The Patriot Post® · Friday: Below the Fold

• Auto tariffs will test Trump’s philosophy: Tariff time for automobile imports is April 2, and President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff will hit some manufacturers harder than others¹. Essentially, the greater the percentage of the vehicle that’s assembled in the U.S., the lower the tariff. Tesla and Rivian are best positioned because their vehicles are built entirely in the U.S. Ford is next at 78%, followed by Honda at 64%, then Stellantis, Subaru, Nissan, and GM. All others produce less than 50% of each vehicle in the U.S. and will therefore be hardest hit. Among the worst are Hyundai, KIA, Volkswagen, Mazda, and Volvo. Trump believes² the tariffs will create tax revenue while revitalizing American manufacturing, and he has the support of UAW leadership³ — but that may change if union workers end up getting pink-slipped.

• Frosty reception meets Vance and Co. in Greenland: Remember all the eye-rolling that met Donald Trump’s first mention⁴ of integrating the Danish territory of Greenland into the American mix? These days, not so much. “We have to have the land,” he says, “because it’s not possible to properly defend a large section of this Earth — not just the U.S. — without it. So we have to have it, and I think we will have it.” Accordingly, an American delegation including VP JD Vance, his wife Usha, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Utah Senator Mike Lee visited the island today to note the strategic partnership that the U.S. and Greenland have long enjoyed. They got a chilly reception, though, as the Danes weren’t consulted beforehand about the parameters of the visit. We suspect this breach of protocol was intentional.

• Trump pulls Stefanik’s UN nomination: With a razor-thin GOP margin in the House being the only thing standing between Donald Trump’s agenda and legislative gridlock — to say nothing of endless congressional hearings and subpoenas — the president yesterday pulled⁵ New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Why? Because Republicans can’t risk losing her seat in a state controlled by the desperate Democrats. “As we advance our America First Agenda,” said Trump in a Truth Social post, “it is essential that we maintain EVERY Republican Seat in Congress.” Stefanik the “team player⁶” is happy to help out.

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• Anti-foreign influence in higher ed bill: In a move aimed at blunting the threat of negative influence efforts from America’s geopolitical foes, the Republican-led House passed the Deterrent Act⁹ on Thursday by a 241-169 vote. The bill mandates that any American school must report any foreign gifts received of greater than $50,000 to the Department of Education. Furthermore, any donations from China or Russia are banned. As Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg explained, “The lack of transparency around foreign relationships with our nation’s universities should concern every American as we see stolen research, antisemitic propaganda, and academic censorship.” Following the bill’s passage, Representative Michael Baumgartner stated, “This is a major win for transparency, accountability, and protecting students from foreign adversaries attempting to influence U.S. universities.”

• 300 student visas revoked, more coming: In the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to weed out anti-Semitism from some of America’s leading universities, the visas of more than 300 foreign students¹⁰ have been revoked. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained¹¹, “If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student and you tell us that the reason why you’re coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa.” He added, “If you lie to us and get a visa and then enter the United States and … participate in that sort of activity, we’re going to take away your visa.”

• New bill proposes lifetime citizenship ban for illegals: If ever there were a bill whose time had come, it’d have to be the No Citizenship for Alien Invaders Act, a new GOP House bill¹² that would prevent illegals from ever gaining citizenship. The disincentivizing legislation was proposed by Florida Congressman Cory Mills, who hopes to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 to say, “No alien who enters the United States unlawfully shall be eligible for naturalization.” As Mills notes, “Under the Biden administration, we saw more than 10 million encounters at our borders, a crisis exacerbated by reckless catch-and-release policies that allowed criminals who broke our laws to remain in the United States.” Should the bill pass the House, it’d likely face a Democrat filibuster in the Senate. But they’d have to face their voters after doing so.

• Gazans protest Hamas, Dems mum: Hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip took to the streets this week to protest against Hamas. The protesters called on the international community to “get Hamas out of Gaza.” Given the brutal nature of Hamas, that these Palestinians dared to protest was quite remarkable and brave. Furthermore, one would have thought that Democrats like Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who have long blasted Israel over the claim that it’s standing up for the plight of innocent Palestinians, would be voicing support for these protests. Yet they have been tellingly silent¹³. So, is it really innocent Palestinians they are concerned about protecting, or is it the Hamas terrorists?

• Europe can’t defend itself against Houthis: “European navies do not have the capability to defend against the types of sophisticated, antiship, cruise missiles, and drones the Houthis are now using.” This comment from Michael Waltz is just one of many fascinating tidbits from the now infamous leaked Signal group chat¹⁴. As a combat veteran and Donald Trump’s national security advisor, Waltz’s opinion is professional and likely based on inside intel of European navies. Europe once sent forth navies to conquer the globe but now evidently can’t defend itself against Yemeni terrorists. That’s a sorry state of affairs. As former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer put it¹⁵, “A rag tag militia built by Iran is stronger than French, British, etc navies. Disgraceful.” In light of this knowledge, Trump’s desire to shake up the status quo in NATO and force our allies to pull their own weight makes a lot more sense.

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• DNA hoard 23andMe goes belly up: Once valued at $6 billion, the genetic testing company 23andMe has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy¹⁸. The company’s CEO, Anne Wojcicki, also tendered her resignation, stating in a post on X: “We have had many successes, but I equally take accountability for the challenges we have today.” The immediate question is what happens to the massive trove of DNA data¹⁹ the company has collected over the years. Can it sell this genetic profile database to another company? Privacy concerns hit the company hard in 2023 after hackers accessed the database that contained DNA data on its nearly seven million customers. Last week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a public alert advising customers to delete their genetic data from the company’s website.

• Victimized residents learn the value of government “help”: Roughly 6,800 buildings burned down, but two months after the Los Angeles-area wildfires were contained, just four permits²⁰ have been issued to start rebuilding. More than 170 permits have been submitted. This isn’t limited to LA, either. After the devastating fire in Lahaina, Hawaii, destroyed more than 2,000 homes in August 2023, only six²¹ have been rebuilt. Ronald Reagan once quipped, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” California contractor Alexis Rivas agrees²²: “Day 49. Still no permit. … We built the exact same one last year in 45 days — start to finish. The city has now spent more time shuffling paper than it takes us to build.” LA Mayor Karen Bass promised to streamline the rebuilding process. Is this what she means?

Headlines

• Trump signs EO ending union rights at federal agencies with “national security missions” (Daily Wire²³)

• Feds investigating Stacey Abrams-linked group’s $2 billion EPA grant (NY Post²⁴)

• Senate committee launches investigation into American Muslim group for alleged terrorist ties (The Federalist²⁵)

• USDA investigating California for transitioning kids, hiding gender identity (Daily Wire²⁶)

• National Diversity Council files for bankruptcy, says top employees stole millions (Daily Wire²⁷)

• Humor: Nine dangerous weapons being confiscated by British police (Babylon Bee²⁸)

For the Executive Summary archive, click here²⁹.