Masked thieves strike mansions in wooded suburbs — cops probe South American crime ring

A wave of high-end residential burglaries across southeastern Wisconsin has prompted a coordinated law enforcement response and drawn political attention at both the local and national levels.

The Mequon Police Department (MPD) says the burglaries share striking similarities, suggesting a professional operation.

The suspects, dressed head to toe in black, with faces covered and gloves on, have entered homes through wooded backyards, often targeting cul-de-sacs or properties near golf courses. 

Stolen items include jewelry, designer handbags, watches and cash, all consistent with organized theft groups that target affluent neighborhoods nationwide.

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MPD hosted a regional intelligence-sharing meeting on Nov. 12, bringing together police agencies from across southeastern Wisconsin to share data and identify trends. Investigators are working with the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the state crime lab to process evidence and cross-reference incidents across jurisdictions.

Officials said the burglaries show hallmarks of South American theft groups (SATGs) known to operate across the U.S., though no suspects have yet been identified.

Mequon Police Operations Commander John Hoell told Fox News Digital that investigators have observed consistent methods of entry and targeting across multiple cases.

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“The way the residences were entered, the way the actors were dressed — head to toe in black, just the eyes showing, gloves on and what they targeted inside, jewelry, handbags, cash — it all matches together,” Hoell said.

Hoell described the pattern as unlike typical local burglaries, reinforcing the department’s view that the crimes may involve a well-coordinated group operating regionally or nationally.

He noted that the recent Mequon-area burglaries share similarities with the 2023 break-in at Milwaukee Bucks player Bobby Portis’ home in River Hills.

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In that case, about $1,500 in items were stolen while the Bucks were playing, and the burglary was linked to a Chilean theft group later charged in connection with over $2 million in stolen property from high-profile athletes, including Portis, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

Police say the suspects often enter through backyards during evening hours Thursday through Sunday, focusing on homes unoccupied at the time.

Authorities believe the burglars may be using trail cameras or other monitoring devices to watch when residents leave.

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Audible alarms and surveillance systems have successfully deterred several attempts, police said.

Regional law enforcement agencies will continue to share intelligence and coordinate efforts to prevent further incidents.

The crimes have also sparked a political response amid Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race.

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U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., who recently announced his campaign for governor, directly attributed the burglaries to federal immigration policy and a lack of enforcement under the Biden administration.

“This is what Democrats invited into our country under the last four years of Joe Biden, and not one Democrat running for governor will condemn it or demand these criminals be removed,” Tiffany said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“I have spent years on the House Judiciary Committee fighting for stronger border security, including ending catch-and-release, stopping parole abuse, and dismantling foreign criminal networks, and I’m grateful we finally have a president taking this crisis seriously and federal agencies working overtime to get criminals off our streets,” he said.

Tiffany added that if elected governor, he would ban sanctuary jurisdictions and increase resources for local law enforcement.

“I’m confident that local and federal law enforcement will move quickly to shut down this South American crime ring,” Tiffany said. 

Law enforcement officials have not confirmed any link between the burglaries and immigration status, but note that South American theft groups often involve individuals who enter legally on short-term visas before committing coordinated crimes and leaving the country.

Police say the Mequon-area burglaries remain an active and evolving investigation.

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“We’re confident we’ll catch them,” Hoell said. “But it’s going to take time and help from everyone watching.”

Authorities emphasize that community awareness and quick reporting remain the most effective tools for preventing further incidents.

Dem senator admits ‘not aware’ of Trump illegal orders after military video

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., admitted she was “not aware” of whether President Donald Trump has issued any illegal orders to the military following backlash to a controversial video she posted last week.

Slotkin faced questions during an interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” about the recent reaction to a social media video she and five other Democratic lawmakers made encouraging service members to “refuse illegal orders.”

“Do you believe President Trump has issued any illegal orders?” host Martha Raddatz asked.

DEPUTY AG BLASTS DEMOCRATS’ ‘ABHORRENT’ VIDEO URGING TROOPS TO ‘REFUSE ILLEGAL ORDERS’

“To my knowledge, I am not aware of things that are illegal, but certainly there are some legal gymnastics that are going on with these Caribbean strikes and everything related to Venezuela,” Slotkin responded.

Raddatz pressed for specific accusations, and Slotkin pointed to her concerns over Trump deploying National Guard troops across the country.

“When you look at these videos coming out of places like Chicago, it makes me incredibly nervous that we are about to see people in law enforcement, people in uniform, military get nervous, get stressed, shoot at American civilians,” Slotkin said. 

“It is a very, very stressful situation for these law enforcement [officers] and for the communities on the ground. So it was basically a warning to say if you are asked to do something, particularly against American citizens, you have the ability to go to your [Judge Advocate General] JAG officer and push back,” the lawmaker added.

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Raddatz followed up, noting that the original video “does imply that the president is having illegal orders, which you have not seen.”

“I think for us, it was just a statement widely, right?” Slotkin said. “We say very quickly and to all the folks who come to us, this is the process. Go to your JAG officer, ask them for explanation for top cover for their view on things. We do that on a case-by-case basis, but we wanted to speak directly to the volumes of people who came to us on this.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Slotkin pointed to the senator’s earlier remarks regarding her concerns about the “legal gymnastics” surrounding Trump’s actions on Venezuela.

SEN BLACKBURN FIRES BACK AT DEMOCRATS OVER ‘DISTURBING’ VIDEO URGING TROOPS TO DEFY ‘ILLEGAL’ ORDERS

The video posted by Slotkin received backlash from conservative lawmakers and commentators, who alleged it was an appeal to defy presidential orders.

Trump responded on Truth Social on Saturday, calling the Democrats in the video “traitors.”

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“It was sedition at the highest level, and sedition is a major crime. There can be no other interpretation of what they said!” Trump wrote.

Former superpower surrendered its military advantage to Beijing in ’90s blunder

At the edge of California’s Mojave Desert, the Mountain Pass mine looks like any other stretch of dust and rock. But for decades, this lonely pit supplied the world with the rare-earth elements that make modern technology — and modern warfare — possible.

In the 1980s, Mountain Pass was the beating heart of a quiet American advantage. The ore pulled from its depths yielded neodymium, lanthanum and cerium — metals that powered radar systems, early computer chips and the guidance of precision munitions. At its peak, the mine met nearly two-thirds of global demand.

Then, almost overnight, it went silent.

As environmental rules tightened and global prices collapsed under China’s state-subsidized production, the U.S. abandoned what had once been its mineral lifeline. Trucks stopped rolling. Processing plants rusted in the desert sun. And the world’s most powerful economy became dependent on a rival for the elements essential to its defense.

CHINA’S RARE EARTH TECH OBSESSION ENSNARES US RESIDENT AS CCP LOOKS TO MAINTAIN STRANGLEHOLD

“The Middle East has oil; China has rare earths,” former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping declared in 1987. Just as Arab nations turned oil wealth into global power, Beijing recognized the leverage it could gain by dominating the materials modern industry would only grow more dependent on.

Four decades later, that foresight has paid off. China now controls roughly 70 percent of global rare-earth mining and nearly 90 percent of refining — the most strategic and profitable step in the chain.

The sell-off that changed everything

The U.S. didn’t just lose ground in mining — it handed Beijing the technology that made rare earths valuable in the first place.

In the early 1990s, a General Motors subsidiary called Magnaquench was producing 85 percent of the magnets used in precision-guided missiles and other defense systems. When GM sold the company in 1995 to a consortium that included two Chinese entities, the consequences were immediate. Within a year, the entire product line had been replicated in China, and the U.S. had lost its magnet-making process almost overnight.

Abigail Hunter, executive director of the Ambassador Alfred Hoffman Jr. Center for Critical Mineral Strategy at SAFE, said the sale represented more than a bad deal — it was a strategic surrender. “We were focused on the internet and globalization, not on where our materials were coming from,” she said. “Policy became episodic. We stopped thinking about the supply chain from the ground up.”

China builds, America hesitates

While Washington debated environmental rules and trade policy, China moved aggressively. “The United States had Mountain Pass and a few other capabilities tied to companies like GM,” said Wade Senti, president of Advanced Magnet Lab. “But our total capacity was under 2,000 metric tons a year. Meanwhile, China poured money into innovation, refining and manufacturing at a scale that far exceeded what we ever had.”

By the early 2000s, the U.S. mining and refining base had collapsed. The technology migrated east along with the supply chain. Beijing not only mined the minerals but mastered the high-value steps that turned them into finished magnets — the core of everything from fighter jets to electric vehicles.

“Between market forces and environmental restrictions, we essentially handcuffed ourselves,” Senti said.

Rare-earth elements now underpin nearly every modern weapons system. “They steer missiles, power radar and drive the night-vision goggles Marines wear in the field,” Hunter said. “If it moves, sees or communicates in today’s military, there’s probably a rare-earth element in it.”

A wake-up call from Beijing

Washington’s complacency cracked this spring when Beijing briefly restricted exports of rare-earth products — a warning shot that rippled through supply chains from Detroit to the Pentagon.

“When China required export licenses, some U.S. factory lines literally stopped,” Hunter said. “The administration scrambled to negotiate with Beijing and simultaneously rolled out emergency support for MP Materials, the operator of Mountain Pass.”

That deal marked a turning point: for the first time, the federal government backed an entire supply chain — from mine to magnet — using every tool at its disposal. Grants, loans, price supports and guaranteed purchases were deployed to jump-start domestic production.

CHINA’S TRADE WAR WEAPONS: RARE EARTH BAN AND US DEBT DUMP COULD CRIPPLE AMERICAN ECONOMY AND DEFENSE

MP Materials has since resumed mining in California and is building a magnet plant in Texas, while another U.S. manufacturer in South Carolina has begun producing magnets as well. But rebuilding the ecosystem will take time. “It’s a ten-year project, not a ten-month one,” Hunter said. “We’re starting to see progress, but we’re nowhere near self-sufficiency.”

A global race for resources

The Trump administration has put the U.S. on a wartime footing for decoupling with China, taking a 15 percent stake in MP Materials in an unprecedented arrangement and pushing a wave of international critical-minerals agreements meant to cut Beijing out of key supply chains.

Over the past year, Washington has signed multi-billion dollar partnerships across five continents — including a $10 billion package of new projects announced this fall. A landmark framework with Australia commits both nations to co-invest roughly $1 billion each in rare-earth and battery-metal ventures, while parallel agreements with Japan and South Korea focus on securing non-Chinese refining and magnet production.

The administration has also turned to Africa, signing deals with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to trace and develop mineral supply routes, and to Ukraine, where a 2025 reconstruction fund gives U.S. companies preferred access to future mining projects. Together, the web of pacts marks the most aggressive U.S. mineral diplomacy since the Cold War — a global race to control the elements that power modern weapons, vehicles and technology.

Yet even as the U.S. forges alliances abroad, officials warn that true security will hinge on what happens at home. Under a 2027 mandate, the Pentagon must build a fully domestic rare-earth supply chain for defense production — from mine to magnet — that avoids Chinese inputs entirely. Meeting that goal will require more than foreign partnerships: it means breaking through America’s own permitting gridlock, financing new refineries and rebuilding a skilled workforce that vanished when the industry collapsed two decades ago.

“The international deals may buy time,” Senti said, “but they’re no substitute for restoring the industrial base that once made us the world’s undisputed source of strategic minerals.”

The race to rebuild

Both Hunter and Senti see the next few years as decisive. The same materials that once powered America’s Cold War innovation now underpin China’s economic and military strength.

“We have to reform permitting so we can actually build mines and refineries here,” Hunter said. “We can’t keep living in a ‘hear no evil, see no evil’ way where we import everything and pretend it’s someone else’s problem.”

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For Senti, the mission is more direct. “There’s a lot of work to do,” he said. “Companies like ours are boots on the ground trying to unlock the bottlenecks. The longer we wait, the harder it gets.”

In the Mojave Desert, the trucks at Mountain Pass are running again — small symbols of a nation trying to reclaim what it lost. But as China continues to tighten its grip on the minerals that drive the modern world, America’s comeback in the resource race is only just beginning.

Americans could be closer to $2K payout as Supreme Court predicted to side with Trump

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Monday the Trump administration is confident it will win its trade case before the Supreme Court, which centers on new tariffs the White House says are needed to defend American manufacturing against unfair foreign competition.

“Tariffs are going to be a part of this administration’s national security and national economic protection of the American people,” Lutnick told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria.” 

“We are gonna win the case, it’s pretty clear,” he said, adding that he attended the oral arguments at the Supreme Court.

TRUMP CALLS TARIFF OPPONENTS ‘FOOLS,’ PROMISES $2K DIVIDEND PAYMENTS FOR AMERICANS

When asked what options the president has if the court rules against the administration, Lutnick said President Donald Trump has “all sorts of policies and tools” available, referencing provisions in U.S. trade law such as Sections 232, 301 and 338, which allow the government to impose tariffs or other restrictions in the name of national security or to counter unfair trade practices.

Lutnick, speaking from Brussels, where he was meeting with European lawmakers to discuss Trump’s trade policies, said the administration views tariffs as a cornerstone of its economic agenda and a way to deliver tangible benefits to Americans.

“One of the ways to prove to the American people how great tariffs are is to have them share in a part of one year’s income from these tariffs and that’s $2,000 a head for people who need the money,” Lutnick said.

TRUMP SAYS TARIFF REVENUE TO FUND $2K CHECKS FOR AMERICANS, LOWER NATION’S $38T DEBT

Trump first floated the idea of issuing out a $2,000 dividend from tariff revenue to low and middle-income Americans on Nov. 9. He has since suggested that any remaining funds generated by tariff collection could be used to help pay down the nation’s staggering $38 trillion debt. 

Trump has also estimated that Americans could see these payments in mid-2026.

Since Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, tariff revenues have climbed sharply from $23.9 billion in May to $28 billion in June and $29 billion in July. 

Total duty revenue reached $215.2 billion in fiscal year 2025, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Treasury Department’s “Customs and Certain Excise Taxes” report. 

So far in fiscal year 2026, which began on Oct. 1, the U.S. has collected $40.4 billion, according to the latest numbers published by the Treasury Department.

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Trade Representative Jamieson Greer dismissed on Sunday concerns that issuing a one-time payment of $2,000 to some Americans will fuel inflation. 

“This is not some kind of ongoing new welfare program or something that would exacerbate inflation,” Greer told “Fox & Friends Weekend.”

He added that while he expects American families to welcome the checks, he doesn’t see the payments as changing the nation’s overall macroeconomic picture.

US-backed group ends relief effort after defying threats, global criticism

EXCLUSIVE: The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announced on Monday, after the delivery of more than 187 million free meals to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip without Hamas stealing their aid, that it will shift its work to other aid organizations.

The GHF launched its operation on May 26 to ensure meals reached the Gazan population and to prevent Hamas terrorists from looting goods. According to GHF, it “provided more than 1.1 million packs of ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF) for malnourished children.”

GHF Executive Director John Acree said, “From the outset, GHF’s goal was to meet an urgent need, prove that a new approach could succeed where others had failed, and ultimately hand off that success to the broader international community. With the creation of the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) and a rejuvenated engagement of the international humanitarian community, GHF believes that moment has now arrived,” he said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

GAZA HUMANITARIAN FOUNDATION: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE US-BACKED AID GROUP

Acree continued, “GHF has been in talks with CMCC and international organizations now for weeks about the way forward, and it’s clear they will be adopting and expanding the model GHF piloted. As a result, we are winding down our operations as we have succeeded in our mission of showing there’s a better way to deliver aid to Gazans.

“From our very first day of operations, our mission was singular: feed civilians in desperate need. We built a new model that worked, saved lives and restored dignity to civilians in Gaza. Our dedicated and compassionate team, including former U.S. service members, humanitarians, local Gazan workers and other partners like Samaritan’s Purse, risked their lives to feed the people in Gaza amidst an active war conflict,” he said.

U.N. aid organizations plagued by corruption and alleged support for Hamas terrorism reportedly bristled at the effectiveness of GHF.

Since May, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has faced numerous attacks over its operations, including accusations that hundreds of Gazans were killed and injured at distribution sites. The United Nations and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) also blasted GHF for what they said was its weaponization of aid. The commissioner-general of UNRWA in July called for an end to GHF, saying it “provides nothing but starvation and gunfire to the people of #Gaza.”

In August, a whistleblower confirmed to Fox News Digital that “the IDF is actively helping the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation get food into the hands of civilians while U.N. agencies, including WFP and OCHA, through their unwillingness to coordinate with the IDF, are inhibiting the distribution of such aid.”

Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesperson for the United Nations secretary general, told Fox News Digital at the time that the whistleblower’s “accusation is delusional.”

GHF told Fox News Digital that “it repeatedly offered to help U.N. agencies secure and distribute their aid to meet the need in Gaza while preventing looting and diversion. During its entire four-and-a-half months of operations, not a single GHF aid truck was looted.”

AS US-BACKED GROUP DELIVERS 70 MILLION MEALS, UN AND NGOS FIGHT TO DISCREDIT GAZA AID RIVAL

GHF stated that “American-led solutions and compassion work,” attributing its success to “the Trump administration’s call for innovation and early confidence in our mission, recognizing that American leadership, clarity of purpose and accountability to results are still the international gold standard.”

GHF leaders said they are prepared to revive the mission “if new humanitarian needs are identified and will not dissolve as a registered NGO.”

Acree said, “What our team will miss the most are the friendships and camaraderie developed with thousands of Gazans, especially the women and children we served. In early July, as the food security situation in Gaza improved, our operations stabilized, and we experienced a major shift in winning over the trust of aid seekers to the point where our aid sites became local hangout spots for women and children interacting with our team on a daily basis. We will miss them dearly.”

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Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, resulting in the mass murder of over 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans. Hamas kidnapped 251 people during the invasion and still holds three dead hostages, according to Israel. Trump’s peace plan for Gaza outlines no role for Hamas in post-war Gaza governance and demands the total disarming of the Iran-backed jihadist terrorist organization.

Public school employees blew millions on world travel while students fell behind

A scathing report from the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed that the school system spent a staggering $14.5 million in “excessive” travel expenses in FY 2023 and FY 2024 combined.

The report comes as data shows that just 30.5% of students in grades 3–8 were proficient in reading, and just 18.3% of students were proficient in math in the spring of 2024. 

“It is a sad commentary on just how far our city has fallen and how bad the leadership is,” Chicago pastor Corey Brooks told Fox News Digital. “These individuals believe that spending money on themselves benefits our educational system more so than spending it on the children who so rightfully deserve it.”

“In our neighborhood, there’s a 6% reading proficiency,” Brooks added. “And now you’re talking about the overall for Chicago being 30%, that is something that needs to be spoken by everyone who is in power.”

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The CPS OIG report showed that the school system spent $7.7 million in FY 2024 alone, a 2,467% increase in travel expenses from FY 2021’s $300,000 spending. Pre-pandemic spending from CPS was still dramatically lower, showing $3.6 million in travel expenses for FY 2019. 

CPS OIG’s report also reveals school system officials took lavish trips to Las Vegas, Egypt, Finland and South Africa. 

In addition to the proficiency levels for grades 3–8, data also shows that in spring 2024, just 22.4% of CPS 11th graders were proficient in reading based on SAT scores, a test which is required by the state of Illinois. Similarly, 11th graders showed just 18.6% proficiency in math. 

“The Chicago Public School system is a complete dumpster fire,” Educational Freedom Institute Executive Director Corey DeAngelis told Fox News Digital. “These government-run institutions are sentencing children to a future without opportunities.”

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“Chicago Public Schools spend about $30,000 per student and most of the kids still can’t read on grade level,” DeAngelis added. “The government school system is a bottomless pit, lighting taxpayer money on fire, while constantly asking for more.” 

In addition to the poor proficiency levels, school attendance has also been a major issue in the Windy City. If a student misses 10% or more of school days during the year, CPS labels the student a chronic absentee. 

In 2024, 40.8% of students in CPS suffered from chronic absenteeism.

MORE THAN 40 PERCENT OF CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS ABSENT AT LEAST 10 DAYS IN PAST SCHOOL YEAR: REPORT

“These young children aren’t even going to school now, and you never hear [about] it,” Brooks explained. “No one ever talks about it.”

“You have third, fourth, fifth, sixth graders who can’t read, and they’re going to eventually become frustrated to the point of what we’re seeing, just saying, I quit, I’m not going to go,” he added. “You add to that the lack of parenting. Where parents are allowing these children to just do what they want to do… they’re just disinterested, and they’re falling by the wayside every single day.”

CPS responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by saying they have formed a committee to review travel expenses. CPS said the committee was effective Oct. 29 and that a letter was sent to all CPS staff on that date. 

CPS also noted that they are restricting “nearly all employee travel.”

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“Travel controls, transparency, and auditability will improve with the implementation of the new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) financial system that is currently underway,” a spokesperson for CPS told Fox News Digital. “ERP will improve automation for improved reconciliation between travel requests and travel spend as well as automate restrictions on types of travel, amounts, and accounts.”

“We take seriously the findings and recommendations from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and will continue to ensure our District policies and procedures support the highest ethical standards and that our employees act in the best interest of our students, the District, and our city,” the spokesperson added.

Brooks also told Fox that educational, city and state leaders often ignore the needs of the widely damaged public school system, saying officials get to put their kids in the “best schools” while public school students suffer.

“[They] are looking at the interest of themselves, not looking at the interest of their children, but even more so, they get to send their children to private schools and the best schools while children in our neighborhoods continue to fail,” he explained. “That’s not right.”

Military readiness at risk as Newsom’s war on oil cripples California fuel supply

As California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled to Brazil touting his failed energy agenda in mid-November, the reality back home is unavoidable: because of his policies, Californians are paying some of the highest gas and electricity prices in the nation. We are being crushed by the Newsom energy affordability crisis — and it’s crippling our national security. 

Since 2018, more than 360 energy companies have left California due to the state’s debilitating regulations and new oil drilling permits have fallen by 95% since Newsom assumed office in 2019. 

As a result, California has produced nearly 128 million fewer barrels of oil per day over the past five years — despite holding the fifth-largest petroleum reserves in the country. The undeniable consequence of Newsom’s refusal to support domestic production is a greater reliance on foreign oil. 

In 1982, less than 6% of California’s crude oil came from outside the United States. Today, according to Newsom’s own California Energy Commission, that number has skyrocketed to over 60%. Brazil now accounts for 20% of our imported supply and 21% comes from Iraq.

NEWSOM PUSHES CLIMATE RECORD ABROAD AS CALIFORNIANS SHOULDER AMERICA’S HIGHEST GAS COSTS

Meanwhile, California’s refining capacity continues to collapse. 

By early 2026, the state is projected to lose nearly 20% of its remaining refining capacity, and without urgent action, blackouts, price spikes and fuel shortages will become the new normal – not only for Californians, but for millions across the West Coast who depend on our energy supply. 

This drastically impacts the viability of California’s pipelines, most of which require 90,000 barrels a day in production to remain financially solvent and operational. However, due to shortages, they are barely operating at 50,000 barrels a day, causing $2 million in losses a month for operators.

CLIMATE DEADLINES COLLIDE WITH POLITICS AS DEM-LED STATES CHASE BIG OIL IN COURT BUT SPARE LOCAL REFINERS

Currently, Crimson Midstream, the operator of California’s largest crude oil pipeline network, cannot sustain its operations because of Sacramento’s ineptness. California Democrats’ war on domestic energy production has created so much uncertainty that the San Pablo Bay Pipeline is now at risk of shutting down in the new year – further destabilizing California’s fragile energy supply chain and jeopardizing refinery capacity already hanging by a thread. 

These disastrous policies have created a manmade shortage of fuel, increasing prices at the pump exponentially for working families and leading to more gasoline imports. This will likely force California to purchase refined gasoline from oil reserves off its coast, making the state pay a higher price to buy back its own supplies. 

But unaffordable prices aren’t the only consequence of Newsom’s war on oil. His created crisis is also undermining our military readiness.

NEWSOM CLAIMS TRUMP IS ‘HANDING THE FUTURE TO CHINA’ AT BRAZILIAN CLIMATE CONFAB THAT WH SKIPPED

California is home to dozens of U.S. military installations in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. The brave men and women who serve at our bases are capable of deploying anywhere in the world within a handful of hours, but only if they have the fuel they need to accomplish their mission. 

Military aviation fuels are highly specialized and of the highest grades, which California’s refineries are equipped to process. In 2024, California’s military installations consumed approximately 10 million gallons of gasoline. With the two most recent refinery closures, jet fuel production is estimated to decrease by at least 600,000 gallons a day.  

By early 2026, the state is projected to lose nearly 20% of its remaining refining capacity, and without urgent action, blackouts, price spikes and fuel shortages will become the new normal – not only for Californians, but for millions across the West Coast who depend on our energy supply. 

No amount of Newsom’s strategic, political headlines can hide the threat his policies pose to our national security.

BIDEN’S GREEN ENERGY FIASCO, NOT TRUMP’S REFORMS, IS JACKING UP YOUR ELECTRIC BILL 

One of the most pressing issues in Congress right now is countering the rising threat of China, which requires us to bolster our readiness in the Indo-Pacific region. But instead of working across the aisle to address this threat and strengthen California’s role in our national security, Newsom has continued to intentionally reduce California’s refinery capacity and in-state oil production, weakening our defense posture in order to appease his far-left base. 

If California’s fuel network continues to be suffocated by a patchwork of underutilized pipelines and overburdened refineries without enough energy supply to operate, the military fuel supply chain supporting the West Coast’s military operational capabilities will be harmed.

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Newsom’s progressive agenda and his presidential ambitions have led him to ignore these stark facts. This is not only incompetent, but irresponsible and dangerous. 

To revitalize California’s energy future and deter our nation’s adversaries, our state needs to increase permitting tenfold, expand our drilling capacity and reinstate enhanced oil recovery methods. This is necessary to keep our pipelines operational as we work to expand our refining capabilities.

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Sacramento should be working with us in Congress and President Donald Trump to expand domestic energy production — a necessity for meeting California’s growing energy demands and strengthening America’s national security. Instead, Newsom seems more interested in obstructing these efforts than partnering with us to deliver affordable, reliable energy for Californians. 

Newsom’s poor energy policies are the cause of California’s affordability crisis. The choice for Newsom is clear: continue down a path of scarcity and dependence, or reverse course with California’s energy producers to restore true energy independence for our state and our nation. The future of California’s economy — and America’s national security — depends on it. 

Former MLB star reveals Trump’s private call: Devil ‘should have killed me’

Former New York Mets star Darryl Strawberry expressed his gratitude toward President Donald Trump on Sunday during a church sermon in Oklahoma.

Trump pardoned Strawberry earlier this month for past tax evasion and drug charges. Strawberry was welcomed into a Tulsa church by Jackson Lahmeyer, the founder of Pastors for Trump. He received cheers from the congregation of more than 400 when he mentioned the pardon.

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“God just completely set me free when he gave me a pardon from President Donald J. Trump,” he said. “Other presidents had opportunities, but they didn’t do it.”

Strawberry was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1980 MLB Draft. He made his debut at the age of 21 in 1983 and played for New York until 1990. He spent time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees.

He won three World Series titles, hit 335 home runs and batted .259 with a .862 OPS.

Strawberry battled legal, health and personal problems throughout his career. He served 11 months in a Florida prison for a 2002 probation violation.

The 63-year-old credited his Christian faith for helping him turn his life around and allowing him to remain sober for more than two decades.

“All glory to God because he found me in a pit and put me in a pulpit,” Strawberry said.

The devil “should have killed me when he had a chance,” he joked.

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Strawberry said he was surprised to hear from Trump on Nov. 6 when the president revealed he was going to pardon the former MLB star. The two had gotten acquainted during “Celebrity Apprentice” in 2010.

“We just talked about my baseball career in the 1980s and what kind of player I was,” Strawberry told The Associated Press. “He was just telling me how great of a player I was… and he just kind of joked around that he couldn’t hit a baseball. I said, ’Well, the way you hit a golf ball, you can hit a baseball.’”

He said the two talked about his guilty plea in 1999 to tax evasion for failure to report $350,000 in income from autographs, personal appearances and memorabilia sales.

“He told me, ‘You know you did some very bad things,’” Strawberry said. “But he said, ’Today, the way your life is and what you’re doing, your faith and helping people and being sober, I’m giving you a full pardon. You’re going to be clean. I’m wiping everything out.’”

Strawberry and Doc Gooden have notoriously been tied together due to their immense talent while playing for the Mets while battling drug and alcohol abuse. Strawberry was able to turn his life around much earlier than Gooden, but Gooden appears to have stayed on the right track in recent years. The two appeared together in last year’s National League Championship Series between the Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers and were the subjects of ESPN’s 30 for 30, “Doc and Darryl.”

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Both of their numbers were retired by the Mets last season.