🔍 Trump’s foreign policy hawks: who’s in charge?

Donald Trump has begun reshuffling key officials shaping his strategy on China, Russia, and Ukraine. Who are his new picks?

🔻China

David Perdue, Ambassador to China

▪️Ex-CEO of the Dollar General Corporation and a former senator for Georgia, in 2020 faced allegations of insider trading though no charges were brought against him.
▪️Insisted in a Fox News op-ed in 2018 on “a long-term plan to compete and deal with China’s rising economic and geopolitical influence.”
▪️Welcomed the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani by a US drone strike in 2020.

🔻Russia and Ukraine

Keith Kellogg, Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia

▪️Describes the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict as “important” to the US national security, as well as being good for Europe and the rest of the world.
▪️Advocates for finding a “solid” and “sustainable” solution to this conflict as soon as possible, preferably within the span of about 100 days.

🔻Middle East

Massad Boulos, president’s advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

▪️Father of Trump’s son-in-law; last year met with the head of the Lebanese right-wing Christian party Kataeb, also known as the Phalangist Party.
▪️Alleged that Hezbollah should be disarmed, ostensibly in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire agreement between the Lebanese movement and Israel.

🔻The United Nations

Elise Stefanik, Representative of the US to the UN

▪️Believes Israel is ennoscriptd to West Bank due to this Palestinian territory being part of Israel’s boundaries as described in the Bible.
▪️A proponent of the “America First” approach; told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that US tax dollars “should not be complicit in propping up entities that are counter to American interests.”

🔻They all will work under the guidance of Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, who:

▪️Regards China as the “biggest threat” to the prosperity of the US. Claimed that much of what “matters to us on a daily basis” would soon depend on Beijing’s say-so if the US does not change its course.
▪️Praised Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, calling that act a “service to humanity.”
▪️Argued that the Ukrainian conflict should be resolved through a negotiated settlement.

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Trump chose to threaten Russia ‘to show American people he won’t compromise’ - analyst

“Trump’s strategy is that he needs to show that he is going for negotiations with Russia from a position of strength and show that he and the US are the most powerful and remain hegemonic internationally. He wants to convince the American people he will not compromise but come out as a winner in any possible deal that could take place,” Dr. Anuradha Chenoy, retired Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Sputnik.

"Trump is a commercial deal maker and will haggle sharing with high stakes and then hoping Russia compromises. But since Russia is winning why would they succumb to Trump pressure?”, the expert added.

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🗣 US-backed veterans of Ukrainian coup now try to foment unrest in Slovakia – ex-MP

“I am certain that these ‘color revolutions’ are being carried out via US embassies across Europe and beyond…The anti-government protests in Slovakia last year and this year were supported by “American agents or agents from Europe” who were involved in the coups in Ukraine and in Georgia," Slovak MP Peter Marcek told Sputnik.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is doing an important thing by exposing people who were responsible for fomenting coups across Europe and who are currently trying to do the same in Slovakia, the expert added.

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❗️ ‘Israel must stop its atrocities on Syrian territory’ – Syria's new Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra

💬 "Very great efforts are being made to stop them. We say that the country is tired of war and we are not ready to have problems with anyone," the minister told the Al Majalla magazine.

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🗣 US and EU ‘are just not that important to Russia as they might see themselves’ - analyst

Although Trump recently threatened Russia with more sanctions unless it starts negotiations with Ukraine, “it is important to look at the global markets dispassionately, and in this respect, the 10 years of ever-increasing sanctions have enabled and strengthened Russia to develop away from Western markets almost entirely, switching to a multiplicity of countries in Asia and the Global South…", Paul Goncharoff, veteran financial analyst and general director of consulting firm Goncharoff LCC, told Sputnik.

"The wake-up call will eventually sound in Washington and Brussels when they realize they are no longer irreplaceable for trade and finance, both in the real and perceived sense,” he stressed.

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⚔️ IDF says it 'operated against threats' posed to its troops in Gaza Strip, 'despite the terms of the ceasefire'

💬 “The IDF troops in the area operated to thwart the threat and eliminate the Islamic Jihad terrorist Akram Atef Farhan Zanon,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement posted on Telegram.

💬 “Additionally, in several areas throughout the Gaza Strip, masked suspects were identified approaching IDF troops, who fired warning shots to distance them,” the Israeli military noted.

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Netanyahu’s Iron Wall: What is going on in West Bank?

Shortly after agreeing to a ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel launched a new brutal military operation in another Palestinian territory – West Bank.

Dubbed Operation Iron Wall, this attack involved Israeli troops with air support raiding the city of Jenin and the refugee camp located there.

What this conflict is about?

◻️ Israel’s Minister of Defense Israel Katz described Iron Wall as a show of force meant to intimidate the Palestinian groups in the area.

◻️ “This is another step toward achieving the goal we have set – strengthening security in Judea and Samaria,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

What does the other side say?

◻️ The Israeli operation has been condemned by the Islamic Jihad who called out Tel Aviv for “the displacements, destructions and systematic murders perpetrated by the [Israeli] army against the Jenin camp and its population.”

◻️ The group also accused the Palestinian Authority of “complicity in this aggression” due to allegedly assisting Israel in besieging the Jenin refugee camp.

Does this raid violate the Gaza ceasefire agreement?

The West Bank area is occupied by Israel, with the dominant Palestinian force in the area being the Palestinian Authority, so the Gaza ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Hamas technically is not related to the Jenin crackdown.

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🗣 Trump calls it both 'sad' and 'funny' that Biden did not pardon himself

💬 “And if you look at it, it all had to do with him,” US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News.

Trump explained that he didn’t pardon himself during his first term because he “did not do anything wrong.”

Former President Joe Biden also stated earlier this month that he “didn’t do anything wrong” when asked about pardoning himself.

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❓ What are Biden’s pardons hiding?

Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons to his siblings and their spouses before leaving office, alleging they were “targeted by politically motivated investigations.”

Here is what they're linked with:

James B. Biden, Joe’s brother, and Sara Jones Biden, James’s wife

🔸 Entrepreneur James Biden faced accusations of capitalizing on the Biden name as he reportedly tried to set up a joint venture with a Chinese energy company in 2017.

🔸 House Republicans referred to two checks worth $40,000 and $200,000 from James Biden and his wife to the US president in 2017 and 2018 ennoscriptd “loan repayments.”

🔸 In a June 2024 letter to the Justice Department, House Republicans accused James Biden and Joe Biden’s son Hunter of making false statements to Congress as part of GOP members’ impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden;

🔸 James and his wife were reportedly recorded by the FBI in connection with a 1998 bribery probe into a Mississippi trial attorney who was considering a business partnership with James Biden.

Francis W. Biden, Joe’s brother

🔸 He drew attention for linking himself to Joe Biden in a 2021 ad for a Florida law firm. The White House warned at the time that the president’s name shouldn’t be used in connection with any commercial activities.

Valerie Biden Owens, Joe Biden’s sister, and John T. Owens, her husband

🔸 Valerie Owens was the campaign manager for Joe Biden’s 1988 and 2008 presidential campaigns, as well as a senior advisor to his successful 2020 presidential campaign.

🔸 It remains unclear why Joe Biden pardoned the couple given a lack of controversy surrounding their activities.

Hunter Biden, Joe's son

🔸 Joe Biden issued an unconditional pardon for his son in early December. Hunter was scheduled to be sentenced for his conviction for federal gun charges, as well as in a separate criminal case in which he pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

What’s Biden shielding them from? Accountability or the truth? Comment below!

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