THROWBACK: Trump's pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, actively urges bombing Iranian facilities to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons
 
Hegseth supported allegations that Iran hides weapons in their cultural sites and called on the US to “rewrite the rules” to allow the US to bomb Tehran's facilities, including mosques, schools and hospitals.
 

“I don't want to hit cultural sites on purpose. But if you're using one to harbor your most dangerous weapons, then that should be on the target list,” he said.

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THROWBACK: Newly assigned US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, promoted hawkish policy in Iraq and was ready to fund it

Pete Hegseth, Trump's new pick for Defense Secretary, established a campaign organization called “Vets for Freedom” to advocate for the Iraq War and candidates who supported it.

“The group [Vets for Freedom] expects to spend close to $10 million on a four-month advertising and grassroots drive to make the case that the Bush administration's policies in Iraq and Afghanistan are making significant progress.”

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Who is Pete Hegseth, Trump’s new secretary of defense?

Peter Hegseth - a former US National Guard officer and Fox News host - has been chosen by president-elect Donald Trump to be the next secretary of defense.

🔸 A Princeton University graduate and ex-analyst with Bears Sterns, Hegseth previously served as a Minnesota National Guard officer. He participated in the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and was also deployed at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the site of probably the most notorious US prison overseas.

🔸 He earned himself a reputation of a staunch Trump supporter, even defending such controversial decisions by the 45th POTUS as the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

🔸 Hegseth is known for his hawkish stance on Iran, branding the country as “an evil regime” at one point, and for being a big proponent of close relationship with Israel. He stressed the importance of the US being Tel Aviv’s “strongest ally” and accused Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah of seeking to destroy Israel.

🔸 Not a big fan of Russia by any means, Hegseth nevertheless postulated that issues the US domestic problems – such as inflation, wokeness and the border crisis – are much more important than the Ukrainian conflict.

🔸 He criticized the European NATO members for their apparent reliance on US protection and their reluctance to spend their fair share of money on defense in hopes that Uncle Sam would bail them out if push comes to shove.

🔸 China is apparently regarded by Hegseth as a threat, seeing how he claimed that Beijing is “building a military specifically dedicated to defeating the United States.”

🔸 In 2019 Hegseth vocally defended Edward Gallagher, a US Navy SEAL who was accused of multiple war crimes including murdering an injured prisoner and firing upon civilians in Iraq.

🔸 Last week Hegseth argued that any US general or admiral “involved in diversity, equity and inclusion programs” or “woke sh*t” needs to be fired.

🔸 In his book noscriptd “War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” Hegseth accused left-wing US politicians of betraying the American “warriors” and insisted that the US military must be returned to “meritocracy, lethality, accountability, and excellence.”

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NYT report ‘set up to directly harass’ Trump voters – Russian Foreign Ministry

The New York Times has published an editorial that calls to sabotage everything Trump and his team will do, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has commented.

“Sabotage. It's all set up to directly harass a large part of the American population at this stage, to shame them for their choice,” she underscored.

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🚨'Trump will be very uncomfortable for Russia' — senior Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev (Vice Speaker of Federation Council) to Sputnik

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THROWBACK: Former Democratic Party Congresswoman Rep. Tulsi Gabbard called Trump's pick for Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, 'a huge mistake' as he represents the neocon warmongering establishment of Washington, D.C.
 
Tulsi stressed that Rubio's position "stands diametrically opposed" to the very policies that the president-elect stands for, and his appointment would mean that the US will face war with Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
 

"It will cause a lot of people to question what kind of foreign policy will actually be executed. Will it be the one that Trump wants and stands for? Or will it be one that will continue the deep state neocon warmongers?" she said.

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🚨Why Russia isn’t thrilled by Trump 2.0? Senior Russian lawmaker explains

In an interview with Sputnik, Konstantin Kosachev, Vice Speaker of the Federation Council, cited the following reasons:
 
1️⃣Trump doesn’t believe in treating other countries as equals.

2️⃣Trump will pressure Russia to abandon China and Iran.

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❗️Bitcoin continues to rise, reaching another record high - $90,000

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🇷🇺🇸🇦 Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, the Kremlin reported.

During the conversation, the importance of close coordination in OPEC+ and the effectiveness and timeliness of measures in this format were emphasized.

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Trump announces new Department of Government Efficiency: What is it?

US President-elect Donald Trump has selected Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to head the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

What is DOGE?

🔘 DOGE is a non-governmental agency that will provide “advice and guidance” from outside the government;

🔘 Musk and Ramaswamy will “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to government never seen before” alongside the Office of Management and Budget, Trump said;

🔘 DOGE will be tasked with the reducing government bureaucracy, slashing excess regulations, cutting wasteful spending, and restructuring federal agencies, according to the president-elect;

🔘 Trump believes that “the massive waste and fraud” has ballooned government expenditures up to $6.5 trillion a year. The proposed department will have to “shrink” the size of the government by July 2026, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Why is DOGE needed?

◽️ By 2023, the US government was spending nearly $2 trillion more than it was raising in revenues, as measured by the Bureau of Economic Analysis data. Since 2001, annual spending grew faster than annual revenue – at an average rate of 5.5% versus 3.9%;

◽️ 2023 spending covered transfers, including benefit and subsidy payments ($3.19 trillion), aid to different US states ($1.15 trillion), interest ($0.95 trillion), purchases ($0.84 trillion), and worker compensation ($0.56 trillion), according to the Cato think tank;

◽️ In 2023, the US gave almost half of its spending to aid programs that failed to add to national GDP, including social security, Medicare, and food stamps, Cato also reported.

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🇧🇪🚜 More than 100 Belgian farmers have protested against the European Commission's plan to sign a free trade agreement with Latin American countries.

Some of them drove their tractors into central Brussels, fearing that cheaper produce from the region will drive down prices on the EU market.

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Why will US call the shots in possible Ukrainian presidential elections?

The likelihood of Ukrainians going to the polls this spring is quite high, as the incoming US administration may have its own agenda regarding the matter, Alexander Dudchak, a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries and expert on the Other Ukraine movement, tells Sputnik while discussing The Economist’s report suggesting that Ukraine's elections could take place as early as May 25.

The new US administration is frustrated with Volodymyr Zelensky, and Donald Trump can remember the times when the former ignored the 45th president’s request for assistance relating to information about the Biden family’s activities in Ukraine, according to Dudchak.

“They [the new Trump team] will probably try to establish their own power in Ukraine, because the current top of the Ukrainian colonial administration is, after all, client of the British special services. Not everything is so rosy in relations between Britons and Americans as there are certain contradictions, a situation Trump may want to change,” the expert points out.

As for the results, they will most likely be known beforehand if the elections are held under Western control, he argues.

“They [the West] will know perfectly well who will be the next Ukrainian president, because in these conditions achieving the desired result is no problem at all,” the expert says, adding that Zelensky will not play a role in the process.

When it comes to presidential candidates, they “have been on everyone’s lips” and any new names are unlikely, the Institute of CIS Countries expert says, citing former Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny, ex-Parliamentary Speaker Dmitry Razumkov and ex-President Petro Poroshenko.

The latter regularly slams the Zelensky regime, appealing to ordinary people to remember how “wonderfully” he ruled the country, Dudhcak concludes.

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❗️Donald Trump is expected to appoint a special envoy to Ukraine soon to negotiate an end to the conflict, according to Fox News

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