consequence of our nation’s botched handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a 520-page final report released yesterday by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. The wide-ranging report evaluated public health guidance, state actions, vaccinations, and the use of relief funds. “The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a distrust in leadership,” Chairman Brad Wenstrup noted. “Trust is earned. Accountability, transparency, honesty, and integrity will regain this trust. A future pandemic requires a whole of America response managed by those without personal benefit or bias. We can always do better, and for the sake of future generations of Americans, we must.” Indeed, mistaken responses seemed to be the rule rather than the exception — especially the lockdowns. As The Hill reported, “Wenstrup listed seven specific findings in his letter, including that the National Institutes of Health funded controversial gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, that Operation Warp Speed was [a] ‘tremendous success,’ and that public school closures will have an ‘enduring impact’ on American children.” Ditto the trampling of our fundamental rights, both in terms of free speech and also bodily autonomy regarding the vaccine mandate.

• Trade war with China ratchets up: In a clear response to President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to raise tariffs against Chinese goods by at least 10%, Beijing on Tuesday announced that it was banning the export of gallium, germanium, antimony, and other materials used for the production of various military applications to the U.S. At specific issue for China is the U.S. limiting its exports of semiconductor-related materials. The U.S. has recently expanded its list of companies on the “entity list,” which are subject to strict export controls due to their connection to Beijing and its systematic theft of intellectual property. The U.S. is acting to protect intellectual property and sensitive computer chip technology over national security concerns. Furthermore, the U.S. protects American manufacturing interests from being undercut by cheap Chinese imports, like electric vehicles. China’s Association of Automobile Manufacturers has objected to the U.S. export limits on advanced semiconductor technology, claiming, “Such behavior seriously violates the laws of the market economy and the principle of fair competition, undermines the international economic and trade order, disrupts the stability of the global industrial chain, and ultimately harms the interests of all countries.”

• Trump’s labor sec pick is a threat to right-to-work states: Donald Trump’s cabinet picks have so far met with mostly resounding approval, but that’s not the case with his nominee for secretary of labor. Her Big Labor sympathies seem an odd fit for Trump’s pro-business agenda. As National Review reports, “Voters are fleeing and rejecting the big-spending, high-tax, anti-worker agendas of blue states, much to Republicans’ political benefit. That’s why Trump’s intent to nominate Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R., Ore.) as secretary of labor makes no sense. She has supported legislation that would make the red-state model of governance nearly impossible and empower the same unions that contribute to blue states’ woes.” Trump’s outreach to the nation’s labor unions has been well documented, as Teamsters Union chief Sean O'Brien became the first-ever leader of that organization to address the Republican National Convention. Far worse than the Teamsters and the United Auto Workers, though, are the public-sector unions, which continue to suck the blood from state and local governments. As for Chavez-DeRemer, her biggest red flag is her support for the so-called PRO Act, which would invalidate the right-to-work laws of 27 states that currently have them. This seems like it should be a disqualifying position to liberty-loving Americans everywhere.

Foreign Policy

• Trump warns Hamas on hostages: “A refreshing change in our approach on foreign policy.” So said South Dakota Republican Senator Mike Rounds when asked about Donald Trump’s candid warning to Hamas, the Iran-sponsored terrorist organization that continues to hold Israeli and American hostages more than a year after its barbaric October 7 attack on Israel. “If the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025,” Trump warned yesterday, “there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East. … Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America.” Essentially: Release them by Inauguration Day, or else. Trump’s red line brings to mind another hostage situation in which Iran was involved — 44 years ago, Ronald Reagan secured the release of 52 American hostages from Iran after 444 days of captivity under Jimmy Carter. Leftist hysterians and “fact-checkers” say Reagan doesn’t deserve any credit for their release, but ask yourself: Why would the hostages have taken off from Tehran airport at the very moment Reagan was concluding his inaugural remarks? Answer: Because the Iranians feared Reagan a lot more than they feared Carter. Similarly, we’d say, Trump and Biden.

• Trump tells Trudeau Canada could become the 51st state: It’s a fascinating prospect, doubling the land mass of the United States by bringing aboard our northern neighbor. But the president-elect was just trolling the Canadian prime minister. Justin Castro-Trudeau paid a visit to Mar-a-Lago on Friday, after Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods “over their failures to curb the flow of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs from those countries into the U.S.” Trump called the meeting “very productive,” and we’ll bet it was. According to sources who witnessed the meeting, Trudeau objected to Trump’s tariff threat, saying its imposition would wreck the Canadian economy. Trump replied by suggesting that if Canada’s economy can’t survive a little tariff from Trump, then it had better start trading fairly. Trump says the Canadians are currently “ripping off the U.S. to the tune of $100 billion,” and he proposed to let Canada join the U.S. as our 51st state if it can’t survive independently — a state that, Trump said, could then be administered by Governor Trudeau.

• Trump to visit France’s Notre Dame in first foreign trip as president-elect (Washington Examiner)

• Biden administration announces another $725 million In Ukraine military aid (Daily Wire)

Border Security

• Ninth Circuit blasts sanctuary policy blocking ICE using airports: On Friday, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that a sanctuary policy restricting Homeland Security from using airports in the Seattle area to transport detained illegal aliens was unconstitutional. The Court noted that King County was in violation of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause. At issue for the Court was the fact that only the federal government has the legal authority to deport illegal aliens and not the states. Therefore, the states do not have the authority to act against the federal government in its expressed enforcement powers. Former immigration judge Matthew O'Brien noted, “The government doesn’t have any right to command the states or local jurisdictions to undertake federal responsibilities but by the same token. The states can’t set up any type of scheme that’s deliberately calculated to frustrate federal enforcement.” This ruling will have a significant impact on Donald Trump’s plan to deport illegal aliens.

• NYC is now home to over 58K ‘criminal’ migrants — including more than 1,000 gang members: ICE (New York Post)

Culture

• CA forcing gender-neutral child section on department stores: California Attorney General Rob Bonta recently warned that retailers could be liable for a fine if they fail to comply with AB 1084, a law passed last year that requires department stores to include gender-neutral child production sections, including toys. On Sunday, Benta’s office issued the following statement: “Does your department store have a gender-neutral children section? As of January 1, 2024, large retail department stores that sell childcare items or toys must maintain a gender-neutral section for these items.” Stores that don’t comply will be fined $250 for their first offense and $500 for repeat offenses. Is it any wonder that it’s not just residents but businesses that are fleeing this California madness?

• Heckler tests Obama’s return to spotlight: During a forum that featured Barack Obama interviewing former German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding her new book, Freedom: Memories 1954-2021, at the Anthem venue in Washington, DC, a heckler interrupted the event. This was Obama’s first public appearance since stumping for Kamala Harris in her failed election bid. Obama responded to the heckler, “People came to listen to Angela Merkel and not you, young lady. You can organize your own event, and people can come to listen to you and your questions. But right now, they’re here to listen to Angela Merkel, so be respectful.” While Donald Trump was not mentioned during the interview, both politicians have been highly critical of him. Furthermore, Obama insinuated that Harris’s election loss was due to a shifting media landscape. “Partly because of changes in media, you don’t have a common conversation,” he opined. “It becomes harder and harder, I think, for people to feel that they can reach out and be curious about others.” Well, that may be due to Obama’s molding of the Democrat Party into his own image as the lecturer-in-chief. He never really listened to Americans because he was too busy criticizing them for being Americans.

• SCOTUS to hear challenge to TN law banning transing of minors (Washington Examiner)

• J.K. Rowling on the personal cost of standing up to trans activists (Hot Air)

• Daniel Penny prosecutors play the race card in closing arguments (Fox News)

Misc.

• Alaska keeps ranked choice voting (Washington Examiner)

• Tuberville praises defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth amid misconduct allegations (ABC News)

• Senate approves promotion of general involved in Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal (Reuters)

• Hope: Bible sales increased 22% in America this year, fueled largely by new buyers (Not the Bee)

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